New Dining Car Menus Nov. 4

[jis]

So far I have not faced any rationing of water, ice, juice or coffee. but I may just have been lucky to have SCAs that simply ignored the latest brainless policies.

 

[TylerP42]

The Cap from DC only gets about 10 pizzas, 3 out of the (10?) cafe items and about 10 of each, one case of Pepsi and one case of diet Pepsi for its Cafe car. I went down to the cafe car about 3 hrs after departure and he was almost out of everything, and informed me they would not be restocking.

 

[BCL]

I have had the Crab Cakes before, even a couple times when they rotated onto the Breakfast Menu, and they were good.

I had them as a breakfast special once. Pretty good. However, back then beverages were included.

 

[Palmetto]

My wife has to be gluten free and the salmon or tilapia were always excellent choices. Crab cakes, while I enjoy them, are not a good option for her, as crab cakes contain breading. Breading means wheat, which is a no go.

Unadulterated fish always made for a great past option and I wish they would bring it back. She already can't eat most things on the menu ...

Just be aware that the majority of tilapia we get in the US is farm raised in China and their primary diet is feces.

I hope you don't like mushrooms. I once had a tour of a mushroom farm in France. The first stop on the tour was a rather large pile of horse manure, which is put into boxes to serve as a culture for growing the mushrooms.

 

[Palmetto]

The great plan to ficticious dining car profitability continues. Then what happens when it is discovered that dining cars in their entire history were never profitable and can never be made profitable?

Is that what you think this menu change is about?

The menu changes across the company, including Acela First Class and Cafe cars frequently to try to bring a little variety in choices to those people who ride more than a handful of times a year. (I'm extra board and work just about everything in or out of Boston, and there are certain trains that I already expect certain passengers to be on, because they're so frequent."")

After watching most long distance trains merged into a single generic nationwide menu, with fewer selections than any one train previously offered, this post sounds laughably naive.

Not naïve for the Northeast Corridor. There is much more of a need there to rotate menus because businessmen actually ride certain trains in large numbers, and regularly.

 

[SP&S]

I have had the Crab Cakes before, even a couple times when they rotated onto the Breakfast Menu, and they were good.

I had them as a breakfast special once. Pretty good. However, back then beverages were included.

Yes indeed! I have had them for dinner and as a breakfast special. I've been waiting for them to come back ever since. If the new ones are anyway near the quality of the old ones, it will be a treat.

 

[neroden]

My wife has to be gluten free and the salmon or tilapia were always excellent choices. Crab cakes, while I enjoy them, are not a good option for her, as crab cakes contain breading. Breading means wheat, which is a no go.

Unadulterated fish always made for a great past option and I wish they would bring it back. She already can't eat most things on the menu ...

Sympathies. Because Amtrak can't even tell me what the food ingredients are (something which 99% of restaurants can do), I can't eat anything except the most obvious -- plain fish, plain meat, plain eggs, plain vegetables.

One more move to make it *impossible* for customers to eat in the diner.

 

[neroden]

i am disappointed to see the salmon go away. I love salmon and have never had a bad salmon dinner on Amtrak. I will now have to choose something else. Drat! I hate having to be flexible!!! :angry:

If they keep going at this rate, soon the Pepperoni pizza from the Cafe will start appearing like the most attractive fare on the train Juuuuust kidding.

The cafe food is already usually better than the dining car food. Which is completely ridiculous.

For one thing, it has an ingredients list.

Unfortunately, I can't get a balanced diet off the national-menu cafe. On the Acela, NE Regional, Downeaster, Surfliner, and Empire Service, I pretty much can.

 

[neroden]

The Cap from DC only gets about 10 pizzas, 3 out of the (10?) cafe items and about 10 of each, one case of Pepsi and one case of diet Pepsi for its Cafe car. I went down to the cafe car about 3 hrs after departure and he was almost out of everything, and informed me they would not be restocking.

Looks like the only way to travel Amtrak is to carry your own case of food.

Since food is a medical disability-accomodation requirement for many (most?) people, it is exempt by federal law from the luggage limits. That's going to give Amtrak some fun headaches.

 

[neroden]

Triley, I was told of you call it in Advance they will have a special options you can choose and they'll bring it on board and you notify your car attendant when you board.

Well they won't do it if your food sensitivity is at all unusual. The sole allowance I got from Amtrak is that my bag of food is noted on my tickets as being a disability accomodation and not subject to luggage limits. Which is really the legal minimum they can do.

 

[Palmetto]

Well, it's near the end of the work day, and the May 2015 menus are still posted. When are the new ones actually going online?

 

[Triley]

Well, it's near the end of the work day, and the May 2015 menus are still posted. When are the new ones actually going online?

