Great Western Coffee Shop

These are the timings of trains with Travelling Chef From London - Penzance

Monday - Friday

0730 London Padd - Penzance Via Bristol Temple Meads
1000 London Padd - Paignton
1006 London Padd - Penzance
1106 London Padd - Plymouth
1306 London Padd - Plymouth
1406 London Padd - Penzance
1506 London Padd - Penzance

Saturday's

0730 London Padd - Penzance Via Bristol Temple Meads
1000 London Padd - Paignton
1006 London Padd - Penzance
1206 London Padd - Penzance
1306 London Padd - Plymouth

Sunday's No Travelling Chef Service

These are the timings of trains with Travelling Chef From Penzance - London

Monday - Friday

0541 Penzance - London Padd
0548 Exeter St Davids - London Padd
0600 Plymouth - London Padd
0643 Penzance - London Padd
0737 Penzance - London Padd Via Bristol Temple Meads
1600 Penzance - London Padd

Saturday's

0540 Plymouth - London Paddington
0647 Penzance - London Paddington
0747 Plymouth - London Paddington
1000 Penzance - London Paddington

Sunday's No Travelling Chef Service

Timings of Pullman Restaurant From London - Penzance (Mondays - Friday Except Bank Holidays)

1206 London Padd - Penzance
1803 London Padd - Penzance
1903 London Padd - Penzance

Timings of Pullman Restaurant From Penzance - London (Mondays - Friday Except Bank Holidays)

0505 Penzance - London Padd
1000 Penzance - London Padd
1500 Plymouth - London Padd

Some Services May Not be provided between Plymouth & Penzance

I'll add the timings for the other HST routes later on :)

Penzance - Plymouth will only ever be a standard buffet service.

Probably for the same reason they don't provide an At Seat Trolley Service in First Class.

XC are even worse, they've withdrawn catering completely from Plymouth - Penzance

That's really bad. Plymouth to Penzance takes 2 hours! I will ensure I am always on FGW HSTs if going in this direction!

Of what does the travelling chef service actually consist in practice?
Whenever I have tried it, its been a counter service of toasted sandwiches only, nothing else and no table service in first class, as was promised.
Have I been unlucky or is this the norm?

Whenever possible I use trains with a proper pullman restaurant, and very good it is too, when available.

Not that many years ago there were 7 trains daily from paddington to the West with a pullman, now its 3, hows that for progress!
When the most of the pullmans were withdrawn, FGW promised that the wretched travelling chef would be a similar service to a pullman, with proper hot meals, china plates, table service in first etc.
What we get is a toasted sandwich in a cardboard carton! did not this used to be called a hot buffet?

The travelling chef seems to be very "hit and miss". I have often been told that they cannot provide a full menu because the set has the "wrong sort of oven" so only toasted sandwiches are available.

However, when there is a travelling chef on board during the week at-seat service is supposed to be available in first class. The first class host will tend to leave menus on tables and will happily take orders if asked, although they often do little else to advertise the presence of the travelling chef. Further, I have no experience of services to the west country but on Swansea services the customer hosts seem to clear away all menus and stop taking orders at Cardiff. When everything's working as is should, meals are served at your seat with proper crockery and cutlery.

In my experience the travelling chef service, when it's working well, serves pretty good food at very fair prices: I particularly like the breakfast platters! It certainly beats a microwaved cheeseburger or breakfast bap hands down. Unfortunately though you don't seem to be able to rely on there being a chef on the advertised services or there being a full menu when there is a chef on board.

One thing that has puzzled me recently about the travelling chef (and the short-lived Pullman Brasserie) is the almost wilful lack of promotion it receives. It's a long time since I have seen "a travelling chef is on board" displayed on a station departure screen and some train crews almost treat it as an official secret! I sometimes wonder if FGW are deliberately not promoting it so that, in the fullness of time it can be deemed uneconomic and removed.

So, like I said, great service when it's up and running correctly. Unfortunately that doesn't happen often enough!

