Great Western Railway: on-board catering, buffets, Travelling Chef, Pullman - ongoing discussion

[whole diary]

[broadgage]

I have just enjoyed an excellent meal NOT on a train, the food and service however being of a broadly similar standard. The price was broadly similar to that paid on the train.

Garlic fried mushrooms, fillet steak (includes potatoes) 2 vegetables, sticky pudding, bottle of house red wine, several large ports= ^80.

On the train I might take, 2 miniatures of gin with 1 tonic, smoked salmon, bottle of red wine, fillet steak, cheese, and a few ports=^100.

I cant remember the exact price of each item, but the wine on the train is more expensive but better, the steak on the train is cheaper and better, the port on the train is as good but about twice the price I pay in the restaurant in London, Gin on the train is cheaper than in the restaurant, the cheese selection on the train is far better and a bit cheaper.

Without pedantic examination of each item which is not easy on account of varying qaulity and portion sizes, I consider that the prices in the Pullman are similar to those charged elsewhere, for a meal of similar qaulity.

BTW^▸ (by the way) if anyone wants to know to which restaurant I compare the Pullman to, I would be pleased to reply by PM, but do not intend to name the establishment in public. I do not want to be accused of advertising, nor of taking this thread of the topic of FGW^▸ (First Great Western) catering.

[TaplowGreen]

I have just enjoyed an excellent meal NOT on a train, the food and service however being of a broadly similar standard. The price was broadly similar to that paid on the train.

Garlic fried mushrooms, fillet steak (includes potatoes) 2 vegetables, sticky pudding, bottle of house red wine, several large ports= ^80.

On the train I might take, 2 miniatures of gin with 1 tonic, smoked salmon, bottle of red wine, fillet steak, cheese, and a few ports=^100.

I cant remember the exact price of each item, but the wine on the train is more expensive but better, the steak on the train is cheaper and better, the port on the train is as good but about twice the price I pay in the restaurant in London, Gin on the train is cheaper than in the restaurant, the cheese selection on the train is far better and a bit cheaper.

Without pedantic examination of each item which is not easy on account of varying qaulity and portion sizes, I consider that the prices in the Pullman are similar to those charged elsewhere, for a meal of similar qaulity.

BTW^▸ (by the way) if anyone wants to know to which restaurant I compare the Pullman to, I would be pleased to reply by PM, but do not intend to name the establishment in public. I do not want to be accused of advertising, nor of taking this thread of the topic of FGW^▸ (First Great Western) catering.

.......Sounds like an Aberdeen/Angus steak house menu! Is it the one just outside Paddington? 

[bobm]

Travelled yesterday and to my surprise the new menu has been launched.

The up trip is still only serving mains and desserts but with longer to prepare for the return working they are trying to do all three courses on the 18:03.

The menu is largely as previewed earlier in the thread although some items have been swapped about from one menu to another.

This week the starters are
Salmon
River Exe Mussels
Wild Mushrooms

Mains
Steak (with the option of a very tasty horseradish sauce)
Fish of the day (it was pollock yesterday)
Veal
Pasta with slow cook tomatoes

Desserts
Devon Blue cheese and fig tart
Espresso Pannacotta
Cheese

I tried the new Ros^ wine which comes in 50cl bottles and the tawny port which is measured out from a large bottle at the table and both were very pleasant.

Another nice touch - depending on your main course you now get steak or fish knives.

[broadgage]

Sounds excellent, looking forward to my next trip which I expect to be in 2 weeks.

Edit to add, I hope that the new menus include Dauphinoise potatoes with the main courses ? definatly one of my favourites  and appeared at frequent intervals in the old menus.

[JayMac]

Took lunch along with bobm on the 1301 off Exeter today (12/03/2014).

New menu in full swing. And despite the limited time available to the crew, they managed to get in the full three courses (and bobm and I managed to consume them!). Speedy service, but not rushed. Kudos to team leader Jon, chef Paul, Ian, Karen and the rest of the team. Including the new girl whose name escapes me, but who referred to me as 'Sir' throughout. A few more trips and we'll be on first name terms.

