Passenger Trains > #14/#11 Food and trip report

Just off a round trip joyride on #14/#11. I have to say the new food menu elevates Amtrak way above where the food used to be. Lots of new different interesting choices, and the menu will change everyday, every trip. I was not offered the same “marketplace specials” twice.

The new food, along with having the HUGE Family Bedroom #15/F all to myself, and also having the sightseer lounge as a substitute for the Parlour Car, and having the whole thing to mostly to myself most of the time, I almost felt like I was on VIA’s Canadian!

I boarded #14 in Salinas right on time, and made my way to the diner. The sleepers were slow, and there were lots of empty rooms, which made the diner slow also. I was able to walk in and have a seat and eat dinner.

Tonight’s special was Roast Pork, with mashed potatoes and vegetables. I opted for this, even though the steak was tempting. The dish was very similar to the “turkey medallions” they used to have before SDS. It was tasty, but I could tell it was of the boil in a bag-heat in the convection oven-loaded with salt variety. The accompanying vegetables were varied and delicious.

Across at another table, someone had ordered tonight’s seafood selection, which was trout! Can you believe it? Trout! On Amtrak! It looked great. And of course there were a few North By Northwest references overheard.

The gentlemen I sat with ordered the steak, and he was very happy with it. It was a HUGE piece of steak, and he ordered it rare and got it rare.

Note: Wooden colored plastic salad bowls. A very nice touch. And the salads are mixed greens and romaine, not plain iceberg with a few shreds of carrot! THIS ALONE IS A HUGE IMPROVEMENT!

For dessert, ICE CREAM! YIPPEE!

---

---

---

As the dining car closed for the evening, the breakfast specials for the morning were announced over the PA. He announced the omelet selection (I forget what it was) and the marketplace special would be BLUEBERRY PANCAKES.

I dreamed of BLUEBERRY PANCAKES all night!

Come Breakfast I ordered my BLUEBERRY PANCAKES and I was not disappointed. They were FANTASTIC! Even sprinkled with powdered sugar! I feeling like I'm on VIA again... The new sausage selection is a CHICKEN-APPLE SAUSAGE, and the whole diner was RAVING ABOUT IT. The sausage links were truly delicious! I was happy jus’ to have PANCAKES on the train, let alone BLUEBERRY PANCAKES. YIPPEE!

---

Here are some pictures of the Sightseer lounge substituting as the Parlour Car. I honestly prefer this to the actual Parlour Car because of the large windows. Since the sleepers weren’t very busy, neither was this lounge car. I was in there by myself or only with a few others most of the time. This was quite enjoyable! These lounges are larger than the actual Parlour Cars, and even if the Sleepers were full, there would always be a place to sit or table to sit at. With the larger windows, and nice tablecloths, I felt like I was on a private Amtrak excursion or something. Truly wonderful. As a side note, my attendant told me the sleepers were full for his return trip as #11(17).

---

---

---

more...

---

---

---

Some wonderful scenery in the Cascades. Yes, UP was on top of it with the propane tanks and the warmers. No delays and the road was wide open and clear. Like I said, I almost felt like I was on VIA’s Canadian!

---

---

sfericsf Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The new food, along with having the HUGE Family
> Bedroom #15/F all to myself, and also having the
> sightseer lounge as a substitute for the Parlour
> Car, and having the whole thing to mostly to
> myself most of the time, I almost felt like I was
> on VIA’s Canadian!
>
> I boarded #14 in Salinas right on time, and made
> my way to the diner. The sleepers were slow, and
> there were lots of empty rooms, which made the
> diner slow also. I was able to walk in and have a
> seat and eat dinner.

Good news about the food, but where have all of the passengers gone? I hope VIA's Canadian is doing better. You made it sound like that train is lightly patronized, too.

More scenery...

---

---

The Lunch special was roasted turkey and gravy over buttermilk biscuits. I opted for the southwestern tortilla salad (I forget what they actually called it) with chicken (pictured). It had tortilla chips, corn, beans, and chicken, along with the mixed greens and romaine. It was EXCELLENT!

