Recent Amtrak Dining Car Food Photos

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I really like the chips served with the Amburgers. They aren't salty or greasy, and they have a good crunch. Does anyone know what brand they are?
 
On the EB, both breakfasts were good: French Toast (a larger serving than I could totally eat) with Bacon the first morning and the eggs/bacon the 2nd morning. The lunch menu is weak, I think. But, I had the Amtrak Burger with cheese and it was very good. Dinner the first night was the Steak and it was OK, really not better than average. I did like the sauce served on the side and it was a good compliment to the beef. Second night, I ordered the Sauteed Shrimp and they were good. The rice served with them was very good. The mixed vegetables were the same both nights and I thought they were excellent.

A previous poster asked about the kettle chips served. I don't know the brand that Amtrak uses, but I usually buy kettle chips of various brands at home and I find no difference among the brands. I agree, what Amtrak serves is good and is like what I find locally.
 
That veggie "medley" looks like it may be a touch on the nasty side; I'd probably see if I could extra spuds instead or just smother the life out of it with salad dressing.... :blink: :unsure: :p
 
The edamame made the vegetable mix work. I have had it 5 times this summer. I saw the chicken pasta come out looking great, running with sauce, then saw it come out as a solid blob of pasta with the chicken sauce poured over (looked terrible, I suggested to my table mate to return it, but they didn't want to make a scene). Shrimp was good as was the chicken breast, even juicy inside, instead of a hockey puck.
 
I've got to get back up to ride VIA again soon. I've only ridden the Canadian so far (and the VIA portion of the NYC - Toronto train). I want to ride the corridor trains and the Halifax train as well.

It's the little things... browsing through amtrak dining car pics on Instagram today and there are so many tacky things like the cheap pens turned upside down in a paper cup. Nothing says fine dining like that! Honestly... it's silly that any of complain about the plastic plates or loss of flowers when crews regularly can't bother with handing a pen to a customer... something that happens on a very regular basis in restaurants.
 
The food looks great, but for atmosphere and location... you can't beat location, location, location.
 
Maverickstation,

Thanks for posting the pictures. I'd appreciate a description of what you were served. I can identify, obviously, the roll. potatoes, mixed vegetables, cookie, and wine. Is the meat turkey? Or, maybe pork? What's in the white dish on the right side of the tray?

It does look nice a nice lunch.
 
Here is the rundown.

Train 62 Toronto to Montreal Limited.

Business Class, departed 9:20 am

9:45 Beverage Cart and Bagels.

11:15 Snacks and Beverage Cart.

11:45 Hot Towel Service.

12:15 Lunch, Choice of

Pork Tenderloin (shown)

Salmon Salad (shown)

Penne With Pesto

Served with Wine, or Cocktail

Or Soft Beverage.

Cookie for desert.

Scheduled arrival 14:20

Actual arrival. 14:30

Very enjoyable trip, awesome car

Attendant.

Ken
 
crescent-zephyr said:
It's the little things... browsing through amtrak dining car pics on Instagram today and there are so many tacky things like the cheap pens turned upside down in a paper cup. Nothing says fine dining like that! Honestly... it's silly that any of complain about the plastic plates or loss of flowers when crews regularly can't bother with handing a pen to a customer... something that happens on a very regular basis in restaurants.
Click to expand...
While your point is well taken, the convenience of having a pen at hand without waiting for an attendant to come back is sometimes preferable. It's never an issue with me, as I always have a pen with me. But for other people at the table in the sleepers, it can speed things along a bit.

OTOH, I've seen newbies start to fill out the ticket like it was a room service doorhanger, which must drive the LSAs and anyone who does an audit crazy. When done in my presence, I gently point out that they just need to put their car & room number and sign it, as the server will fill in the rest. If there weren't pens readily available, they wouldn't be as prone to doing that.

All in all, it's a combination of the little things. I'm less annoyed, for example, by the use of butcher paper instead of tablecloths (since a number of not-cheap restaurants also do the same), but making the tables and the food look like something out of a cheap BBQ joint where people come for the quality of the food and not the ambiance doesn't add to the experience (particularly when we all know that no one books travel on Amtrak for the food).
 
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RSG said:
crescent-zephyr said:
It's the little things... browsing through amtrak dining car pics on Instagram today and there are so many tacky things like the cheap pens turned upside down in a paper cup. Nothing says fine dining like that! Honestly... it's silly that any of complain about the plastic plates or loss of flowers when crews regularly can't bother with handing a pen to a customer... something that happens on a very regular basis in restaurants.
Click to expand...
While your point is well taken, the convenience of having a pen at hand without waiting for an attendant to come back is sometimes preferable. It's never an issue with me, as I always have a pen with me. But for other people at the table in the sleepers, it can speed things along a bit.

OTOH, I've seen newbies start to fill out the ticket like it was a room service doorhanger, which must drive the LSAs and anyone who does an audit crazy. When done in my presence, I gently point out that they just need to put their car & room number and sign it, as the server will fill in the rest. If there weren't pens readily available, they wouldn't be as prone to doing that.

All in all, it's a combination of the little things. I'm less annoyed, for example, by the use of butcher paper instead of tablecloths (since a number of not-cheap restaurants also do the same), but making the tables and the food look like something out of a cheap BBQ joint where people come for the quality of the food and not the ambiance doesn't add to the experience (particularly when we all know that no one books travel on Amtrak for the food).
Click to expand...
Most of the dining cars staffed out of New York have the LSA or Server ask for the room and car # from the guests, and then hand them the ticket and a pen for them to be signed. This solves several issues... 1. It's a classier way to do it. 2. It eliminates confusion, guests won't start filling out the ticket if all they are asked to do is sign at the X. 3. If a guest doesn't know there car # the attendant is there to help with a "who is your Car Attendant" etc.

I really despise the chicago and west style of having stacks of pens on the table and then being told, sometimes with a great deal of attitude (and sometimes very nicely) how to properly fill out the form. It just adds confusion to new passengers and takes away from any resemblance of a first class experience.

Where else... ever.. have you ever had to fill out such a form? Imagine Southwest Airlines having each passenger filling out a form that they requested peanuts or pretzels and received one or the other and not both! That's as ridiculous as Amtrak is in my opinion.

None of that rant was to disagree with you RSG... those photos of the VIA set up just look so classy and it reminded me of the Canadian Dining Car service.
 
I'm a huge fan of the food on the Canadian, but this stuff looks dried out and airplane-y.

Maverickstation said:
From Via Rail, lunch onboard Business Class from Toronto to Montreal.
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November is my first trip on the SWC in a few years. I hope they still have the chipotle veggie burger, it's the best item on the menu. Although my all time favorite was the chicken kiev from back in the '80s.
 

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