Dinner on the Crescent?

[John King]

We are taking the Crescent rt from PHL to NOL in a few weeks. What meals can we expect? I read here something about a quick or limited dinner menu pulling into NOL? Is that abbreviated mwnu posted anywhere online? And coming back to PHL we arrive at 12:30 p.m. Do they serve lunch in the diner? Thanks.

 

[me_little_me]

We are taking the Crescent rt from PHL to NOL in a few weeks. What meals can we expect? I read here something about a quick or limited dinner menu pulling into NOL? Is that abbreviated mwnu posted anywhere online? And coming back to PHL we arrive at 12:30 p.m. Do they serve lunch in the diner? Thanks.

We had full lunch and full dinner last year on the Crescent going into Slidell which is the stop before New Orleans. We were planning to eat dinner with friends meeting us but were an hour late.

 

[Acela150]

If ontime you should expect that lite serving. Usually it's what was served the least. So if the chicken or steak was served least that's what will be on the menu. As for lunch into PHL Don't plan on eating lunch unless you're super fast eaters. You should mention your detraining at PHL and they will do their best. Keep in mind sometimes the Crescent runs early. If it's late then don't worry about it. Keep in mind that the food court at PHL is a good one IMO. If not it might be worth storing your bags for a little bit and heading to the reading terminal market. Remember if your booked sleepers you can use Clubacela at PHL and the magnolia room at NOL.

 

[AlanB]

Coming into New Orleans they really tend to limit the number of seatings & how long they serve, as they need at least an hour to cleanup and close the car down prior to arriving into the station. So if you're running on time, expect seatings at 5:00 & 5:30 PM at the latest. So eat an early lunch if you want dinner on the train.

 

[Crescent ATN & TCL]

The lazy/slow crews use the express menu and stop meal service at picayune, the really good crews start earlier do a full meal and have the diner completely cleaned and ready for the turnaround crews when they arrive in New Orleans. With the good crews you can finish your meal crossing lake Pontchartrain while gazing at the sunset across the water. It all depends on if the crew in question is worried about giving passengers a good experience or just existing to get a paycheck.

Honestly the worst dining crew I have ever had was on the Crescent. The chef cooked what he wanted before the meal started and just popped it in the microwave when ordered. Nothing was cooked to order and once what he had cooked was gone it disappeared off the menu for the rest of that meal. When it was all gone the diner closed. We were constantly told "we are out of ....." only for them to miraculously have it the next meal. The crew constantly told people "we restocked at ____ stop". Those of us who knew better said so and were told they no longer stock only at NYP and NOL but fully restock at every major station which was a load of BS. With all the effort they put into making things up they could have just done their job right to begin with.

 

[had8ley]

The lazy/slow crews use the express menu and stop meal service at picayune, the really good crews start earlier do a full meal and have the diner completely cleaned and ready for the turnaround crews when they arrive in New Orleans. With the good crews you can finish your meal crossing lake Pontchartrain while gazing at the sunset across the water. It all depends on if the crew in question is worried about giving passengers a good experience or just existing to get a paycheck.

Honestly the worst dining crew I have ever had was on the Crescent. The chef cooked what he wanted before the meal started and just popped it in the microwave when ordered. Nothing was cooked to order and once what he had cooked was gone it disappeared off the menu for the rest of that meal. When it was all gone the diner closed. We were constantly told "we are out of ....." only for them to miraculously have it the next meal. The crew constantly told people "we restocked at ____ stop". Those of us who knew better said so and were told they no longer stock only at NYP and NOL but fully restock at every major station which was a load of BS. With all the effort they put into making things up they could have just done their job right to begin with.

You must have run into the NYP based crew that cooked their steaks ahead of time. They were good if you liked well done but I'm a medium rare person. My plea to return the steak met deaf ears....it's funny how New Yorkers can be so loquaious when they want to be and play wooden Indian just as well... :lol: :lol: :lol:

 

[PerRock]

Menu: http://www.amtrak.com/servlet/BlobServer?blobcol=urldata&blobtable=MungoBlobs&blobkey=id&blobwhere=1249219707629&blobheader=application%2Fpdf&blobheadername1=Content-disposition&blobheadervalue1=attachment;filename=Amtrak_Crescent_111710.pdf

almost all of Amtrak's trains now have a pdf of their menu available on that train's web page.

the Crescent's info: http://www.amtrak.com/servlet/ContentServer?c=AM_Route_C&pagename=am%2FLayout&cid=1241245668168

peter

 

[dlagrua]

The lazy/slow crews use the express menu and stop meal service at picayune, the really good crews start earlier do a full meal and have the diner completely cleaned and ready for the turnaround crews when they arrive in New Orleans. With the good crews you can finish your meal crossing lake Pontchartrain while gazing at the sunset across the water. It all depends on if the crew in question is worried about giving passengers a good experience or just existing to get a paycheck.

Honestly the worst dining crew I have ever had was on the Crescent. The chef cooked what he wanted before the meal started and just popped it in the microwave when ordered. Nothing was cooked to order and once what he had cooked was gone it disappeared off the menu for the rest of that meal. When it was all gone the diner closed. We were constantly told "we are out of ....." only for them to miraculously have it the next meal. The crew constantly told people "we restocked at ____ stop". Those of us who knew better said so and were told they no longer stock only at NYP and NOL but fully restock at every major station which was a load of BS. With all the effort they put into making things up they could have just done their job right to begin with.

You must have run into the NYP based crew that cooked their steaks ahead of time. They were good if you liked well done but I'm a medium rare person. My plea to return the steak met deaf ears....it's funny how New Yorkers can be so loquaious when they want to be and play wooden Indian just as well... :lol: :lol: :lol:

There were NY based dining crews on the two trips that we have taken on the Crescent, leading me to believe thats the policy on that train. As for the express dinner menu that is served before New Orleans it can be compared to eating Kentucky Fried Chicken. Must say though that all the other Crescent meals are decent. The SCA's were pleasant and very helpful and the waiters were OK. IIRC I was told tht the kitchen staff was cut to one; only the chef and no helper. That might explain the deteriorating service.