I have (County jail kitchen tray). Some of the best Spaghetti I ever had.
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Amtrak's New "Fresh Choices" Dining on CL & LSL
- Thread starter Devil's Advocate
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My only gripe at the moment the way things stand right now -
I'm diabetic. Limited to 15g Carbs/meal or else subject myself to a lifetime of insulin.
A slice of toast has 15g carbs. Nothing on the breakfast menu is low carb. Most important meal of the day, right?
A healthy omelette, eggs, bacon, sans bread is carb free.
100 million diabetics in the US vs 4 million who need gluten free. Yet the celiacs get the attention and personal menus.
BRING IN WAFFLE HOUSE.
I'm diabetic. Limited to 15g Carbs/meal or else subject myself to a lifetime of insulin.
A slice of toast has 15g carbs. Nothing on the breakfast menu is low carb. Most important meal of the day, right?
A healthy omelette, eggs, bacon, sans bread is carb free.
100 million diabetics in the US vs 4 million who need gluten free. Yet the celiacs get the attention and personal menus.
BRING IN WAFFLE HOUSE.
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This looks better than a Fresh Choice AmBox on the CL/LSL!. The corridors get the attention and good stuff!
The New Corridor Café Menu Hungry travelers rejoice!
We’re revamping the menu on our Acela Express and Northeast Regional trains to bring you healthier, gourmet options!
http://blog.amtrak.com/2018/06/new-corridor-cafe-menu/
The New Corridor Café Menu Hungry travelers rejoice!
We’re revamping the menu on our Acela Express and Northeast Regional trains to bring you healthier, gourmet options!
http://blog.amtrak.com/2018/06/new-corridor-cafe-menu/
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cpotisch
Engineer
That's definitely a huge step up from what's currently being offered on the Regionals, and is arguably superior in some ways to what we have on the Cap and Lake Shore. It still has the issue of *one* vegetarian option for lunch/dinner, however that option is also gluten free, and (the ones that should be) are all hot. Glad to see that corridor passengers get an upgrade, even if they're not the ones who really need it.
Really? Corridor passengers not the ones that really need it? Everyone is an Amtrak rider. Two things come to mind though. The regionals badly needed an upgraded menu (Boars Head sandwiches are really good). Second, the states control a lot of the non NEC corridors and therefore have a lot of say in what Amtrak can invest into the food service product so it isn't as easy for Amtrak to roll this out to the other trains. My guess is we'll see upgrades to the LD cafes come soon enough.
cpotisch
Engineer
If youre on a train for as much as 22 hours, Im going to say that you probably need more than someone whos on it for a maximum of 10 hours. Im not saying that the existing offerings on the Regionals were good, but I believe that LD trains need decent food more than the short distance ones.
crescent-zephyr
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A 10 hour regional may go through more meal periods than a 22 hour long distance.
By the way... If you look on Instagram, I think amtrak added these items to the cafe menu on the capitol back on June 1 as well (probably the LSL too). I see La Croix, vegan peanut noodle bowl, etc.
By the way... If you look on Instagram, I think amtrak added these items to the cafe menu on the capitol back on June 1 as well (probably the LSL too). I see La Croix, vegan peanut noodle bowl, etc.
PVD mentioned an enhanced cafe menu, just no one has said specifics yet on the board.
Rode the CL on June 2nd. Tried the beef salad box. The cold beef was great but since I don't like mustard dressing I skipped the green salad. The potato salad had the skins on the potatoes (which upset my stomach) so I skipped that also. The cheese cake was a nice dessert. Ate the beef, ate the cheese cake, dumped the rest.
Came back on June 7th. Tried the chicken salad box. The cold chicken was great but since I don't like Caesar dressing I skipped the green salad. The pasta had raw onions in it (which upset my stomach) so I skipped that also. Once again the cheese cake was good. Ate the chicken, ate the cheese cake, dumped the rest.
It was sad to discard so much food. If I had a choice of salad dressings I could have enjoyed the green salads but they did not. In the future I will be going to the cafe car and ordering an Angus cheese burger. I'll then take the beef tenderloin out of the beef salad box and add it to my cheese burger. That will make a very nice beef burger. Keep the cheese cake for dessert and dump the rest.
Came back on June 7th. Tried the chicken salad box. The cold chicken was great but since I don't like Caesar dressing I skipped the green salad. The pasta had raw onions in it (which upset my stomach) so I skipped that also. Once again the cheese cake was good. Ate the chicken, ate the cheese cake, dumped the rest.