I sampled the new Wild Mushrooms starter, followed by the ever present Filet Steak (which appears to have a new recipe Cafe de Paris butter), and an Espresso Pannacotta to finish. Accompanied by a very nice Garnacha red wine. All top notch as usual, although a word of warning about the Pannacotta. By crikey it's rich and caffeine heavy. Still buzzing as I write this 10 hours later! 

Obeying Doctor's orders, so no other alcohol apart from the two glasses of red wine. I'll have to wait a bit to try the new Tawny Port.

Oh, and note for broadgage. We had Dauphinoise potatoes today. 

[bobm]

Including the new girl whose name escapes me, but who referred to me as 'Sir' throughout. A few more trips and we'll be on first name terms.

In that case you had better learn her name - it is Tina. 

[JayMac]

The good old days? ...



The tagline, whilst not a question, states, "Look what you gain..."

I'd suggest an ever expanding waist line. 

Image taken from, and credited to, a National Railway Museum blog post:
http://nationalrailwaymuseum.wordpress.com/2012/11/23/how-british-rail-limited-the-butter-on-its-sandwiches-and-other-station-stories/

[Lee]

Bet the Ryvita was popular...

[JayMac]

I think the poster is from the mid/late 1970s. Ryvita was the height of sophistication back then. I can certainly remember Mumsy eating it, spread with Flora, as part of her 'calorie controlled diet'.

Thinking about it, I'm surprised there's no Prawn Cocktail, Black Forest Gateau or Blue Nun on that advert. 

[thetrout]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TLufBXGFNOk

[broadgage]

One thing I remember about BR^▸ (British Rail(ways)) catering was that some meals were the same served on the train or at a station, same food, served the same, and IIRC^▸ (if I recall/remember/read correctly) the same price.
The grill meals featured both on trains and at stations.

In general I think that on train catering was better back in the day than now.
The FGW^▸ (First Great Western) Pulmans are an exception and are excellent, but in general restaurants have been replaced by buffets, and buffets replaced by trollies.

Not that many years ago most long distance routes had full restaurants, now FGW are the only one, and no matter how good they are, 6 restaurants a day for the whole of the UK^▸ (United Kingdom) is a pretty poor show.

[broadgage]

I think the poster is from the mid/late 1970s. Ryvita was the height of sophistication back then. I can certainly remember Mumsy eating it, spread with Flora, as part of her 'calorie controlled diet'.

Thinking about it, I'm surprised there's no Prawn Cocktail, Black Forest Gateau or Blue Nun on that advert. 

I think that the poster might be from the early 70s, note that the train illustrated is loco hauled (class 50 ?) and not an High Speed Train (HST^▸ (High Speed Train)).
Once High Speed Train (HST) s were in general use they tended to be featured in preference to older types in adverts etc.


Edit: VickiS - Clarifying Acronym

EDITT TO ADD^▸ (Automatic Dropping Device), It was later than I thought, see following posts.

[bobm]

The caption in the article linked to shows the caption

BR^▸ (British Rail(ways)) poster showing the refreshments offered by Travellers fare on Inter-City trains, 1977.

[broadgage]

The caption in the article linked to shows the caption

BR^▸ (British Rail(ways)) poster showing the refreshments offered by Travellers fare on Inter-City trains, 1977.

I stand corrected then.
I wonder why they did not picture a then new High Speed Train (HST^▸ (High Speed Train)) in the advert ?

Edit: VickiS - Clarifying Acronym

[JayMac]

I think, in the main they are advertising the fare across the entire InterCity network. Very few HSTs^▸ (High Speed Train) would've been in service in 1977 compared to all the loco hauled sets running on the East and West Coasts, the Midland Main, Cross Country and still predominant on the Western.

The most ubiquitous loco in the BR^▸ (British Rail(ways)) fleet at that time was the Class 47. Which is what is pictured.