Having eaten both the Amstew and the flex meals, I have to disagree. The flex meals, for all their faults, really are better.
I guess it is a matter of taste. I prefer my food consistently heated all the way through, not cold in the center and dried out
at the edges. Nor do I like it all slopped together, with unchewable bits here and there and mush elsewhere.
At least with canned stew, you expect everything to be cooked together.
I also thought desserts were supposed to be sweet. The "brownie" or the "blondie" are those prepackaged bitter, tasteless
things appear to be made of all natural organic floor sweeping compound, spiderweb dust and unrecogizable crunchy bits
Sitting in the room, you hear on the speaker "Room D, your meal is on the table". That is your cue to enter the Holy of Holies,
the cafe/dining car with at least two tables occupied by crew, and then inspect the foil covered containers on the table by
deducing your selections from the scrawl in the foil.
Here's a pic of the gustatorial delight with which i was presented on The Eagle last week.
Needs work, Jack...
I took the bottle of Jack Daniel's and the "salad" back to my room to enjoy with the hot meal I prepared with my "field kitchen", where I had a couple of hot egg and ham sandwiches and chips & dip. Also some more Jack Daniels, pound cake, and a fresh brewed cup of coffee laced with brandy.