New Dining Car Menus Nov. 4

[willem]

That is service in both directions!

 

[fillyjonk]

I had the pancakes coming back after Thanksgiving (going up, the TE had French toast...go figure. Guess they were using up leftovers?)

The pancakes were not terrible but not great. But I am picky about pancakes because I usually make my own from scratch.

I also had the steak, it now comes with caramelized onions (which I really enjoyed) instead of some kind of brown sauce (which I never did).

I will say I wish they were more consistent in veggie prep - I've had green beans that were *perfect,* but more recently it seems like they're either cooked hard or way too mushy. (I can't eat the carrots - have a food intolerance to them. So I pick out the green beans and leave the carrots)

I SUPPOSE the common menu might have some economies of scale but it's not very attractive for someone to take a cross-country trip on several lines (e.g, TE to EB) if they know it's gonna be the same four or five entrees for every night of the trip.

I also wish they'd some day bring back the peanut butter pie they used to have, I really enjoyed that.

 

[Palmetto]

Filly,

You have to remember what's printed on packaging for cooking directions. "Oven vary...."

 

[oregon pioneer]

What am I missing here? Spot checking menus on Amtrak.com, the menus (PDFs) I see are all coded "0515", the CONO is "0715".

The menu items themselves are the same as I experienced last August on the TE, CL and SWC.

Have they not updated the website?

Current menus are not found on the individual train pages, but all may be found on the Amtrak Food Facts page.

I have looked over the menu, and the chocolate tart is a definite yes and the noodle dish is a definite no. Probably will just stick with the tried-and-true (whatever of those dishes are left).

When I first had the chocolate tart on my eastbound CZ trip last month, I told the server I would be eating it at every meal where offered, until I reached Chicago or they ran out. Some may not like the texture of the crust, but I thought of it as "fudgy." The filling, of course, is divine.

The pancakes were not terrible but not great. But I am picky about pancakes because I usually make my own from scratch.

Yep, me too. No white flour pancake ever measures up to my whole grain sourdough, so I just get the Continental with oatmeal.

 

[TEREB]

Does the Silver Meteor have the new menu? I will be traveling on it soon and like to plan ahead so as not to hold up the servers or the other people at my table. (I don't want to look over all the choices online and then find it's the old menu and have to decide quickly.)

We just got off the Meteor on Saturday. Yes, they had the new menu. By the way, the crab cakes were SHRIMP and crab cakes. I thought they were not too bad. Not as good as the original. Didn't care for the sauce that came with it. I bring my own little packets of tarter sauce. Chocolate dessert was actually pretty good, a little too sweet, but good.

Water in sleepers was a brand called Roxane. From upstate NY. This water was vile. I have two meds that I have to take with a full glass of water, and this water made me gag.

 

[BCL]

Water in sleepers was a brand called Roxane. From upstate NY. This water was vile. I have two meds that I have to take with a full glass of water, and this water made me gag.

Roxane is a French company. The US subsidiary is called CG Roxane, and their best known brand name is Crystal Geyser Alpine Spring Water. Apparently they have a variety of different labels, along with different water sources.

Their NY plant seems to be their latest. I have absolutely no issues with their water from their Mt Shasta source - ironically enough bottled in Weed, CA.

http://www.fccrg.org/fulton-county-news/spring-water-bottler-c-g-roxane-opens-crystal-geyser-plant-in-johnstown-ny/

Sometimes I see a bottle that lists as many as 6 different sources, and some have some odd taste while some are pretty good. You never know what you're going to get, although it's supposedly safe enough to drink.

 

[TEREB]

Water in sleepers was a brand called Roxane. From upstate NY. This water was vile. I have two meds that I have to take with a full glass of water, and this water made me gag.

Roxane is a French company. The US subsidiary is called CG Roxane, and their best known brand name is Crystal Geyser Alpine Spring Water. Apparently they have a variety of different labels, along with different water source.

And Crystal Geyser tastes pretty good to me. Too bad they didn't stick with it. Thanks for the information.

 

[BCL]

Water in sleepers was a brand called Roxane. From upstate NY. This water was vile. I have two meds that I have to take with a full glass of water, and this water made me gag.

Roxane is a French company. The US subsidiary is called CG Roxane, and their best known brand name is Crystal Geyser Alpine Spring Water. Apparently they have a variety of different labels, along with different water source.

And Crystal Geyser tastes pretty good to me. Too bad they didn't stick with it. Thanks for the information.

