Thick Stomachs For Amtrak Food?

[buddy559]

I love there food. I like the pizza...

Pizza? On Amtrak? I've never seen this - unless you're counting microwaved DiGiorno pizzas from the cafe cars, which doesn't really qualify as "their" pizza.

If I recall a time or 2 in the past there was Pizza on the Adult side of the Diner Menu, but I never had it; so I don't know if it was similar to the Lounge Pizza or something better.

I had it a Couple of Times, it was the Same Pizza that's on the Kids Menu and "wasn't anything to Write Home about", sort of like the Frozen Stuff from the Grocery Store! But it did Give Diners Another Choice @ Lunch! I understand the Pizza on the Trains is Better Now, its been a Couple of Years since I had the Cafe Pizza???

If they are cooking it in a convection oven, that is IMHO the best way to cook a pizza hands down! The air circulation removes the excess moisture from the toppings that usually make the crust soggy. You get a nice crisp crust on the bottom, it's very hard to burn the crust, and the cheese gets perfectly browned. From a microwave in the cafe car, not as much.

 

[OlympianHiawatha]

Fish on Amtrak is not something I try very often. At least they have plenty of shanks laying around at Aramark, there's some variety for you... veal shank, lamb shank, beef shank, I'm holding out for goat shank on next year's menus.

Now if they put Deep Fried Rattlesnake and Gator Tail on, I'll be right in there

 

[ALC Rail Writer]

Fish on Amtrak is not something I try very often. At least they have plenty of shanks laying around at Aramark, there's some variety for you... veal shank, lamb shank, beef shank, I'm holding out for goat shank on next year's menus.

Now if they put Deep Fried Rattlesnake and Gator Tail on, I'll be right in there

Had fresh rattlesnake hiking on the AT (the Appalachian Trail, not the Auto Train) awhile back, reminded me of pork. Guess we can add pork shank to the menu too.

No Jim I didn't forget the turkey shank, though one would think a turkey has a mighty thin shank...

 

[gmushial]

Fish on Amtrak is not something I try very often. At least they have plenty of shanks laying around at Aramark, there's some variety for you... veal shank, lamb shank, beef shank, I'm holding out for goat shank on next year's menus.

Now if they put Deep Fried Rattlesnake and Gator Tail on, I'll be right in there

Had fresh rattlesnake hiking on the AT (the Appalachian Trail, not the Auto Train) awhile back, reminded me of pork. Guess we can add pork shank to the menu too.

No Jim I didn't forget the turkey shank, though one would think a turkey has a mighty thin shank...

AT hiker, meet PCT thru-hiker (class of 2010)

 

[ALC Rail Writer]

AT hiker, meet PCT thru-hiker (class of 2010)

If you ever see an entry in a trail log from "BykeRyder", that's me. I was on the AT from Harpers to the Deleware Water Gap in 2010, one really hot summer.

 

[D.P. Roberts]

If they are cooking it in a convection oven, that is IMHO the best way to cook a pizza hands down! The air circulation removes the excess moisture from the toppings that usually make the crust soggy. You get a nice crisp crust on the bottom, it's very hard to burn the crust, and the cheese gets perfectly browned. From a microwave in the cafe car, not as much.

I agree. Pizza is popular, and cheap - along with easily & quickly heated in a convection oven. I don't know why Amtrak doesn't serve more pizzas in the dining cars. I think I remember reading that the pizza on the children's menu in the diner is just the DiGiorno, but I wonder if they cook it in the convection ovens?

And as far as "meals in a row", I think I've done 6-7, but may go for a personal record this summer of 12*.

*I often skip some meals during "mealtimes" on layovers, in favor of just grabbing a snack from the cafe car when I **retrain, so I'm counting those.

**Can you say "retrain"? If you "entrain" when you board and "detrain" when you leave, can you "retrain" when you're getting onboard again?

 

[gmushial]

AT hiker, meet PCT thru-hiker (class of 2010)

If you ever see an entry in a trail log from "BykeRyder", that's me. I was on the AT from Harpers to the Deleware Water Gap in 2010, one really hot summer.

Likewise, trail name is "TheDuck" ... last bike ride was summer of '74: from Vancouver to StJohns NFL (with a stop in Montreal to watch the World Bicycle Championships the first week of August). Then were the days... now it's just: one foot ahead of the other, about 7m times. ;-) Hope to do the PCT again NoBo with my oldest in two years - she'll have finished her DVM and wants a year off btwn all the schooling and setting up a practice. ... now, back to Amtrak

 

[gmushial]

If they are cooking it in a convection oven, that is IMHO the best way to cook a pizza hands down! The air circulation removes the excess moisture from the toppings that usually make the crust soggy. You get a nice crisp crust on the bottom, it's very hard to burn the crust, and the cheese gets perfectly browned. From a microwave in the cafe car, not as much.

