Nothing Could Be Finer Than Dinner In The Diner

[tommylicious]

That Starlight "steak" looks more like a pork chop! And boy howdy does the Canadian food look amazing!

Pork Shanks for lunch on the Southwest Chief this year.

Second picture is the steak on The Starlight in 2012.

The 3rd and 4th pictures are off topic but were from the same trip as the Starlight steak. But were taken on the Canadian.

 

[crescent-zephyr]

Entree Salad on the Zephyr this summer. Really good lunch option if you are tired of the burgers!View attachment 5941

And box breakfast on the Portland Empire Builder.

 

[crescent-zephyr]

Box breakfast on the Portland Empire Builder

 

[Mystic River Dragon]

That breakfast looks delicious! Does it come from a caterer out in Oregon?

 

[the_traveler]

The boxed breakfast on the EB is from an outfit from Havre, MT. The boxed dinner on the EB is from an outfit in Portland.

I had the lamb on the CS (PPC) just a few days ago. It was quite good!

 

[OlympianHiawatha]

The boxed breakfast on the EB is from an outfit from Havre, MT. The boxed dinner on the EB is from an outfit in Portland.

I had the lamb on the CS (PPC) just a few days ago. It was quite good!

At first that looked like just a roll in the boxed breakfast, making for a pretty lean meal. But then I saw meat peeking out of it, making it look much, much better What is hidden in the foil covered cup-juice?

 

[Mystic River Dragon]

That's what I thought, too, but on further inspection, it looks like an egg, meat, and cheese sandwich on a croissant. But it was the blueberry crumble for breakfast that won me over!

 

[crescent-zephyr]

Yogurt. On the train I was on the cafe attendant offered to heat up the croissant which helped a lot. Another thing that helps a lot is the lovely Columbia River gorge that you can look at while eating this breakfast! Ha.

 

[zepherdude]

Yogurt. On the train I was on the cafe attendant offered to heat up the croissant which helped a lot. Another thing that helps a lot is the lovely Columbia River gorge that you can look at while eating this breakfast! Ha.

Croissant is always better heated, otherwise it is just a cold croissant. Columbia Gorge is awesome!!!

 

[Palmetto]

Yogurt. On the train I was on the cafe attendant offered to heat up the croissant which helped a lot. Another thing that helps a lot is the lovely Columbia River gorge that you can look at while eating this breakfast! Ha.

Croissant is always better heated, otherwise it is just a cold croissant. Columbia Gorge is awesome!!!

The croissants are good, alright. But I wish they had toast as an option. Just me talking.

 

[ciship]

I was on the CONO twice this past summer, and we had nothing that looked like any of these wonderful meals! Ours came in plastic wrap that we peeled off on a plastic plate. I was really disappointed.

 

[PVD]

The bean counters took the chef off the CONO.

 

[tommylicious]

This is from a trip on the LSL last March, when they still had a proper diner (a great Heritage diner with a great crew who cared). I refuse to ride any Amtrak LD route which doesn't have cooked to order food. We're taking the Canadian this fall and will post food pix later.

 

[PVD]

Hopefully, they will return to the LSL soon. Even with the Chef, losing the food specialist position makes it harder to get the food out when it's busy, and appearance and consistent presentation do matter. To most diners there is a psychological function that makes good looking food seem better than the same food sloppily presented.

 

[crescent-zephyr]

Parlour Car Meals from about a year ago on the Coast Starlight (my final "loophole" rewards trip!).

Lunch was an entree salad with "local" (Oregon or Washington state) organic Apples.

Dinner was the Pasta with Beechers Cheese Sauce (Beechers is a famous cheese shop in Seattle at Pike place).

Both were excellent and of purse the Parlour car has great atmosphere.

 

[Palmetto]

Do they serve meat in the PPC?

 

[crescent-zephyr]

Do they serve meat in the PPC?

Of course. When I rode, the other dinner option was the Lamb Shank, which I have also tried and enjoyed.

The lunch option was a fancy sounding ham sandwich. Also chicken was offered on top of the salad.

 

[Train2104]

Hopefully, they will return to the LSL soon. Even with the Chef, losing the food specialist position makes it harder to get the food out when it's busy, and appearance and consistent presentation do matter. To most diners there is a psychological function that makes good looking food seem better than the same food sloppily presented.

Do most trains still have a Food Specialist? I thought it was one person downstairs.

 

[Bob Dylan]

Hopefully, they will return to the LSL soon. Even with the Chef, losing the food specialist position makes it harder to get the food out when it's busy, and appearance and consistent presentation do matter. To most diners there is a psychological function that makes good looking food seem better than the same food sloppily presented.

Do most trains still have a Food Specialist? I thought it was one person downstairs.

None in the case of the Lake Shore and Silver Starvation which have no Diner and the Cardinal and CONO which have no Chef, just Heat and Eat food warmed up in Convection oven by one person who is also the Waitperson and Busser!

 

[Train2104]

None in the case of the Lake Shore and Silver Starvation which have no Diner and the Cardinal and CONO which have no Chef, just Heat and Eat food warmed up in Convection oven by one person who is also the Waitperson and Busser!

I'm referring to the Zephyr, Chief, etc.

 

[PVD]

I'm not sure. I know they used to have one, they may have gone in the first round of food service cuts.

 

[OlympianHiawatha]

Do they serve meat in the PPC?

Of course. When I rode, the other dinner option was the Lamb Shank, which I have also tried and enjoyed.

The lunch option was a fancy sounding ham sandwich. Also chicken was offered on top of the salad.

The couple times I've had Lamb Shank in the PPC it was AMAZING (actually probably not much better than what was served in the Diner, but the atmosphere of the PPC kicked it up a few notches). As for the sandwiches, we ordered Turkey Subs one trip and the PPC Attendant pulled out these cello wrapped jobs like you get at 7-11. But by the time he was finished with them, they were well doctored to the nines and given a Firs Class presentation.

 

[snvboy]

Meanwhile, on the Cardinal....

it's a big old pile of Rigatoni pasta for lunch for $12.50.

 

[OlympianHiawatha]

Those look like consumer grade frozen meals you can buy at Walmart for $2.50!

 

[tommylicious]

Gross. That's $2.50 for a 10 pack....Made in China no doubt.

Those look like consumer grade frozen meals you can buy at Walmart for $2.50!