I think it depends on their source, and I suppose the taste could change depending on conditions at the source. This is from a West Virginia health agency and lists name brands, the company, and known sources. They have both Roxane and Mountain Roxane listed.

http://www.wvdhhr.org/phs/bottledwater/brands/rptbwbrandnames.pdf

These are Crystal Geyser's source:

http://www.crystalgeyserasw.com/resources.html

http://www.crystalgeyserasw.com/docs/ASW_Bottled_Water_Report_Johnstown.pdf

Their newest is Johnstown, NY.

 

[TEREB]

BCL.... Very interesting links. Thanks for posting.

 

[blondninja]

Read this yesterday and thought it appropriate.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/flights/2015/11/30/airline-food-american-delta-united/76445822/

Too bad Amtrak seems to be going in the opposite direction.

 

[Devil's Advocate]

Read this yesterday and thought it appropriate.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/flights/2015/11/30/airline-food-american-delta-united/76445822/

Too bad Amtrak seems to be going in the opposite direction.

From the article...

Delta is making its domestic first class offerings more healthful and varied, going from roughly a dozen to 24 different options on flights that travel between 900 and 1499 miles. Among the possible entrees: grilled shrimp with roasted corn and tomato salad, or lemongrass chicken with Japanese cobb salad. The change reflects a renewed approach to food the airline first served on its international service, says Delta spokesman Michael Thomas. And he adds that the larger menu will hopefully keep frequent fliers from becoming bored with the same choices flight after flight. “Essentially if you are a frequent flier with us, it will be several months before you would have a duplicate meal,’’ Thomas says.

^ Compare that with Amtrak's philosophy of waiting several months to avoid yet another duplicate meal.

The main saving factor for me is that regardless of your class of service many airports now have improved selections for food compared to the past. It's not exclusively frozen junk food anymore and in many cases you can find freshly prepared and tasty food if you take the time to look beyond your own gate area. For domestic flights I rarely need a meal because they're not long enough for me to get that hungry, but on Amtrak's LD network most trips are a long and involved process that is greatly impacted by the quality and variability of the food. Unfortunately in the case of Amtrak the lack of options, adverse schedule keeping, and poor calling times at many train stations means you're limited to whatever they bothered to stock on board. Which largely remains stuck in the frozen and precooked junk food era which is then warmed over and dumped on a plate.

 

[OlympianHiawatha]

Along the lines of Menu changes, are there any reports of Turkey Dinners showing up in LD Diners on Thanksgiving?

 

[fillyjonk]

I always liked the Ozarka water they used to have. (I have now taken to carrying my own tap water in a metal bottle - you can't always trust there WILL be bottled water, even in the sleepers). I had the Roxane on the last trip and found nothing objectionable about it. I suppose it depends on the source where it was bottled.

A bit more on the pancakes: I will say they were better than (at least my local) IHOP. I'm actually kind of disappointed in IHOP, for a place with "pancakes" in its name, the ones I've have had are not that good.

Also, on the trip up, I had lunch - I got the mac and cheese. Nothing objectionable about it but it was pretty clearly Kraft. Also not served with veggies and I thought it was going to be.

Of the "new" desserts, I like the chocolate tart but it is EXTREMELY rich. I think I'd prefer to have half of one.... Unlike some other folks here, actually like the strawberry cheesecake, too, though I admit I liked the traditional cheesecake better.

 

[Mystic River Dragon]

I was on the Silver Meteor for dinner yesterday and breakfast today (the train was on time, so no free lunch--darn!) It turned out to be a very pleasant surprise. Flowers in vases on the tables (not sure if they were real, I didn't want to be rude and pick them up and check)--real or not, they were attractive. The four of us at the table were asked if we wanted a salad, and the server actually seemed disappointed that two of us said no.

We all stuck to the safer basics (steak for everyone), and all of our meals were hot and prepared well. We varied on dessert (two cheesecakes, one ice cream, and one chocolate cream tart--that last was me, of course ) . Everyone enjoyed their desserts.

For breakfast, I had a cheese omelet with the potatoes and a croissant (plus dessert and coffee). It was the tried-and-true again, but it was fine, and the omelet was done nicely.

I've seen this dining crew before--they are professional, polite, and efficient and do a good job. My wonderful sleeper car attendant (Jean) was in the dining car at dinner and helping the dining car crew (a full train, with four sleepers!)