I had a bacon bloomer this morning with the order taken from and served to my seat on a proper plate. The cardboard boxes have always been for standard passengers to take back to their seats. 

So maybe you've been unlucky.

Wht happened to the Pullman Brasserie services then?  Where they so unpopuilar

Pullman still operates on the
Breakfast
0629 Swansea - Paddington
0655 Plymouth - Paddington
Day Time
1145 Paddington - Swansea
1200 Plymouth - Paddington
1206 Paddington - Plymouth
1500 Plymouth - Paddington
1803 Paddington - Plymouth
1903 Paddington - Plymouth

The Pullman Brasserie service (as opposed to the full Pullman restaurant service) was a fairly short-lived rebranding of the travelling chef product. As D_M says, the full Pullman restaurant service is still offered on a limited number of west of England and Swansea services.

*is very tempted to suggest it went tits up*

*decides he'd better not...*

I predict that the Pullman (and probably the travelling chef) will be axed soon.

I can't see FGW putting passenger service over profits! ::)

What makes you say that it will be scraped :?

As I said in my last post - I can't see FGW putting customer service before profit.

Take a look at all TOCs. How many have reduced catering? Many (NXEA, EMT, XC....)!

Even FGW are trying/ have tried to get rid of buffet cars!

It is just the trend of declining service which goes when private, profit making companies run the railway!

If there isn't enough demand for it then the TOCs will scrap it. They won't keep running the pullman restaurant, brasserie, travelling chef or whatever its called now if no one uses them as running services like this at a loss is not an option when you start owing the government big premiums in order to run the franchise.

It is sad though to see catering services like these become less and less across the board as having a freshly cooked meal on the train is a great experience especially whilst the train is travelling through the highlands of Scotland. How I miss those GNER days!

I think you may have made a couple of boobs there, Phil ...  ;D

The thing is, there IS demand. There is always going to be demand for a good quality restaurant for long distance trains. But however popular, FGW will make more profit by scrapping it.

To use a analogy, there is demand for a Tranwilts service - but.....

Although I have never sampled the Pullman restaurant service, I've used the travelling chef frequently and as I have said above when it's provided as advertised I'm a big fan.

I find two things irksome: firstly that there is little attention to detail in the provision of the service, with travelling chefs regularly missing from the advertised services or only providing a limited menu. Secondly, very few people from FGW seem to give a toss about promoting the product, which bizarrely includes many of the frontline staff providing it!

The travelling chef is an elegant half-way house between a full sit-down meal (nice but very expensive and takes ages) and a microwave cheeseburger (minging!) and absolutely deserves to succeed. I really hope that FGW get their act together rather than eventually deeming the service to be uneconomic (because no-one uses it because it's not advertised and unreliable) and withdrawing it.

The big problem with the travelling chef service is lack of flexibility

I dont know what it is like since the menu change since I've only used them once.

But I regularly wanted a cheese and bacon baguette.

BUT there was only a bacon baguette OR a ham and cheese baguette

Sometimes you got someone who would adapt the menu, other times you got - we only have what is printed.

ludicrous

Once managed to negotiate a bacon, sausage cheese and tomato baguette. I got raging indigestion which probably served me right  :)

When I last used the travelling chef service (was about 8 months ago) I had a very good cheese and tomato toasted sandwich which was served at my seat with proper cutlery.

Compared to XC granted you get hot food free in First Class, you get wooden cutlery to eat it with, which IMO spoils the taste of the food. But you'd be lucky to get hot food on XC anyway.

The Pullman service is great and I would recommend it to anyone travelling up to London. You don't actually need a 1st class ticket to dine in it so as long as there is room available (first class ticket holders get priority) you can get a seat. As for it being pricey, well if a full English breakfast (silver service) plus a first class upgrade (during morning peak) for ^14.95 isn't good value, then I don't know what is!

