new menus posted, with calorie counts

[TVRM610]

Say what you will but the "chef inspired" crab cakes and lamb shank are the most consistently good dinner items.

 

[Bob Dylan]

Say what you will but the "chef inspired" crab cakes and lamb shank are the most consistently good dinner items.

I agree with the Lamb but i've had Passable to Terrible Crab Cakes on LD Trains! YMMV

 

[AmtrakBlue]

Say what you will but the "chef inspired" crab cakes and lamb shank are the most consistently good dinner items.

I agree with the Lamb but i've had Passable to Terrible Crab Cakes on LD Trains! YMMV

My daughter had the crab cakes 3 nights in a row (CL & CZ). The first two dinners they were good, but 2nd dinner on the CZ they were a little ?over cooked? (can't remember exactly what was wrong) but were still edible.

Now, being on the Delmarva Peninsula, I will say they're were not great. But they were still better than some I've had at restaurants (I had them the 2nd night of our trip).

 

[Bob Dylan]

The AGR Part of Flyer Talk where several AU Members Post has Pictures of the Deserts on the New Menus that have changed due to New Vendors! There are changes to the Cheesecake , Brownies and Ice Cream that don't Look or Sound all that Great, not sure about the Taste but I've always thought Amtrak had Good Deserts!! :unsure: Comments???

 

[pennyk]

The AGR Part of Flyer Talk where several AU Members Post has Pictures of the Deserts on the New Menus that have changed due to New Vendors! There are changes to the Cheesecake , Brownies and Ice Cream that don't Look or Sound all that Great, not sure about the Taste but I've always thought Amtrak had Good Deserts!! :unsure: Comments???

Jim, when I was on 98 on my way to NTD, the new brownies were on the menu and I had it for lunch and dinner. It was GREAT, in my opinion. However, the dessert menu on 97 (which was different) did not work for me since I do not eat cheesecake, ice cream or cream puffs. Several of the passengers raved about the cream puffs. Unfortunately for some people I know, the orange cheesecake was not on either menu. I think 98 and 91 have the same menus; and 92 and 97 have the same menus.

 

[Bob Dylan]

The AGR Part of Flyer Talk where several AU Members Post has Pictures of the Deserts on the New Menus that have changed due to New Vendors! There are changes to the Cheesecake , Brownies and Ice Cream that don't Look or Sound all that Great, not sure about the Taste but I've always thought Amtrak had Good Deserts!! :unsure: Comments???

Jim, when I was on 98 on my way to NTD, the new brownies were on the menu and I had it for lunch and dinner. It was GREAT, in my opinion. However, the dessert menu on 97 (which was different) did not work for me since I do not eat cheesecake, ice cream or cream puffs. Several of the passengers raved about the cream puffs. Unfortunately for some people I know, the orange cheesecake was not on either menu. I think 98 and 91 have the same menus; and 92 and 97 have the same menus.

:hi: Thanks Penny, I like all of them :wub: but the Cheesecake and the Long Gone Bourbon Pecan Pie were my Favorites, I hope to try the New Items on the way to the Gathering in CHI!!!!

 

[haolerider]

I love the term "Chef Inspired" - now just what that mean?

The chef is paid some money to lend his/her name to a recipe that is then modified by the food service company for production at the lowest possible labor cost and with the cheapest ingredients.
I occasionally get to travel business class on airlines, and some airlines have chefs do their menus. The food is still produced by Gate Gourmet or equivalent and is not the equivalent of the chef's own restaurant..

Actually, the chefs serve on an advisory committee and evaluate comments about the food and work toward introducing new items. They certainly do not cook the food and Aramark does the sourcing and preparation, but they have come up with some interesting and tasty items. Change is difficult for some people, but others complain about the same old menu items......so you can't please everyone!

 

[Devil's Advocate]

The AGR Part of Flyer Talk where several AU Members Post has Pictures of the Deserts on the New Menus that have changed due to New Vendors! There are changes to the Cheesecake , Brownies and Ice Cream that don't Look or Sound all that Great, not sure about the Taste but I've always thought Amtrak had Good Deserts!! :unsure: Comments???

Jim, when I was on 98 on my way to NTD, the new brownies were on the menu and I had it for lunch and dinner. It was GREAT, in my opinion. However, the dessert menu on 97 (which was different) did not work for me since I do not eat cheesecake, ice cream or cream puffs. Several of the passengers raved about the cream puffs. Unfortunately for some people I know, the orange cheesecake was not on either menu. I think 98 and 91 have the same menus; and 92 and 97 have the same menus.

The only thing I didn't like was that they wouldn't warn you they were going to dump a bunch of orange goop on your otherwise palatable cheesecake. That's not the vendor's fault though. Most of my desserts were those kid sized ice cream cups, either because nothing else sounded good or because that's all they were offering. I'm not exactly above eating Amtrak desserts, but they rarely impressed me. The new "in wrapper" serving style seems rather lazy, but I suppose there must be a reason.

 

[D.P. Roberts]

The AGR Part of Flyer Talk where several AU Members Post has Pictures of the Deserts on the New Menus that have changed due to New Vendors! There are changes to the Cheesecake , Brownies and Ice Cream that don't Look or Sound all that Great, not sure about the Taste but I've always thought Amtrak had Good Deserts!! :unsure: Comments???