 

[Narrow Margin]

I thought the chicken, pork shanks and steak were all pretty decent on the Coast Starlight up to Portland a couple weeks ago. I would say an improvement over the same chicken and steak dishes that were served on the Southwest Chief when I rode back in May.

 

[TylerP42]

I think the chicken got worse. I used to love it. When I had it a few weeks ago, it was way over seasoned.

 

[Davids]

Here are some pictures taken from train 850 on Nov 30. The meals were blue plate dinner specials.

 

[willem]

I think the chicken got worse. I used to love it. When I had it a few weeks ago, it was way over seasoned.

Tastes vary, of course, but I thought the half-chicken was way over-salted when I had it a couple of years ago.

If most dishes are being mass produced off-train, I suppose the chance of a significant variation between servings is reduced.

 

[yarrow]

Here are some pictures taken from train 850 on Nov 30. The meals were blue plate dinner specials.

yeah, well amtrak couldn't, yeah,well do anything, yeah,well like that. on account of being scared of the big bad mica and on account of management being pretty clueless and yeah,well look at the food they serve on "beech grove". nothing to complain of there

 

[Manny T]

In my understanding Aramark runs Amtrak's commissaries; whether the food comes onto the train pre-cooked, uncooked, or flash-frozen must vary from item to item, and be based on the kitchen's menu and capacity.

For some background on Aramark, they stock prisons and high schools as well as trains. At the present time students at Roosevelt High School in Chicago have started a lunchroom boycott because of the poor quality of Aramark's meals. In addition the students are publishing a website with details of their boycott, featuring the meals in pictures, complaints, suggestions etc. Interesting reading alongside this forum. https://rhsschoollunch.wordpress.com/

Question: can Amtrak's riders can learn any lessons from the high school students in Chicago?

 

[Big Iron]

In my understanding Aramark runs Amtrak's commissaries; whether the food comes onto the train pre-cooked, uncooked, or flash-frozen must vary from item to item, and be based on the kitchen's menu and capacity.

For some background on Aramark, they stock prisons and high schools as well as trains. At the present time students at Roosevelt High School in Chicago have started a lunchroom boycott because of the poor quality of Aramark's meals. In addition the students are publishing a website with details of their boycott, featuring the meals in pictures, complaints, suggestions etc. Interesting reading alongside this forum. https://rhsschoollunch.wordpress.com/

Question: can Amtrak's riders can learn any lessons from the high school students in Chicago?

With Aramark you get what you pay for. Aramark had the contract for the cafeteria at my former employer and the food was quite good. They also handled the Executive dining room and staffed a private Chef. That food was extremely good in both quality and presentation. Sodexo replaced Aramark at the contract renewal and Aramark was missed.

 

[Manny T]

"With Aramark you get what you pay for." That implies an honest business and a fair honest trade. But the students at Roosevelt High School did their research and this is what they found:

"We learned that Aramark is a company with a laundry list of corruption and scandals a mile long. They may not know how to keep us happy, but they certainly keep their investors happy."

 

[Palmetto]

The students at good ole Roosevelt High School have the option of bring their own lunch, like in former times. If you don't like the product, don't eat the product. Maybe they should talk to a few of their peers in Bangladesh who are begging on the streets for food.

Sorry for the rant, but frankly, I think we're spoiling the youngsters in the country. This from a person who was in education for 43 years until recently.

 

[Devil's Advocate]

The students at good ole Roosevelt High School have the option of bring their own lunch, like in former times. If you don't like the product, don't eat the product. Maybe they should talk to a few of their peers in Bangladesh who are begging on the streets for food. Sorry for the rant, but frankly, I think we're spoiling the youngsters in the country. This from a person who was in education for 43 years until recently.

So if you don't appreciate Aramark's product and don't approve of their business decisions for moral and ethical reasons then in your view the counter argument is that Bangladesh is worse? What kind of educator criticizes students for failing to accept the status quo or trying to change anything? Ranting about Bangladesh is Godwin's Law level laziness. When it comes to identifying shared problems, finding a path forward, and enacting real change American students need all the help and motivation they can get. Compared to citizens in other industrialized democracies Americans almost never speak out or disrupt anything en mass and our culture continues to suffer for it.

 

[Bob Dylan]

Ditto to Chri's post! We need more students and young people, hell people,getting involved!

Apathy and defending the status quo are the worst things in the world, for they allow evil and greed to triumph!