How easy is it for STD ticket holders to get a seat for Pullman on 1803 or 190X  from PAD ?
Do you have to vacate your seat after your meal like on East Coast or is it only 1 sitting (travel to Cornwall)? any regulars please advise.

there wont be any demand if everyone knows it doesnt happen!!

That makes no sense. The Pullman service runs every night!

I frequently use the 1803 from Paddington on fridays, whilst standard class ticket holders are sometimes addmitted, it would be unwise to count on this, sometimes even first class ticket holders are turned away.
On this service I invariably pay first class to be nearly certain of getting a seat in the restaurant.
Sometimes the staff make no enquiry as to what ticket is held, and merely admit the first 17 or 29 customers to arrive. (I have complained about this if I have paid the full first class fare and been unable to dine because standard class were admitted first, having been able to run faster than me)
There is only one sitting, on leaving Paddington, first class ticket holders may therefore remain in the restaurant for the remainder of the journey if they wish.
Standard ticket holders are meant to return to standard class after completing the meal, though enforcement of this is rather variable.

On days other than Fridays, standard class have more of a chance, but I would not rely on this.

Seats in the pullman can be booked by those purchasing a first class ticket.

On less busy services such as the afternoon train from Plymouth, there is generly ample room in the restaurant for everyone.

Boarded the 07:15 from Taunton - Bristol Temple Meads this morning, went to the buffet,

Me: May I have a Latte Please?
Very Nice Lady: I'm Afraid you cannot sir, The machine is broken :(
Me: Oh Ok :( Do you have any hot food?
Very Nice Lady: Unfortunately the Microwave is Broken
Me: :( I'll have a cup of tea then please,
Very Nice Lady: Certainly Sir
Me: ;D

I really wish they'd fix those b***dy coffee machines and use real milk whilst they're at it ;D

Well that was true when I posted it, but not now.
Bookings not possible now, customers services not too sure why though. Some say its a policy, others that it is a technical problem with the booking system.

EDIT, Although customer services said bookings were not allowed, and this was confirmed by the ticket office at Charing Cross*, I made the booking I wanted at Paddington.

Anyone else experienced this ?

(* yes I know thats not a FGW station, but bookings should be possible at any main station)

I can tell you why.  As some trains run about without a coach F (2+7) you cannot book any seats in coach F as you cannot be sure the coach will be there!!

You are supposed to vacate the seat after the meal. I find the speed at which you have to vacate the seat is proportional to the size of the tip  ;D

Thanks, thats what one of the customer services team said, BUT when I visited the ticket office at Paddington, I did manage to obtain a reservation in coach F on the 18-03 from Paddington.

Inversely proportional, surely? (http://www.millan.net/minimations/smileys/glassesf.gif) (http://www.millan.net)

v=k/^

I normally understand your posts Btline, but for once I don't get it... ??? ::) :P

Could you enlighten me...? ;D

In that case, you do better than me! ;D :D :P

I was just expressing what TJ had said using symbols.

Speed (v) is inversely proportional to the size of the tip (^). k is a constant.

Good old A Level Physics ;)

Strictly speaking, v is velocity, rather than speed.   ;) :D ;D

Always has to be one... ;) ;D :P

(http://www.flickr.com/photos/relex109/3372608727/in/photostream/)

(http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3572/3372608727_646e3b9a18.jpg?v=0)

will this fit on the trolley?

Will the trolley come with a 13A/240V socket?  ;)

nuclear powered  :D

I love how the microwave says "This unit is security marked!".  Surely these things didnt get stolen somehow?!

Oh yes they did! microwave ovens were very expensive back in the old days, and were frequently stolen from trains and other places.
I can remember when a microwave oven cost a week or twos wages, they can now be purchased for a few hours wages and are therefore much less at risk of theft.

A microwave with a big yellow devil's hoofprint on the door - now that would be unobtrusive in any kitchen

How were they stolen from the trains?  When they were in sidings ipresume?

