New Dining Car Menus Nov. 4

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I'm not personally a vegetarian, and probably never will be, but I was raised to appreciate and even enjoy vegetables as part of my upbringing. As an adult I've also learned that the easiest and most positive impact you can choose both for your body and for the planet is to eat less meat. It's unfortunate that Amtrak continues to treat vegetables as a distant afterthought rather than a core ingredient that greatly benefits from fresh sourcing and quality preparation. This isn't the 1940's anymore. There is no need to rely on boxed, canned, or frozen vegetables. We are quickly approaching 2016 and these days even generic hotel chains and dowdy old airports like London's much maligned Heathrow are stocking freshly prepared healthy selections packaged and ready for you to pickup and take on the next leg of your journey.

Meanwhile the freshness and nutritional content of Amtrak's food continues to struggle to match convenience store standards in developing countries. If Boardman is in genuine agreement with the likes of Mica and Shuster, that the food and beverage service needs to break even or better in five (four?) years or less, then the the least he can do is start selling nutritious and freshly prepared foods in major stations along the way. How often do you think Boardman eats this low nutrition, highly caloric, and heavily processed food? How about John Mica or Bill Shuster? I don't expect the kind of five star dining they're more accustomed to, but I do expect an acknowledgement that they're falling further and further behind in a world that is rapidly becoming more and more aware of where our food comes from, how it's processed, and how much harm it can do if we don't take our choices seriously. It would also seem to be good business sense to offer something genuinely fresh and tasty.
 
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Rode the Chief from Los Angeles to Chicago this week. We had no issue in the diner, salads upon request at lunch, Sam Sullivan and his crew in the diner did an excellent job, kept us fed and happy. And by gosh, they let folks sit side by side!

With the exception of the final crew leg into Chicago, the train crew honored the hat off passing through the diner, some traditions still continue.

john
 
I'll be honest I prefer the pancakes to the French toast. And I always have. Maybe because that used to be breakfast from my dad every Sunday morning. And the Amtrak ones were better then his. But the atmosphere helped those
 
Has anybody had the bacon recently? I always find it just a tad too crisp. Some people love it that way, though.
 
On our recent western trip we skipped dinner out of LA on the SWC and out of Chicago on the City of New Orleans. We knew we had many meals to on the train and didn't want to overload. The dinner we picked up at the new market in LAX (dinner salad and an hors d'oeurve tray) was outstanding. Ok, we tried the new bakery there too for desert - so good. Too many good restaurants in Chicago to eat the abbreivated CONO dinner.

But, on a positive note, the continental breakfast and chicken salad at lunch on the CONO were quite good. We had to save our selves for the wonderous food in New Orleans!
 
I'm not personally a vegetarian, and probably never will be, but I was raised to appreciate and even enjoy vegetables as part of my upbringing. As an adult I've also learned that the easiest and most positive impact you can choose both for your body and for the planet is to eat less meat. It's unfortunate that Amtrak continues to treat vegetables as a distant afterthought rather than a core ingredient that greatly benefits from fresh sourcing and quality preparation. This isn't the 1940's anymore. There is no need to rely on boxed, canned, or frozen vegetables. We are quickly approaching 2016 and these days even generic hotel chains and dowdy old airports like London's much maligned Heathrow are stocking freshly prepared healthy selections packaged and ready for you to pickup and take on the next leg of your journey.

Meanwhile the freshness and nutritional content of Amtrak's food continues to struggle to match convenience store standards in developing countries. If Boardman is in genuine agreement with the likes of Mica and Shuster, that the food and beverage service needs to break even or better in five (four?) years or less, then the the least he can do is start selling nutritious and freshly prepared foods in major stations along the way. How often do you think Boardman eats this low nutrition, highly caloric, and heavily processed food? How about John Mica or Bill Shuster? I don't expect the kind of five star dining they're more accustomed to, but I do expect an acknowledgement that they're falling further and further behind in a world that is rapidly becoming more and more aware of where our food comes from, how it's processed, and how much harm it can do if we don't take our choices seriously. It would also seem to be good business sense to offer something genuinely fresh and tasty.
100% agreed. Basic greens are a core component of any balanced, healthy diet, and the US government has been telling us this since the 1930s (with the Four Basic Food Groups) and much more so since the 1980s (with the Food Pyramid). Amtrak needs to make veggies readily available. Not having a salad is deeply unacceptable.

I raised holy hell about this on a trip last year when the servers refused to let me buy a salad (apparently salads were understocked and they were "saving" them for sleeper passengers, but fergodssake if someone is specifically trying to order and pay for a salad... I even pointed out that I needed it for medical reasons on my doctor's advice...). One of the other diners at my table gave me her salad. The servers did not get a tip from anyone at our table, because their behavior was grossly unacceptable. I also reported it to Customer Relations.
 