I agree. Pizza is popular, and cheap - along with easily & quickly heated in a convection oven. I don't know why Amtrak doesn't serve more pizzas in the dining cars. I think I remember reading that the pizza on the children's menu in the diner is just the DiGiorno, but I wonder if they cook it in the convection ovens?

And as far as "meals in a row", I think I've done 6-7, but may go for a personal record this summer of 12*.

*I often skip some meals during "mealtimes" on layovers in favor of just grabbing a snack from the cafe car when I **retrain.

**Can you say "retrain"? If you "entrain" when you board and "detrain" when you leave, can you "retrain" when you're getting onboard again?

Maybe reentrain?

 

[ALC Rail Writer]

The name was metaphorical and ironic, I can't ride a bike.

 

[Train person]

About 50 hours is all I can stomach Amfood, it's not that's its bad, it's just the unrelenting blandness of it all.

The view out of the window and the random selection of table mates (sometimes) adds more flavor, and a few Sam Adams helps even more!

 

[Shawn Ryu]

For me dining on Amtrak is more about socializing than food itself...I mean dont get me wrong I always finish my meal but its really the best part about dining in dining car. The community dining.

 

[gmushial]

About 50 hours is all I can stomach Amfood, it's not that's its bad, it's just the unrelenting blandness of it all.

The view out of the window and the random selection of table mates (sometimes) adds more flavor, and a few Sam Adams helps even more!

Bringing one's own sauces and/or spices can make a difference - a sweet Thai chili sauce goes well on most everything ... Amtrak has to cater to the least spicy taste, ie, easy to add spice, hard to remove... so they serve a 2 or 3 on the spice meter, and one makes it a 7-10 on their own.

 

[gmushial]

For me dining on Amtrak is more about socializing than food itself...I mean dont get me wrong I always finish my meal but its really the best part about dining in dining car. The community dining.

And 99.9% of the people one meets on the train - I refer to them as friends, yet unmet - are a cut above, interesting, gracious etc... [this is why keeping mr "I demand a refund" on the flying cattlecars is in everyone's best interest].

 

[Shanghai]

I did NYP to SEA for the Gathering.

Route: LSL, SWC & CS. Several meals

including two dinners in the PPC.

 

[OlympianHiawatha]

Bringing one's own sauces and/or spices can make a difference - a sweet Thai chili sauce goes well on most everything ... Amtrak has to cater to the least spicy taste, ie, easy to add spice, hard to remove... so they serve a 2 or 3 on the spice meter, and one makes it a 7-10 on their own.

Usually there is a bottle of Tabasco hiding around somewhere in the Diner and if you ask, often it will appear. While basic, it does help. The Salad Dressing Packets are also good for kicking some life into a Baked Potato or the often bland Veggies.

 

[pennyk]

I did NYP to SEA for the Gathering.

Route: LSL, SWC & CS. Several meals

including two dinners in the PPC.

I did the same trip, however, from Orlando on the Silver Meteor (3 more meals)

 

[gmushial]

Tabasco adds heat, but generally not flavor... on the other hand, if that's all one has, 'tis better than nothing. In town we have a Thai market: can't read Thai script, but I know it when I see it... a 4oz squeeze bottle covers most trips: adds some heat, but mostly flavor - goes well with those baked potatoes and veggies.

 

[tim49424]

Also, I'm one of those people that can eat leftovers five days in a row, so even if I had the steak every night, I wouldn't mind. As long as I like something, I can eat it for a week.

Bingo....I have had 8 dinners on the Empire Builder, 8 flat iron steaks. 8 breakfasts.....8 omelets. 8 lunches......8 cheeseburgers. 16 desserts, 16 pieces of cheesecake. I guess I made my point, I'm a creature of habit and if I like something, I don't stray far from it, especially while on the train. The only times I have are the two dinners catered while departing PDX and some extra food served due to delays on #27 into PDX last year.

My mom, who rode out with me on the Empire Builder this past June, however, was a 180 degree opposite, and had something different each meal, including desserts.

 

[ALC Rail Writer]

Tabasco adds heat, but generally not flavor... on the other hand, if that's all one has, 'tis better than nothing.

It also adds salt, so it works well on white meats especially chicken.

Typically that is how I get through chicken dinners on Amtrak, if I'm out of white wine or in coach anyway...

 

[The Davy Crockett]

On my "usual" trips, I usually have meals on the CS in the PPC - just for a change of pace and menus.

Unfortunately the PPC only really offers a change of pace these days, as the food is basically standard Aramark issue these days. :angry2:

An unwise cost cutting measure IMHO, especially when one looks at room prices on #11 & #14.

And I had a CCC in place of a PPC on one trip on the Starlight last month. :help:

 

[tp49]

Tabasco adds heat, but generally not flavor... on the other hand, if that's all one has, 'tis better than nothing. In town we have a Thai market: can't read Thai script, but I know it when I see it... a 4oz squeeze bottle covers most trips: adds some heat, but mostly flavor - goes well with those baked potatoes and veggies.

Didn't know there was a Thai market in Redding. Never saw it on all my trips through there. I'll have to be on the lookout for it next time I'm in town.