Right, bad news people, FGW are axeing all but two restaraunts as from 29th May, the only two will be the 1803 and 1903 Pad-Pnz, apparently 75% of all Pullman revenue is from these two trains alone! There will however be more travelling chef coverage from 29th May.

And just to add to vacman the travelling chef may get changed so an enhanced level is offered. But I do not know much more about this enhancement as yet.

What about the Cornish Riviera? :'( >:(

Can't blame FGW at all for this decision when times are tough. All the other restaurant running TOCs are cutting back so why shouldn't FGW sad though it is. It seems the days of having a full restaurant service meal are fast disappearing from the UK's railways.

How many business travellers leave London at mid-day?

I'd say a Travelling Chef is more than adequate. I'm quite tempted to depart with some of my hard earned cash on some of the new food on offer  :D

Not surprising this is happening, however I am little surprised that there will be no restaurant service on any of the morning services.  I would have thought the 0600 from Plymouth would be popular rather than the up-Hind, but what do I know?  ;D

Something i've always been interested to know: How busy is the 0600 Plymouth - Paddington?

Vegetarian Breakfast whilst onboard a magnificent HST - RIP :'( :'(

The midday pullmans are very quite indeed and you usually just get standard passengers who order one thing so that they can sit in first class! the up hind pullman allways seems quite aswell? I think the new travelling chef menu is very appetizing though! Giant yorkshire pud with lincolnshire sausages and onion gravy yum yum! I think the travelling chef menu offers far better value aswell, the prices are almost reasonable!

Will there not be a restaurant of the up service or are the staff just going to travel up from Plymouth.

I presume the staff work Plymouth - Paddington - Swansea - Paddington - Plymouth?

On trains with a restaurant service, is the Travelling Chef range of food also available or is it just the standard buffet fare?

Well said that man! Give me the travelling chef over the restaurant service anyday: you can still get a decent feed for much less money, and served at-seat in first class (assuming I've managed to find a cheapo FC advance ticket!)

As I said before, I hope that the travelling chef service becomes more reliable and is better promoted, to save that dying out as well. In fairness I haven't been on any trains advertised to have a chef in the last few months so the service may have improved, but before Christmas they seemed to be unavailable more often than they were actually there.


Just the standard microwaved cheeseburger etc. BTW is it just me, or does the breakfast bap seem to have less and less in it every time the catering supplier changes?  ;)

According to official FGW literature (for staff only) there will be an "enhanced" travelling chef service on more services, there don't seem to be any "up" workings or any Swansea workings for the pullman's.

I don't claim to be an authority but I think there are separate West Country/South Wales crews. The staff working the 0730 Carmarthen - Padd working sometimes have name badges with "South Wales Pullman service leader", and they're definitely Welsh!

Sampled the travelling chef twice this weekend (Saturday and Monday mornings) and was very impressed; good to see that this service seems to be getting much more reliable. Two superb breakfasts: I can recommend the breakfast club sandwich and the breakfast platter without hesitation! Pretty good value as well, especially considering in FC you're served at seat with proper crockery and cutlery on a weekday.

They were flogging hot food at half price on the 1821 (Cathedral's Express - non chef/Pullman) today.

Is this normal - I hope it is not a sign of v poor sales. :'(

Normal practice once past Oxford as this set doesn't do a return run back to London later in the evening, so they want to shift the perishable food.

... and same on the 18:21 from Bristol Temple Meads westwards - food is 'happy hour' prices, otherwise it goes in the bin at Taunton?  ::)

Makes sense, but they were doing it from Paddington.

Theyve been reducing prices for ages in the evenings

I think it's basically at the discretion of the customer host, there don't seem to be absolutely fixed times or trains. If they still have a fair bit of perishable stock and are on the last trip of the circuit then it makes sense to shift it for half price than get no money and chuck it. I was on a train the other day where sandwiches and rolls were being offered half price with a free tea/coffee/soft drink from the FC complimentary range.

Nice to see the travelling chef on some of the Swansea to Paddington services.

