Amtrak's Dining Car product is geared to the average American consumer, and it may satisfy that consumer in some cases.* However, when Amtrak and its fans portray the Dining Car as a first class restaurant, it's time to step in with a reality check.

I am merely countering exaggerations like "the best we have had anywhere including a $100.00 meal last month in a 4 star/4 diamond restaurant" and "not to be missed".

Here is a concrete example from the Coast Starlight, an Amtrak train that I strongly support, and that has higher food service standards than any other long-distance train in the system. This example is from 2002.

"Chicken Duxelle en Croute" was one of the dinner choices. The menu description was mouthwatering, even to a vegeterian like me. My partner wanted to try this dish, and asked me how to pronounce "duxelle en croute", because I speak French. We practised a few times before the waitress arrived.

The waitress was gruff, announcing her presence with a "whaddya want?". No greeting, no smile, no comments about tonight's menu. Being a courteous person, I greeted her and smiled. No response. My partner ordered "Chicken Duxelle en Croute", his pronunciation perfect. The waitress said, "huh?" My partner repeated himself. Again, "huh?" Finally, my partner opened the menu and pointed. The waitress laughed, "Oh, you want the chicken!" This $15 - $20 choice (we were not Sleeping Car passengers this time, because it was a daytime journey) now seemed much less enticing.

When the famous "Chicken Duxelle en Croute" arrived, it was not as described. It was an ordinary section of roast chicken! There was no "croute" (crust) and there was a bland brown gravy in place of "duxelle" (finely chopped mushrooms cooked in white wine and butter).

How can anyone equate this experience -- in Amtrak's finest Dining Car -- with a first class restaurant? (And I could cite other sad Dining Car examples from the California Zephyr, the Sunset Limited, the Capitol Limited, and the Silver Service trains.)

On the question of menus, notice that I was talking about the dishes "actually available". The basic structure of Dining Car menus remains: one beef dish, one chicken dish, one fish and/or pasta dish. The choice in each category may not match what is listed in the menu. One category may also not be available on a particular evening. Pity me when it's the vegeterian category, and I have to appeal to the Dining Car Steward because the only thing I can eat is a combination of side dishes (rice, potatoes, vegetable), and the waiter will not permit it, even though I am a Sleeping Car passenger, so there is no question of how to price my selection.

To our first-time Amtrak "guests", please don't expect miracles in the Dining Car!

Paul Marcelin-Sampson
Santa Cruz, California

* I don't even think that the Dining Car succeeds in its mission of satisfying the average American consumer. Considering the geography of the long-distance network; local tastes outside the citified West Cost and Northeast regions; and the appeal of trains to parents with children; I think a McDonald's franchise really would be better. Everyone loves McDonald's, and you can't argue with the market share, or the financial results, of the nation's biggest restaurant chain. Even as a vegetarian, I'd take some fries, a boxed apple pie, an orange juice with a foil top, and a salad-in-a-cup over pasta with burned cheese, the standard non-Starlight vegeterian dinner selection (I've done two North America Rail Pass trips and frankly, that dish gets old after a month. Yuck! At least McDonald's is fun. And don't get me started on Chateau Amtrak wine served in plastic cups -- not even plastic goblets -- in Lounge Cars. Either you do something right or you don't do it at all.)