One guy ordered the special, his wife the burger, and another guy sittin’ with us ordered the “cold sandwich of the day” which was tuna on multi grain bread today. Now, this was not the white bread plain tuna sandwich from the lounge, it looked like a generous portion of chunky tuna salad piled high with all the fixins’ (lettuce, tomato, etc.) on delicious looking bread. Wife was very happy with her burger, and enjoyed that she could get bacon on it. Husband was not too keen on the turkey over biscuits. (It looked like your run of the mill diner open faced turkey and gravy but with biscuits instead of bread. Definitely of the boil in a bag salty variety.) The consensus at the table was it was the least favorite of all the selections ordered of the table.

Husband and wife also ordered chips and salsa, which is also served with guacamole. Sleeping car pax must pay extra for the new appetisers.

Dessert was ice cream, a white chocolate raspberry cheesecake, or a ginger apple crisp! Again, I felt like I was on VIA! I had the cheesecake and it was good. Even served with rainbow sprinkles.


Here's my chicken tortilla salad and dessert. Not a very good picture of the salad, sorry, but I hope it gives you an idea:

---

---

Dinner on the trip back on #11 was great. I ordered the steak this time. I did order it medium well, and it came out a little rarer than I had preferred. It was delicious however, and it was again a very large steak! Complete with baked potato and mixed vegetables.

Dinner companions had the burger with bacon (she loved it), the cornish game hen (it looked so small, no man would be satisfied with that, but the woman who ordered it said she was full), and the seafood special, which tonight was Salmon. The woman who ordered the salmon was just delighted with it, and it was a huge piece a fish! She ate every bite. She said it was too good to waste, even though she was full half way through it. This did not look like the Salmon on the last menu. This looked much more fresh and tender and it was probably freshly prepared downstairs, not just heated up in a convection oven. I could definitely see a difference!

Desserts were ice cream, a lemon tart slice a pie, a chocolate/vanilla swirl cheesecake, and a chocolate overdose torte thing that they should have had to obtain a special license to serve. LOL. I had the lemon tart pie and it was perfect. The girl with the burger ordered the cheesecake and she loved it! It had a crust on the bottom, and the top looked caramelized. The woman with the salmon and the woman with the Cornish game hen had the chocolate torte. Neither could finish it. The salmon lady offered me a bite a hers, and wow, it was rich and dense. It was a whole meal in itself. Whoo-weee! These were 5 star desserts folks. Not that stupid bunt cake or plain cheesecake. Again, I felt like I was on VIA.

Breakfast specials were a spinach and feta omelet, and get this, a breakfast pizza! LOL. I ordered the omelet with grits and the popular chicken apple sausage. It was a freshly made and freshly cooked fluffy omelet (definitely not pre-prepared) and it was delicious. A guy at another table was brave and ordered the pizza. It actually looked great. Thin crusted, baked golden, and it had tomatoes, olives, veggies, and bits of scrambled eggs sprinkled on top. Still, it was not one of their popular choices for breakfast. The guy said it was “ok”. It certainly was “different”. But I give big kudos to Amtrak for offering something that is “different”. That’s one of the big things on VIA is that the food can be “different”, and it turns dining in the dining car into a real experience.


Spinach & Feta Omelet with grits and the popular chicken apple sausage and a buscuit:

---

We went down the Mulford line today, as opposed to the Niles. Here’s a picture at Newark as we needed to wait for a northbound Capitol to make the right turn towards Niles. We arrived into San Jose on time right at 9:55am.

---

Did you at anytime feel, like you were on VIA? ...:)...J/K...

Excellent report on the menu & new food items. I cant wait to actually try them out.

Tony

The light passenger counts are no surprise. The two weeks right after Thanksgiving rank with most of January and February for low counts, and are the best time of the year to travel if you have the choice of dates. Trains are less crowded, have better service, and the lowest fares usually apply.

Thanks Eric for the full report on the food service.

zuco74 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Did you at anytime feel, like you were on VIA?
> ...:)...J/K...
>


LOL. I guess I repeated myself a few times, but truly I felt the food elevated Amtrak way up there almost with with VIA. Not quite VIA, but compared to what SDS was before, this all is a HUGE IMPROVEMENT.

Of course, then you go back to your sleeping car after this wonderful dinner and the toilets aren't flushing because of the altitude. Yep, right back on Amtrak! <rolls eyes> LOL.

Oh, and I forgot to mention that if you order the "continental" at breakfast now, they give you whole pieces a fruit, since they don't have the canned fruit anymore. I saw lots a folks walking around with bananas that they wanted to save for later...