The Regional menus posted are two years old, and are three revisions old. Sooo...

 

[Lonestar648]

For years the menus have been changed. The fish has been Salmon, blackened Cat Fish, Tilapia, Cod, Halibut, so they were trying to keep some variety, true in some cases it didn't work. Unfortunately, the never to be profitable food service operation, keeps getting streamlined with the unrealistic idea it can ever be profitable. By having the same menu across the nation, Amtrak try's to pacify those in Congress who would like to see Amtrak passengers forced from LD trains due to starvation (traveling from LAX on TE connecting to CL with no food service like some in Congress would have it would be impossible, thus satisfying grins on those in Congress.

Variety between trains is needed, just real food attracting more people to use the DC therefore increased revenue (didn't say profit, though increased revenue could somewhat reduce some of the losses). The old adage "you have to spend money to make money" is still true, even though many, many people try to go cheap and ultimately fail.

 

[peconicstation]

Although as I type this the new menus are not posted per se, you can find the info about the revised menu items on the food facts site.

It is very worth noting that there are now 2 distinct dinner 'specials", a pork shank, and a salsbury steak.

http://www.amtrakfoodfacts.com/

Ken

 

[keelhauled]

Changes to the Cardinal menu, as well. And at least some of the Acela options are new also. Plus the PPC menu is up on the food facts site. Rather interesting.

 

[JayPea]

Although as I type this the new menus are not posted per se, you can find the info about the revised menu items on the food facts site.

It is very worth noting that there are now 2 distinct dinner 'specials", a pork shank, and a salsbury steak.

http://www.amtrakfoodfacts.com/

Ken

The salisbury steak special looks pretty good. I will have to give it a try the next chance I get, which will be in March. Provided the menus haven't changed between now and then.

 

[Shanghai]

If no food is prepared on the train, why is there a Chef on board?

What does the Chef do?

 

[andersone]

The Chef operates the Micahwave

 

[Lonestar648]

I don't think the position is Chef any longer, rather cook (someone who follows procedures outlined by the Chef). Also, when the Cook was taken off the TE 21 and put on 22 this summer in FTW, one of the attendants got switched to the kitchen to make up dinner for those of us using the DC south of FTW.

 

[JoeBas]

So because Amtrak did one thing that reduced variability (which sucks), they can't to anything to try and maintain the last vestiges of it?

One thing?

01. Replaced the actual chef inspired meals with commissary chow

02. Substantially reduced the number of menu options

03. Merged all regional menus in a single generic national menu

04. Removed diner from this train, cook from that train, etc.

05. Removed some post-terminal and pre-terminal meal services

06. Introduced even more limited menus for "special circumstances"

07. Removed juice cocktails for mixed drinks and the like

08. Began rationing water, ice, coffee, and lettuce

09. Raised prices on nearly everything that remained

10. Removed the last vestiges of premium service routes

You forgot the flowers. *gasp*

 

[willem]

After watching most long distance trains merged into a single generic nationwide menu, with fewer selections than any one train previously offered, this post sounds laughably naive.

Not naïve for the Northeast Corridor. There is much more of a need there to rotate menus because businessmen actually ride certain trains in large numbers, and regularly.

Wait, what? Someone who rides for days on long distance trains needs no variation, but NEC riders who could eat before boarding or after disembarking need to switch things up?

"Variation" sounds like a good reason to bring back the individual route menus.

 

[Cho Cho Charlie]

I have always taken "variation" to be ordering something different from the same menu.

I mean, most fixed location restaurants, have the same menu, day-in and day-out. I get the variation I seek, by ordering different entrées each time I go there. I mean, I don't wait to go back, until they have a fully new menu.

 

[seat38a]

I wish they would bring back the plain cheesecakes and then add whatever flavor on top. Had the current iteration of the cheesecake and was not too thrilled with it.

 

[seat38a]

Looks like the Cardinal has the "Greek Yogurt Cheesecake." Now throw some fruit topping on that and it would be perfect.

 

[D.P. Roberts]

1. Speaking of "variation", there's even less of it on the new menu than there used to be. On the old menu, the chicken special for lunch was a unique item. Now, the special is just a smaller portion of the Pork Shanks they're serving at dinner.

2. How many of Amtrak's meals are now just frozen dinners? Amtrakfoodfacts indicates that the new enchiladas are just Amy's frozen. They cost under $4 at Walmart or Target. I wonder how much Amtrak will charge for those.

3. I do like how some of the new breakfast specials are named after the onboard crew, like "The Conductor" or "The Engineer." I have a suggestion for a new entree called "The Bad Sleeping Car Attendant". For this entree, your server will describe all the various options available to you, going over everything in great detail and promising to be there for all your needs. After placing your order, your server will then disappear, never to be seen or heard again...