 

[Ispolkom]

There's always lots of Tabasco sauce (and only Tabasco sauce) in the dining car. I'll swear that half the time I'm opening a fresh bottle, which either means I'm the only one using it, or the bottles somehow disappear. Seriously, I've never seen a bottle of Crystal or Frank's Red Hot, or Texas Pete. Only Tabasco

I'll grant that Tabasco is mostly heat and vinegar, but that doesn't matter for this devotee. I spent a year in the Soviet Union, mostly in Russia. Russians consider ketchup spicy. Plus (this was the end of the Soviet Union) there were food shortages, so most meals were mostly cabbage. Seriously. Here was one typical meal: cabbage soup, pickled cabbage salad, and anonymous meat ball with boiled cabbage, washed down with weak tea and black bread. After a while I couldn't face that without Tabasco. For me, a homesick North Dakota boy in the Land of Soviets, the taste of Tabasco became the taste of America. Sort of like Walter McIlhenny, who (the story goes) came back from the war in the Pacific and made sure that every future military ration had a tiny bottle of Tabasco sauce in it.

I do still get comments when I ask for Tabasco for my oatmeal in the dining car, but no more than when I ask for my black bean burger with bacon.

 

[shelzp]

I guess the most I've had in a row is 11 unless I can count a trip where a woman across the hall from my roommette offered me half of a Subway sandwich while we were waiting to leave Chicago on the Texas Eagle. I said 'Thanks did ya get it in the station?' just making a little comment and she said 'No, Milwaukee this morning.' I ain't that strict and don't ask to see a sandwich's passport but I do prefer to eat something like that within say less than two hours. No harm done and we really did have fun laughing back and forth during the ride.

 

[rickycourtney]

Recently Amtrak started using two menus for all of its long-distance trains. Trains that run east of Chicago get one menu, west of Chicago has another menu, and the same menu is used both eastbound and westbound.

That means if you take a round-trip trip on the California Zephyr you would be eating 14 meals from the exact same (somewhat limited) menu. I understand Amtrak is trying to cut losses in the dining car and there are certainly some big operational efficiencies with this plan... but that's gonna get boring for most passengers, and EXTREMELY boring for frequent passengers.

By the end of my one-way trip on the CZ I found myself wanting to skip out on my "free" meals because I was sick of the choices (plus, I knew I was gonna be eating a pizza from Geno's East once I got to Chicago!)

But I will say that this menu has several good new choices including the pancakes with fresh blueberries baked into them, the crabcake sandwich and the braised beef short-rib topped with ancho-molasses barbecue sauce.

My crew had one interesting deviation from the menu. While each menu item has an assigned starch (baked potato, garlic mashed potatoes or rice pilaf) the crew let you choose your starch. For example, they had no problem giving you mashed potatoes with your steak.

 

[gmushial]

Recently Amtrak started using two menus for all of its long-distance trains. Trains that run east of Chicago get one menu, west of Chicago has another menu, and the same menu is used both eastbound and westbound.

That means if you take a round-trip trip on the California Zephyr you would be eating 14 meals from the exact same (somewhat limited) menu. I understand Amtrak is trying to cut losses in the dining car and there are certainly some big operational efficiencies with this plan... but that's gonna get boring for most passengers, and EXTREMELY boring for frequent passengers.

By the end of my one-way trip on the CZ I found myself wanting to skip out on my "free" meals because I was sick of the choices (plus, I knew I was gonna be eating a pizza from Geno's East once I got to Chicago!)

But I will say that this menu has several good new choices including the pancakes with fresh blueberries baked into them, the crabcake sandwich and the braised beef short-rib topped with ancho-molasses barbecue sauce.

My crew had one interesting deviation from the menu. While each menu item has an assigned starch (baked potato, garlic mashed potatoes or rice pilaf) the crew let you choose your starch. For example, they had no problem giving you mashed potatoes with your steak.

W/re boring: have to agree... but this should only be a problem with infrequent passengers - which is what I believe Amtrak is seeing itself increasingly the carrier of, ie, the once a year vacation types, the one a year tourists types... and what they have on the menu, even if one is doing a cross country trip: they're not bad, one will survive, maybe not even feel picked on (I've always feel well served). But above that, and why I offered the comment above - what to do about the frequent travelers: and that's were I suggested the specialty item (one per night) - something that's unique, something that they carry enough/little enough of that they are guaranteed of selling out, ie, no waste: a stroganoff maybe, a thai red curry maybe, a chicken masala maybe, a combo fried rice, maybe even a honest chicken pot pie, etc etc. And yes, if you get a 8:30 dinner seating there is little chance of getting them... but for Amtrak, there is little exposure to losses, and for the frequent riders, there is variety. And maybe when the LSA is taking dinner seating reservations, they mention the special, at which time one can order it (given everyone a better chance at getting it), and have it ready quickly after one is done with their salad (maybe even shortening the seatings by a few minutes).

W/re the short ribs: well received here