Passenger Trains > New menus - no appetizers

Just off of a 4-day trip and the CZ and SW Chief both have new (exactly the same on both trains) menus with much less choices on them. The appetizers are GONE and the 2nd Breakfast, Lunch , and Dinner specials are GONE.

Menu the same for all four days

Breakfast:

Omelette (ran out of 'em usually)
Scrambled Eggs
French Toast
Continental


Lunch:

Turkey over biscuit
Burger/Turkey Burger/Garden Burger
Tuna Sandwich
Caesar Salad


Dinner

Game Hen (Chicken)
Steak
Lasagna
Trout


These are your ONLY selections going forward folks! Blueberry Pancakes and the Southwestern Salads and Roast Pork Dinners are gone. :-(

Ah.........the joys of cost-cutting. BTW, how does one run out of omelettes, but not scrambled eggs?

So I guess it's getting even more "Simplified", that really sucks! Why can't Amtrak just leave things alone when there working right?

sums007 Wrote:
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> Ah.........the joys of cost-cutting. BTW, how
> does one run out of omelettes, but not scrambled
> eggs?

Pre-made then put in a convection oven I believe.

No longer AMTRAK, but contracted out. And the contractor doesn't pay any attention to the passenger count on the train.

jb

I'm confused. I thought the contractor has been Gate Gourmet at least since Simplified Dining Service was introduced a few years ago. How is it different now?

"Dinner in the Diner, Nothing could be .........................". Guess they won't be writing any memorable songs about Amtrak trains!

HOW DO YOU RUN OUT OF AN OMELET??? Did they run out of eggs?

calzephyr48 Wrote:
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> HOW DO YOU RUN OUT OF AN OMELET??? Did they run
> out of eggs?


See TheOssman's reply.

The appetizers probably were a slow seller anyway seeing as how sleeper car passengers had to pay extra for them. I never saw the point in offering them in the first place. The portions on the entree (plus dessert) were more than adequate to fill me up and then some.

Nor did I see the point of the not-so-special "specials" which is always the same. It used to be the much-maligned country fried steak, now it's the roast pork.

We don't know yet if this new menu is permanent and for every train (except maybe CS and EB) but I find it interesting that the change was made almost exactly 6 months from the introduction of the expanded menu in early December 2007. That suggests that the expanded menu might have had a probabtionary period after which continuation would depend on whether the bean counters see an uptick in passenger counts.

I thought the blueberry pancakes with sprinkled powder sugar and the chicken apple sausage were pretty special....

gyralite Wrote:
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> "Dinner in the Diner, Nothing could be
> .........................". Guess they won't be
> writing any memorable songs about Amtrak trains!
How about: "......nothing could be whinier."?

This is really turnin' for the worse! I hope Amtrak does a re-launch on these 2 trains ASAP because I for one am thinking if it stays this way, I'll eat before I board No. 4 out of Los Angeles!

Just when I thought Amtrak food was getting better and offering more of a variety....

Not sure if the "re-launched" Empire Builder or Coast Starlight are faring any better with their food selections these days - except for maybe the special meals offered in the Pacific Parlor Car. As for the appetizers, I thought they were truly only offered on the diner-lite trains of the Texas Eagle, City of New Orleans, Cardinal and Lake Shore Limited. These are the only four trains that truly have the "diner-lite" model - even though it is not completely upheld too (i.e. serving from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. etc.).

The Empire Builder has the best food, not part of simplified dining.
Waiter on the #5 said stick with omelette, since it was made with real eggs. Scrambled eggs come out of a bag.
He advised omelette without cheese over ordering scrambled eggs.
Reminds me of the time I went aboard my uncles USN ship in San Diego. We had breakfast in the mess deck. I had the scrambled eggs, my uncle said he couldn't handle them as they were "powdered eggs" and he had his full of them in WW11 and Korea. They tasted good but had odd texture.

jp1822 Wrote:
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> Just when I thought Amtrak food was getting better
> and offering more of a variety....
>
> Not sure if the "re-launched" Empire Builder or
> Coast Starlight are faring any better with their
> food selections these days - except for maybe the
> special meals offered in the Pacific Parlor Car.
> As for the appetizers, I thought they were truly
> only offered on the diner-lite trains of the Texas
> Eagle, City of New Orleans, Cardinal and Lake
> Shore Limited. These are the only four trains that
> truly have the "diner-lite" model - even though it
> is not completely upheld too (i.e. serving from 11
> a.m. to 11 p.m. etc.).


Appetizers were offered on the Capitol Limited during my February trip to NYC. I don't recall if they were offered on my May trip on the CL as I didn't even look at the menu and simply ordered the Flat Iron Steak. I don't recall either if the blueberry pancakes were on the menu. Ordered scrambled eggs, bacon, etc. The eggs didn't taste like they were "out of a bag" or powdered. Tasted like normal scrambled eggs.

calzephyr48 Wrote:
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> HOW DO YOU RUN OUT OF AN OMELET??? Did they run
> out of eggs?

They shot the game hen early

LAIRPORT Wrote:
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> The Empire Builder has the best food, not part of
> simplified dining.

In April and May I rode the Empire Builder (twice), Southwest Chief, Coast Starlight, and California Zephyr. 25 meals. Identical menu on all trains.

This week I had one meal on the relaunched Starlight. Menu not as good as above.

jb

I also forgot to mention there were NO BAKED POTATOES either. :-( We were given the choice of only mashed potatoes or (the yellow) rice on the SW Chief, and on the CZ we were just given (the yellow) rice. No other choice offered.

sfericsf Wrote:
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> I also forgot to mention there were NO BAKED
> POTATOES either. :-( We were given the choice of
> only mashed potatoes or (the yellow) rice on the
> SW Chief, and on the CZ we were just given (the
> yellow) rice. No other choice offered.

No eggs and no potatoes either? Well, look at this way: cutting down on the cholesterol and the starch is a good thing, and I'm sure Amtrak has your best health in mind! :)