It was sad to discard so much food. If I had a choice of salad dressings I could have enjoyed the green salads but they did not. In the future I will be going to the cafe car and ordering an Angus cheese burger. I'll then take the beef tenderloin out of the beef salad box and add it to my cheese burger. That will make a very nice beef burger. Keep the cheese cake for dessert and dump the rest.
cpotisch
Engineer
Or maybe offer it to someone in need when you get off the train.
RichieRich
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It seems everything on the food pyramid "...upset my stomach"! You should really consider the Soylent Green crackers. (shhhh....it's People!) LOL
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Potatoes and onions are hardly "everything on the food pyramid".
crescent-zephyr
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Is The dressing already mixed into the salad? Or there is only 1 choice of dressing but it is pre-packaged?
I rode the CL leaving Chicago 6-1, dinner and breakfast. There was a manager on board interviewing passengers about the meals. We had a good conversation. I agree that the quality of the individual items was pretty good, but the combinations resulted ion unbalanced nutrition or issues for certain types of diets. The ability to swap a few items within the range would probably satisfy most customers. an example I gave was the blueberry muffin, you could have a plain muffin, with a small basket of various jams and spreads. The chicken and the beef were both decent looking, but each one was pre packed with a specific dressing, again, a few choices in a basket (like the current set for the green salad on regular trains) would not add much to cost or labor. Lock in to one desert, with no lower calorie or sugar free alternative is a real problem for a pretty broad population as is the very high sodium content. Overly high sodium and fat content in prepared foods is a pretty common problem, most people accept that when traveling, but the lack of choice did seem to bother people more. I know lots of people have different dietary needs, and you can't make everyone happy ( and shouldn't waste your time trying) but providing a some choices as well as readable information would be a big help to a broad range of travelers. Whether or not changes will happen, I don't know, but at least someone was out on the front lines taking voluminous notes.
cpotisch
Engineer
More specifically, raw onions and potato skins. That really doesn't strike me as everything on the food pyramid.
Looks darn good to me. I’d take those options any day - especially if offered in the LSL Sleeper Lounge.
Stupid question - how feasible would it be to offer some sort of dedicated sleeper lounge on the CL? Not feasible at all unless the Cap eventually goes VL (once more VLII Sleepers are available)?
The dressing was in a cup packed with the salad. That's part of the point. Since it wasn't on the salad already, what would have been the harm in having a few choices on a tray. Nobody is more conscious of item cost and labor than the fast food industry, but if you order chicken nuggets or tenders, or a salad, one of the first questions is "which sauce or dressing?' Chicken Caesar Salad side was orzo pasta salad with diced onions, I got red skin potato salad. Would it kill them to have it so they could be swapped ? Actually, unless you have a dietary issue, the potato skin is a good thing nutritionally.
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crescent-zephyr
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That's been my #1 complaint too. I would want the chicken salad but I can't have pasta salad, but I can have potato salad. I also can't have cheesecake. On the previous amtrak diner menu I could always get ice cream, until they took it away... Or the gluten free vanilla pudding. Now I'm stuck with no dessert.
The options themselves, individually, sound ok.
Even at breakfast, I can't have the breads. I wish I could at least get 2 yogurts if that's all I can eat in the box other than the fruit and kind bar.
The options themselves, individually, sound ok.
Even at breakfast, I can't have the breads. I wish I could at least get 2 yogurts if that's all I can eat in the box other than the fruit and kind bar.
Devil's Advocate
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I thought it was worth a chuckle. Sometimes this forum gets way too grumpy and nit picky, even for me.
Both the banana bread and the muffin seemed like good products, but I'm not of the opinion that it makes sense to have both. They had 2 popular brands of breakfast bars as well as granola for the yogurt. At least it was kept in a separate compartment so you could eat the yogurt without od'ing on granola. Fresh fruit plate was actually pretty good.
Just what I need. More crap to carry after I get off of the train to hand to some pan handler.
On a train like the CL, you get breakfast but no lunch, not a stretch to see a few items stashed. I have a half bottle of wine left from dinner, you get a decent size bottle, not a single glass.
crescent-zephyr
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Haha! Exactly.
"Oh Here's the greens from my salad and some non-skinned pototes I was served 14 hours ago. Enjoy!"
crescent-zephyr
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Probably himself. He was just on the CL.
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