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Has anybody had the bacon recently? I always find it just a tad too crisp. Some people love it that way, though.
Agreed. I hate super crispy bacon, but that's just my preference
What! There are people who don't like crispy bacon! That sounds un-American to me. I demand an investigation! (Before everyone gets all tipped off, I'm just being sarcastic _- and a I love crispy bacon, the crispier the better!)
 
Curios if that is rice pasta or if it has wheat...
Pad Thai is rice noodle. Typically dry rice noodle that has to be soaked before frying. It typically would have peanuts, but the photo doesn't show any.

Looks like a Ramen meal that college students live on! No thanks!

Never had real ramen? Good ramen is amazing - especially with the right broth. Instant or dry is cheap and meant to be. That being said, many Asian cultures love instant noodles because it's comfort food.
 
Tonight i left Chicago and headed back to Socal on American Airlines. You know, even with the plastic plates and all the other gripes folks have.... I still prefer Amtrak dinners in the diner over this first class dinner on the plane....did i have an enjoyable conversation with any the passengers other than my lovely wife?.ImageUploadedByAmtrak Forum1448775321.587931.jpg
 
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Has anybody had the bacon recently? I always find it just a tad too crisp. Some people love it that way, though.
Agreed. I hate super crispy bacon, but that's just my preference
What! There are people who don't like crispy bacon! That sounds un-American to me. I demand an investigation! (Before everyone gets all tipped off, I'm just being sarcastic _- and a I love crispy bacon, the crispier the better!)
Same here! I love crispy bacon. I don't want the bacon still oinking at me when I try to eat it! :lol:
 
Tonight i left Chicago and headed back to Socal on American Airlines. You know, even with the plastic plates and all the other gripes folks have.... I still prefer Amtrak dinners in the diner over this first class dinner on the plane....did i have an enjoyable conversation with any the passengers other than my lovely wife?.
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ImageUploadedByAmtrak Forum1448775321.587931.jpg
That is what a Coach Meal looked like back before Deregulation. And even if you were flying shorter haul, say from OKC-ORD during Meal time, you likely would have been served. But I fully agree I'll take an Amtrak Diner Meal any day.
 
One thing I'm noticing which makes no sense to me is the Express Menu. What train is that on. I've never heard of it
You also have an Express Menu ( "Limited )on #4 for Dinner out of LAX, on #30 for "Brunch" out of PGH, #22 for Lunch out of SPI and on the "No Chef" Trains,the Cardinal #50/#51 and the CONO #58/#59.

Since I don't ride LD as much anymore, I'm sure there are others also!
 
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.)
 
Actual Pad Thai looks more like this...

600px-Phat_Thai_kung_Chang_Khien_street_stall.jpg


I’ve never once seen anything on Amtrak that looks anything like that. Sometimes it's better to aim low and succeed than to aim high and fail miserably. Nonetheless thanks for the actual images as prepared on Amtrak. It's always best to know in advance what's waiting for you.

Looks like a Ramen meal that college students live on! No thanks!
Never had real ramen? Good ramen is amazing - especially with the right broth. Instant or dry is cheap and meant to be. That being said, many Asian cultures love instant noodles because it's comfort food.
Freshly prepared ramen is indeed very tasty. I had some in Japan yesterday. I’m not sure when or if Amtrak ever prepared a made-from-scratch soup on board a train. All I know is that I’ve never seen such a thing in all my years of traveling on Amtrak.

One thing I'm noticing which makes no sense to me is the Express Menu. What train is that on. I've never heard of it
I believe the Express Menu is technically possible on any long distance train and which menu you receive appears to be based on the whims of the dining crew. I've even had them hand me the regular menu and then take that one out of my hands and replace it with the Express Menu without explanation.
 
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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.)
I believe the Silver Meteor does have the new menu. Shanghai traveled on the Meteor last week and I believe he mentioned the new menu.
 
Looks like a Ramen meal that college students live on! No thanks!
That would be an IMPROVEMENT over what some crews push outa the diner kitchen. So sad, beautiful equipment, so VASTLY underutilized. A full size kitchen, with enough cooking, prep, and storage space to make any dinner train operator salivate uncontrollably. Toasters? Oh, long, long, long, gone. Eggs cooked to order? Bye-bye long time ago..........

Those who mock the "Slippery Slope" argument, when "minor ammenities" (flowers, coffee all-day) are lost, take note.
 
Thanks, Penny, for the information on the Meteor.

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).
 
I've had the express lunch on the eastbound CZ when it was 3+ hours late and no excuse whatsoever. I submitted a QA report regarding the rogue operation and received a suitable stipend for my service.
 
Last Summer on either the Meteor or Lake Shore (I cannot recall off hand) the Chef would periodically stand where he could look over the Dining Room and as I prepared to cut into my Steak, I managed to catch his eye. He watched with anticipation and after the first bite, I gave a SOLID Thumbs Up and he smiled and replied with the same. Now that is service!
 
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