Does amtrak serve real food, like "real" cream for coffee, &#3

[Kate]

Living in California, I am often disappointed that when I travel across the midwest it is hard to find "real food." Often I am served processed american cheese, oleo instead of butter, and powdered/white liquid (for coffee) instead of real cream. Is this the kind of food on a train?

 

[ehbowen]

I'm not much of a coffee drinker, but during my last sleeping car trip I remember they had those ultra-pasteurized small containers of half-and-half for coffee. You had your choice of real butter or sour cream for baked potatoes in the dining car. The "continental" breakfast (May 2012) had oatmeal with brown sugar and chilled half grapefruit. French Toast syrup was one of those faux concoctions, but the butter was real. Amtrak claims that its scrambled eggs and omelettes are made with fresh eggs; I've never inspected the diner kitchen but others who are more familiar with it say that this is correct.

A lot of the entrees are what is termed "sous-vide", in which the cooking is done in a pouch off the train by immersing the pouch in a bath of hot (nearly boiling) water for several hours, then refrigerated and reheated on the train in a convection oven before serving. However, items such as steaks and omelettes are grilled on board.

While it doesn't match the fare of the finest restaurants (as it did Once Upon A Time), it is light-years ahead of anything you would likely be offered on an airliner, even in first class. Your Mileage May Vary, but I'd advise you not to avoid train travel on account of the food.

 

[PRae_Train]

I haven't been on a cross-country Amtrak since last September, but I recall little mini-moos of real half-and-half for coffee creamers, and real butter for your baked potato and breads.

For the most part, I think Amtrak food is good. Much of it is freshly prepared in the little kitchens in the dining cars.

Apparently they have removed the entrée salads from the menus, and it has appeared to me that the dinner salads were prepared well in advance, but I have loved the food overall.

There is another recent thread discussing some evolving issues with the menus and food.

edit: Thank you ehbowen. You know a lot more about this than I do.

 

[Railroad Bill]

Most of the food is pretty good and it is possible to eat healthy from the choices offered. Of course, for me, it's Cheesecake for every meal..

 

[TrackWalker]

 

[D.P. Roberts]

Nope, it's all "fake" food. Almost every item has been processed or refined to within an inch of its life.

 

[gmushial]

Nope, it's all "fake" food. Almost every item has been processed or refined to within an inch of its life.

Or, maybe one inch beyond.

But back to the OP: the perception (by some of us, but clearly not all) is that in general the choices in foods, the quality in saidsame and the prices have possibly descended past the point of value or usability... and hence the thread below exploring the possibility of having food brought to the train at the longer stops, and hence bypassing the Amtrak kitchen. This is still in the thinking about it state, but if such were to come to fruition would be a crowd sourced website listing the various stops on the various routes and giving other's experiences with the delivery services available, the restaurants they provide delivery for and the actual items ordered. ... in the meantime, maybe Amtrak will get its act together and will prove unnecessary, but short of that the website (tentatively called AmFoodUnlimited dot com) will inch its way forward.

 

[amamba]

Living in California, I am often disappointed that when I travel across the midwest it is hard to find "real food." Often I am served processed american cheese, oleo instead of butter, and powdered/white liquid (for coffee) instead of real cream. Is this the kind of food on a train?

In general, yes, the food on the train is highly processed, IMO. It is the type of food that you are going to find a casual chain restaurant throughout much of america.

 

[oregon pioneer]

My kind of food @home:



It all depends on your definition of "real food." My definition is "as close to the way nature made it as reasonable." By that definition, D.P. is correct, it's all processed and preserved. But I do find it acceptable, it's not chemical food, and I enjoy almost every meal aboard Amtrak when I travel. I also choose carefully from the menu! ^_^

 

[William W.]

I don't think it is realistic to expect every food item on the train these days to be 100% fresh, and 100% real. The food in the dining car is comparable to what you would find in a Denny's, or a roadside diner. That's good enough for me. Do I wish it was like it was in the old days? Sure, but the old days are gone, probably forever.

 

[gmushial]

I don't think it is realistic to expect every food item on the train these days to be 100% fresh, and 100% real. The food in the dining car is comparable to what you would find in a Denny's, or a roadside diner. That's good enough for me. Do I wish it was like it was in the old days? Sure, but the old days are gone, probably forever.

My impression has been that there is quite a range of foods available along the road: Denny's being at the far, processed end, but thankfully there are still lots of close to home cooked diners out there - this is especially true in the mid-west... ate at a half dozen six, eight, ten table diners on this last trip from LNK back to RDD (intentionally sought out), multiple with quite excellent food. The problem with Amtrak is that they appear to be descending toward the Denny's end of the spectrum.

 

[seat38a]

Nope, all the creamers are the non-refridge kind. Same with the salad dressings. The only thing that I think gets put away is the butter pats. The rest of the items are swapped out a placed in between the two booth seats, where they stash the menus as well. If you want real cream, order the milk.

IMG_0120 by seat38a, on Flickr

 

[Bob Dylan]

You can also get Soy milk upon request if you don't want whole milk or half and half! The healthiest food is probably the Continental Breakfast ( skip the bread), the Veggie Burger for Lunch and the Healthy Choice @ dinner!