Thanks for pointing that out! If anyone needs a link, here's the thread:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/amtrak-guest-rewards/1364242-nothing-could-finer-than-dinner-diner-thread-2.html

Here's a blog that also has meal photos:

http://amtrakmeals.blogspot.com/

 

[TVRM610]

Oh no!

Desserts appear to have declined quite a bit. I hope the new desserts don't last long.

 

[Aaron]

On the CS this week, we tried a couple of the new items, particularly the new toasted cheese sandwich and the turkey shank. I liked them a lot. The desserts served in their plastic containers really do seem lazy, especially contrasted to the real china on the CS. Te brownie chocolate cake would taste a lot better if they warmed it up and put a squirt of chocolate syrup on it.

Now, in addition to new menus being printed up for the dining cars, the CS has these welcome booklets in the sleepers that have the menus in them also. The new version of this booklet has a few typos, and one particularly egregious one:

 

[D.P. Roberts]

On the CS this week, we tried a couple of the new items, particularly the new toasted cheese sandwich and the turkey shank. I liked them a lot. The desserts served in their plastic containers really do seem lazy, especially contrasted to the real china on the CS. Te brownie chocolate cake would taste a lot better if they warmed it up and put a squirt of chocolate syrup on it.
Now, in addition to new menus being printed up for the dining cars, the CS has these welcome booklets in the sleepers that have the menus in them also. The new version of this booklet has a few typos, and one particularly egregious one:

They can add ice cream too, right? It sounds like that brownie thing is just asking to be warmed up, & have some ice cream on top. Despite its appearance, that sounds a lot better.

Great to hear that the toasted cheese & turkey dinner are good. I'm looking forward to trying those.

And by the way, that's not a typo - that's just how kids talk nowadays. It's a really slammin' fish, yo...

 

[SarahZ]

"Slamon Fillet". Love it. I thought the same thing DP did.

 

[Trainmans daughter]

"Slamon Fillet". Love it. I thought the same thing DP did.

Me too. Although I don't like seafood very much, but I can't wait to order the "slamin' fish", yo!

 

[CHamilton]

Now that's filet of soul!

 

[SarahZ]

Wait.

"Food-friendly, chilled Pinot Grigio."

Is there a wine that isn't food-friendly?

Like, is the bottle of wine going to grab a shiv and start cutting my steak like it owes it money or something?

 

[D.P. Roberts]

Wait.
"Food-friendly, chilled Pinot Grigio."

Is there a wine that isn't food-friendly?

Like, is the bottle of wine going to grab a shiv and start cutting my steak like it owes it money or something?

It reminds me of the old Monty Python sketch about Australian wines. " This is a bottle with a message in, and the message is 'beware'. This is not a wine for drinking. This is a wine for lying down and avoiding."

 

[The Davy Crockett]

The "Slamon Fillet' - inspired by Chef Tom Douglas..hmmm... maybe he ain't inspired to spell? :huh: Didn't he also 'inspire' the misnamed Mayland :blink: Style Crab Cakes.?

 

[D T Nelson]

I have also found many misspellings in the route guides. Lack of attention to detail is a hallmark of Amtrak.

 

[the Other Mike]

Wow, what a bunch of spelling snobs

I don't know if any of you are "friends" with Amtrak on FaceBook, but it drives me nuts. I keep slamming the person at Amtrak that posts the pics and comments. They will show a picture of something out west and make a comment about traveling in the northeast.

One other person replies to every post with a comment about how he can't go "there" because the Sunset doesn't travel east of New Orleans.

 

[dart330]

Taking the in-laws on their first train trip this weekend. Sent them the link to the updated menus and they were delighted to see the calories listed. I think this is a good change and I am surprised that things I usually order are on the lower calorie side. Surprising that the soup & salad for lunch and half chicken for dinner are so high.

 

[SarahZ]

Wow, what a bunch of spelling snobs
I don't know if any of you are "friends" with Amtrak on FaceBook, but it drives me nuts. I keep slamming the person at Amtrak that posts the pics and comments. They will show a picture of something out west and make a comment about traveling in the northeast.

One other person replies to every post with a comment about how he can't go "there" because the Sunset doesn't travel east of New Orleans.

Yeah, someone on Pinterest kept showing pictures of a "Surfliner" train in Kansas City. I tagged every single one of them with #superliner.

 

[Andy]

Several good gluten-free options!

 

[Ashland Train Enthusiast]

Here's a blog that also has meal photos:http://amtrakmeals.blogspot.com/

Hello All,

I am the owner/creator of this blog, and appreciate being able to provide something to help give folks' an idea of what to expect. With these menu changes, there are a lot more options out there and unfortunately I don't have any LD travel planned for the next several months, so I just wanted to put a shout-out that if anyone has any meal pictures from any recent travels that they would be willing to share, I'd greatly appreciate it. I wholeheartedly believe in the adage that a picture is worth a thousand words, so this is my attempt to collect and showcase these pictures.

~ DCTE

 

[berkyo]

Now why'd they have to go and do a thing like that? I don't care about the meals, I mean I have to eat, but why the desserts? Now I have to find a new way to justify that NY Cheesecake! I've always followed the rule that if desserts don't have the calories listed they have no calories.

Right! I do not want to know this on my vacation.