Excellent, excellent, excellent! So glad to hear this. Thanks for the report.

Here is a "sample menu" Amtrak emailed me. Ah yes, I remember now that the omelet on #14 was the Ranchero Omelet (but I really wanted my BLUEBERRY PANCAKES), and that chocolate overdose thing was the CHOCOLATE PEANUT BUTTER TORTE!



LONG DISTANCE TRAIN FOOD SERVICE
EFFECTIVE DECEMBER 12, 2007

BREAKFAST - TRAINS 3, 5, 8, 14, 21, 28 SPK-CHI, 421 CHI-SAS


INCLUDED: COFFEE, TEA OR MILK, AND JUICE
(ORANGE, APPLE, OR CRANBERRY).

RANCHERO OMELET, POTATOES, BISCUIT OR CROISSANT ....... 9.00
SCRAMBLED EGGS, POTATOES, BISCUIT OR CROISSANT ........ 6.00
CHEF'S MORNING MARKETPLACE SPECIAL .................... 8.00
FRENCH TOAST WITH SYRUP OR STRAWBERRY TOPPING ......... 7.00
CEREAL (COLD OR OATMEAL), BANANA, YOGURT, AND
BISCUIT OR CROISSANT ................................ 6.75

ADD MEAT: BACON STRIPS, PORK SAUSAGE PATTIES OR
CHICKEN APPLE SAUSAGE LINKS ................ 3.00

LUNCH - TRAINS 3, 5, 8, 14, 21, 28 SPK-CHI, 421 CHI-SAS


INCLUDED: COFFEE, TEA OR MILK.

HOT APPETIZER: CHICKEN WINGS, BLUE CHEESE DRESSING .... 5.00
COLD APPETIZER: TORTILLA CHIPS, SALSA, GUACAMOLE ..... 4.00
ANGUS BEEFBURGER, OR GARDENBURGER (VEGETARIAN), OR
TURKEYBURGER; PICKLE SPEAR, CHIPS
(CHEDDAR CHEESE OPTIONAL) ........................... 7.25
ADD TWO STRIPS OF BACON TO THE ABOVE FOR ............ 2.00
CHEF'S MARKET SPECIAL ................................. 9.00
TUNA SALAD SANDWICH ON MULTIGRAIN BREAD ............... 7.00
TORTILLA SALAD, PARMESAN, CROUTONS, CAESAR DRESSING ... 6.00
ADD CHICKEN BREAST TO CAESAR SALAD .................. 3.00


DINNER - TRAINS 3, 5, 8, 14, 21, 28 SPK-CHI, 421 CHI-SAS

HOT APPETIZER: CHICKEN WINGS, BLUE CHEESE DRESSING .... 5.00
COLD APPETIZER: TORTILLA CHIPS, SALSA, GUACAMOLE ..... 4.00
SHRIMP COCKTAIL ...................... 6.50
FLATIRON STEAK, PLAIN OR MESQUITE SEASONED ............ 21.00
RAINBOW TROUT FILET, WHITE WINE SAUCE ................. 16.50
ROAST HALF GAME HEN ................................... 13.00
VEGETARIAN SPECIAL .................................... 11.00
CHEF'S EVENING MARKETPLACE SPECIAL .................... 15.00
BEEFBURGER/GARDENBURGER/TURKEYBURGER (AS AT LUNCH) .... 7.25
DINNER INCLUDES: MIXED GREEN SALAD; ROLL; COFFEE, TEA OR
MILK; CHOICE OF TWO: GREEN BEANS, MALIBU MEDLEY, BAKED
POTATO, GARLIC MASHED POTATOES, RICE PILAF
DESSERT: CHOCOLATE PEANUT BUTTER TORTE, CHEESECAKE, APPLE
CRISP, 5.00; ICE CREAM, CHOCOLATE OR VANILLA, 2.00

Excellent post - delightful pictures - BRAVO!

(I can hear the Amtrak-haters out there grinding their teeth.)

Thanks for posting this. I've lately been on the verge of giving up on the dining car and just bringing my own food, due to the bad attitudes of the lounge and dining car staff. Have their attitudes improved as much as the food has?

Thanks Eric, good to see the food has gotten better. Just in time for a few trips on Tr 11 and 14 coming soon.

-SMW