In contrast tho we often have no catering facilities at all on the Cardiff-Portsmouth services at weekends.

In which case I shall sample the chef's bloomers this Thursday, though out of a cardboard box no doubt as I return to Standard.

May I recommend the Vegetarian Breakfast Platter?? ;D

I had the oppertunity to have one when my train was diverted during the signal problems at Taunton. A very good breakfast it was too ;D

It would appear that bookings in the restaurants have been re-instated at last, it remains to be seen how long for.

I have just made a booking via the new system.

One must first purchase a first class ticket in the usual way, on line, by phone or in person.
The booking is then made by telephoning customer services on 08457 000 125 , and NOT by telephoning the normal bookings number.
This is to stop first class non dining customers booking restaurant seats.
First class non-dining seats, in coaches  G or H may be booked in the normal way.

It would also appear that the pullman restaurants on two afternoon trains from Plymouth to London have been reprieved, at least for now.

Enjoy it while you can ! I bet the new trains wont have a restaurant, we will lucky to get a buffet, if other new trains are anything to go by.

From the Reading Evening Post:


For the full article, see http://www.getreading.co.uk/lifestyle/travel/s/2051112_feeling_blue_in_pembrokeshire

Just to summarise vacman's earlier post, The Traveling Chef Select service seems to have replaced some of the Pullman Services with seating provided in Coach G, See:

http://www.firstgreatwestern.co.uk/Content.aspx?id=3988

Personally I think some of that food sounds rather good... and reasonable prices too :)

Quite fancy that breakfast myself. Mmmm.

Nice to see it on the 0600 Plymouth Paddington. Previously operated by an Adelante. Definately going to sample the Travelling Chef next time I'm on it!

It sounds good - it fails the burger test

Whenever I stay in a new hotel I always order a burger the first night - if the restaurant can screw up a burger, then dont rely on anything

FGW failed the burger test

Maybe I have exacting burger tastes (remember I was a reluctant McD eater due to starvation!)

an anyone share their opinion on the burger - with cheese

But how can you condemn a product based on one variable??

plus we all know its going to be a microwave burger

FGW Passed the Egg Bap test with flying colours ;D

I looked through the menu on my way to work on Friday, It doesn't explicitly say Egg Bap, but if you ask nicely enough... They will make you one...! I have to say it was so good that I was tempted to order another one... ;D

Also, it was brought to my seat on a plate with cutlery...!

The travelling chef does a "propper" burger, the microwaved ones are strangely satisfying I find?

i just have bad memorys of the xc micro burgers

however i actually really like the rustlers ones that you can get at the supermaket

cant beat mcdonalds though... mnnn the taste of a thousand cows

So much for the new booking system for restaurant seats!
I purchased a first open single from Paddington at the new improved price, and telephoned customers services to book a seat in the restaurant on the Golding Hind last friday.
No booking had been made for me, and this being a very popular service I was lucky to get a seat in the restaurant.
Others who had also booked were less fortunate.

As is usual, the food, drink, and service were of a very high standard, my thanks to any FGW restaurant staff reading this.
The rack of lamb was especialy enjoyable, despite my preference for steak.

Has anyone noticed how FGW hot rolls are always soggy due to the condensation in the bag  :(

I have had the opportunity now to have tried a few different items from the Travelling Chef menu and I have been mightily impressed. I've had the breakfast platter in 1st class and it was delicious (I do wonder however how easy this would be to eat out of a cardboard box in a STD airline seat!). The freshly prepared sandwiches are great and worth the extra cost compared with the buffet sandwich offerings. I'm also impressed that weekday TC trains are now rarely not run as advertised. The problem with TC in the past was that it was so hit and miss. I will miss the Pullman breakfast service up from South Wales but I fully understand FGW withdrawing it (and the other Pullmans) if they were making a loss.

If I plan to be travelling at meal times I now look out for TC services.....anything to avoid the god-awful microwave cheeseburger.