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

[whole diary]

[JayMac]

There is an opportunity during Bristol's upcoming food festival to try out the Pullman experience whilst stationary.

A pop-up restaurant will be offering dishes from the Pullman menus on the evening of Saturday 10th May. The location is one of the arches (in Hart's Bakery) under the approach road to Bristol Temple Meads station. Creator of the current Pullman menus, chef Mitch Tonks will be hosting, ably assisted, I'm told, by some of the Pullman team from Plymouth.

http://www.bristolfoodconnections.com/whatson/pullman-pop-up-with-mitch-tonks/

Also, during the food festival, First Great Western are sponsoring the Producer's Market on Bristol's Harbourside from 3rd-5th May. FGW^▸ (First Great Western) source the majority of the food for the Pullmans and Travelling Chef services from suppliers within 15 miles of their network.

http://www.bristolfoodconnections.com/aboard-local-produce/

[Umberleigh]

To be fair to FGW^▸ (First Great Western) a fillet steak with a butter sauce is ^22.50 at Harry's Restaurant in Exeter.

[JayMac]

To be fair to FGW^▸ (First Great Western) a fillet steak with a butter sauce is ^22.50 at Harry's Restaurant in Exeter.

And the chef at Harry's doesn't have to cook it in a tiny kitchen barrelling along at upward of 100mph!

[TaplowGreen]

To be fair to FGW^▸ (First Great Western) a fillet steak with a butter sauce is ^22.50 at Harry's Restaurant in Exeter.

And the chef at Harry's doesn't have to cook it in a tiny kitchen barrelling along at upward of 100mph!

....but presumably you don't have to pay up to ^199 for a seat at one of his tables? 

[JayMac]

Surely the cost of ones ticket is only relevant if you are travelling solely to have the meal?

[higthomas]

FGW^▸ (First Great Western) have made a change to four services concerning the provision of Travelling Chefs.

The service has been removed from
09:15 London Paddington to Cardiff Central
11:55 Cardiff Central to London Paddington

The service has been added to
07:45 London Paddington to Swansea
11:28 Swansea to London Paddington

I notice that in their summer timetable as currently available, http://www.firstgreatwestern.co.uk/~/media/PDF/TicketsAndTrainTimes/TrainTimes/MAY%202014%20TIMETABLE/STANDARD%20PRINT/C01DL45287600Web.ashx it doesn't have this new information. It also has the supposed return, or not I'm not entirely sure any more of the services to Bristol. I really wish that FGW would get their info right on this topic, as I am an irregular traveler and normally try to time my trains around those with travelling chefs, yet the last time I went that way both my trains had no travelling chef, even though they were listed in the timetable as having it.

[JayMac]

16 diners on the 1201 from Plymouth today. That's pretty much a full house. Just one spare seat.

Sadly today's lunch wasn't one of the best I've experienced. My dining colleague (you know who he is!) didn't get his starter, it had to be chased up. The duck was a little disappointing - which is a shame as I'd really been looking forward to it. Service was also a little below par. Being super critical I'd say it really does make a difference which Team Leader you get.

On the plus side, the Devilled Brixham Crab starter was delicious, as was the Chocolate & Salted Caramel Pudding.

[TaplowGreen]

16 diners on the 1201 from Plymouth today. That's pretty much a full house. Just one spare seat.

Sadly today's lunch wasn't one of the best I've experienced. My dining colleague (you know who he is!) didn't get his starter, it had to be chased up. The duck was a little disappointing - which is a shame as I'd really been looking forward to it. Service was also a little below par. Being super critical I'd say it really does make a difference which Team Leader you get.

On the plus side, the Devilled Brixham Crab starter was delicious, as was the Chocolate & Salted Caramel Pudding.

I sat in the sun, had a large pasty and a pint of Scrumpy - ^6 - proper job! One was delighted! 

[grahame]

I sat in the sun, had a large pasty and a pint of Scrumpy - ^6 - proper job! One was delighted! 

Ah - the beauty is in variety ...









... and I'll have to try the First Great Western Pullman service at some time that I'm heading non-stop past home!

[thetrout]

Travelling Chef yesterday on The Cornishman. Decided to push the boat out and have something other than my usual Cheese Toastie and Mushrooms.

Poached Egg on Toast with Mushrooms



Eggs cooked to perfection, nice and runny.



Toast was good with butter. Mushrooms also good (Sometimes they can be too salty). ^5.20 (^4.50 for Eggs on Toast and 70p for the Mushrooms Side) All in all I thought for the quality of the food this was excellent value. Most cafes near where I live charge similar prices and actually the quality isn't always as good. And they can make their toasties in a static kitchen and not one bouncing around at 100mph+

The worse thing about the meal was the Coffee - First Class Complimentary and it tasted sodding awful! I think I either got the bit from the bottom of the container, Or far too much coffee beans with not enough milk! Either way it woke me up a bit but was far too strong and as thick as mud almost

Oh and if you have one of those complimentary Easter Cakes... Ask the host for a napkin or 5... If you have (or have had) one, you'll see/know why!

On the return journey on 1A37 (21:29 Taunton - London Paddington via Bristol Temple Meads) for the first time I saw a Cheese and Onion Croque so decided to give one a go.



Well I was less impressed with this. Don't get my wrong it was nice. But it was 2 pieces of bread with cheese and onion in the middle and further cheese and onion on top. It resembled a Cheese and Onion Toastie gone horribly wrong! Infact it would've been nicer if they just made it as a cheese and onion toastie.

Would I have one again? yes I probably would as it's the only vegetarian hot food onboard FGW^▸ (First Great Western)'s Express Cafe that is not porridge. And there are only so many times you can eat Egg and Rocket or Cheese Plowmans Sandwiches.

But ^4.50 for Microwave Toastie and ^4.50 for Eggs on Toast or Cheese Toastie from the Travelling Chef? Travelling Chef wins every time!

[bobm]

Travelling Chef yesterday on The Cornishman. Decided to push the boat out and have something other than my usual Cheese Toastie and Mushrooms.

Poached Egg on Toast with Mushrooms



Eggs cooked to perfection, nice and runny.

Obviously so good the cutlery was fighting for position - switching from left to right.

Seriously though some of the Travelling Chef fayre is excellent.  Had a very good breakfast platter on the 07:30 Merchant Venturer on Thursday - with the egg solid as a rock, just as I requested.

[Chris from Nailsea]

The worse thing about the meal was the Coffee - First Class Complimentary and it tasted sodding awful! I think I either got the bit from the bottom of the container, Or far too much coffee beans with not enough milk! Either way it woke me up a bit but was far too strong and as thick as mud almost

... whereas I, young trout, would have regarded that as my ideal mug of coffee. 

[TaplowGreen]

^5.20 for egg & mushrooms on toast and ^4.50 for cheese on toast!

I see two slices of toast are also a bargain at ^2.25, and beans on toast a snip at ^4.50!

 "Most cafes near where I live charge similar prices"..................do you live in Monaco trout? 

[bobm]

Menu 3 - the last of the new menus has now been unveiled on board.

A couple of items from it.


The fish soup 

Although always reticent about trying new things I am not sure about, I must admit I thorougly enjoyed the starter.  It is a thick soup with plenty of fish pieces in it.


The Lemon Sole with brown shrimps

Again very nice - but if you are not a fan of bones, one to avoid.  Note fish courses are now served with a fish knife.

Menu 3 runs for its second week next week (28th April - 2nd May) and then back to Menu 1.

[ChrisB]

There's a knack to eating flat fish...once learnt, easy to eat!