 

[oregon pioneer]

I think there is a difference between "processed" (UHT pasteurized) and made in a lab (like non-dairy creamer). I'd place Amtrak's diner squarely in the "processed" category. Some of what you get in the cafe falls into the same category, and some of it crosses the line into the labfood category, I think. Just choose carefully.

 

[oregon pioneer]

You can also get Soy milk upon request if you don't want whole milk or half and half! The healthiest food is probably the Continental Breakfast ( skip the bread), the Veggie Burger for Lunch and the Healthy Choice @ dinner!

I agree about the Continental Breakfast. I'm a fan of the oatmeal, whole wheat biscuit, and fruit to start the day. I skip the yogurt from an industrial dairy (undoubtedly made with rBST milk). Can you tell I've done a little reading up on food trends, ha, ha? I guess it's part of being from the Left Coast.

 

[D.P. Roberts]

Here's one of my least favorite Amtrak prepackaged items, stolen from another thread: the "Heinz Breakfast Syrup." Despite the prominent maple leaf on the lid, you'll notice that there's no maple syrup in their maple-flavored syrup:

I would expect fake syrup with a $3.00 styrofoam pack of pancakes at fast food places. I would expect real maple syrup on a $9 plate of pancakes at a sit-down restaurant.

 

[ehbowen]

Agreed. I empathize with another regular poster (although I'm not sure if he's here or at another forum) who said that he travels with a 12 ounce bottle of real maple syrup, plops it down in the middle of the table and invites his tablemates to share. They usually take him up on it.

 

[SP&S]

Real maple is the best. It's also pricy so I doubt you'll find it served with a sit-down $9 breakfast.

 

[seat38a]

The only way you will get real maple syrup anywhere is if you order it from LL Bean and take it with you. Even the honey in those little packets are fake honey. I don't think they replaced ketchup with fake ones with mostly chemicals and 0% tomatoes yet.

 

[gmushial]

The only way you will get real maple syrup anywhere is if you order it from LL Bean and take it with you. Even the honey in those little packets are fake honey. I don't think they replaced ketchup with fake ones with mostly chemicals and 0% tomatoes yet.

But what Costco sells by the pint isn't bad... not A+, not the very best... but quite passable (probably C+ grade compared what one might find in backwoods Vermont, NH or Maine). [btw the hole in the wall diner next to the DaysInn in NW LNK (just down US-6 from the Amtrak station), served real maple syrup with their $4.50 stack of pancakes - the wife was pleasantly shocked, and enjoyed every minute thereof ... the rest of the breakfast truly a cut above also, and all for $13 for two people ... have eaten there the last handful of times in LNK - Heather runs a heck of a show: unpretentious, just quality through and through - comes highly recommended... doesn't look like much (she puts the money into the food), but your stomach will thank you. ]

 

[amamba]

The only way you will get real maple syrup anywhere is if you order it from LL Bean and take it with you. Even the honey in those little packets are fake honey. I don't think they replaced ketchup with fake ones with mostly chemicals and 0% tomatoes yet.

But what Costco sells by the pint isn't bad... not A+, not the very best... but quite passable (probably C+ grade compared what one might find in backwoods Vermont, NH or Maine). [btw the hole in the wall diner next to the DaysInn in NW LNK (just down US-6 from the Amtrak station), served real maple syrup with their $4.50 stack of pancakes - the wife was pleasantly shocked, and enjoyed every minute thereof ... the rest of the breakfast truly a cut above also, and all for $13 for two people ... have eaten there the last handful of times in LNK - Heather runs a heck of a show: unpretentious, just quality through and through - comes highly recommended... doesn't look like much (she puts the money into the food), but your stomach will thank you. ]

I actually prefer Grade B maple syrup to Grade A. It is thicker and darker than Grade A. It is hard to find Grade B, I have had luck buying it in country stores in New England.

 

[seat38a]

The only way you will get real maple syrup anywhere is if you order it from LL Bean and take it with you. Even the honey in those little packets are fake honey. I don't think they replaced ketchup with fake ones with mostly chemicals and 0% tomatoes yet.

But what Costco sells by the pint isn't bad... not A+, not the very best... but quite passable (probably C+ grade compared what one might find in backwoods Vermont, NH or Maine). [btw the hole in the wall diner next to the DaysInn in NW LNK (just down US-6 from the Amtrak station), served real maple syrup with their $4.50 stack of pancakes - the wife was pleasantly shocked, and enjoyed every minute thereof ... the rest of the breakfast truly a cut above also, and all for $13 for two people ... have eaten there the last handful of times in LNK - Heather runs a heck of a show: unpretentious, just quality through and through - comes highly recommended... doesn't look like much (she puts the money into the food), but your stomach will thank you. ]

As a kid my dad ordered real maple syrup from LL Bean. My brother and I did not like it at all. We both went for the Aunt Jemima fake stuff. I can't really explain it but something about the real stuff just didn't taste right. (Probably the lack of HFCS)

 

[Silver Star rider]

I guess I can almost remember the days when the buffalo steak I am eating for dinner was just shot this morning from the mail car

Bruce-SSR

 

[neroden]

Grade B is the best. Thick dark maple-flavored stuff. You'll only get it in maple syrup country though. (I know where to get it in Ithaca.)

 

[yarrow]

or you can ride "the canadian" which serves real maple syrup. most of its offerings are freshly made(some from scratch)on the train