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"Nothing Could be Finer Than Dinner in the Diner" Thread

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"Nothing Could be Finer Than Dinner in the Diner" Thread

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Old Jul 7, 2012, 10:07 pm
  #1  
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"Nothing Could be Finer Than Dinner in the Diner" Thread

Welcome to your Amtrak meal thread! Derived from the Acela F Food discussion, this is THE place to post photos of food and menu descriptions from Amtrak trains coast-to-coast. Post anything from Acela First Class to long distance Dining Cars and short haul lounge service. Bonus points to the first poster of a "catered" meal loaded at an intermediate point on a really, really late train.

I'll get us started with two excellent meals on my most recent overnight.


Train: 91
Class: Sleepers
Where: Dining Car
When: April 23, 2012

Had a very tasty steak with baked potato and vegetables. Steak was cooked to medium as requested. Veggies were a bit mushy.



Train: 91
Class: Sleepers
Where: Dining Car
When: April 24, 2012

Breakfast of French Toast with Sausage patties and a Pepsi.

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Old Jul 7, 2012, 10:50 pm
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Love the name of the thread! Thanks for starting it up, looking forward to seeing all the pics that get posted.

As I mentioned in the 'F Food Offerings' thread, I have an Acela trip coming up next week and will take some photos to add to this....which may or may not include the menu

Out of curiosity, are you expected to tip in the dining car, just like you would at a restaurant?
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Old Jul 7, 2012, 11:56 pm
  #3  
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Originally Posted by CKinMD
Out of curiosity, are you expected to tip in the dining car, just like you would at a restaurant?
I always tip in the dining car, and I'm referring to long-distance trains, sleeper accommodations, where the meals are free, tip based on what the meal would otherwise cost me, and that seems to be the going standard.
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Old Jul 8, 2012, 2:16 pm
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Train: 506 (northbound Cascades)
Class: Business
Where: At seat; purchased from "Bistro" car
When: June 2, 2011

Roast beef and cheddar sandwich, potato chips, beer. Photo is over a year old, but Cascades menu doesn't appear to have changed in that time.

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Old Jul 8, 2012, 8:58 pm
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Here's one from a couple weeks ago. NYP-BAL
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Old Jul 9, 2012, 6:03 pm
  #6  
 
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Originally Posted by ByeByeDelta

Breakfast of French Toast with Sausage patties and a Pepsi.
#FAIL

Pepsi and French Toast do not belong in the same photo.

Originally Posted by trainman74
Train: 506 (northbound Cascades)


Roast beef and cheddar sandwich, potato chips, beer. Photo is over a year old, but Cascades menu doesn't appear to have changed in that time.
Indeed. I almost purchased this sandwich yesterday on the 507 but opted for the Havarti and Turkey instead. (Incidentally, the Cascades has a pretty good Asian Chicken salad right now...it seems like a temporary addition...not sure about that, though.)
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Old Jul 9, 2012, 10:06 pm
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Originally Posted by fairviewroad
#FAIL

Pepsi and French Toast do not belong in the same photo.
I know, not the greatest of combinations but I needed a caffeine jump start for the day.
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Old Jul 11, 2012, 1:36 am
  #8  
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Originally Posted by trainman74
Train: 506 (northbound Cascades)
Class: Business
Where: At seat; purchased from "Bistro" car
When: June 2, 2011

Roast beef and cheddar sandwich, potato chips, beer. Photo is over a year old, but Cascades menu doesn't appear to have changed in that time.
I really like that the Cascades menu features many local PNW products. I had a very good macaroni and cheese dish on-board as well as a very good microbrew on my trip a few years ago.

I have many photos of Amtrak meals over the last few years. I will have to find them (), collate them, and try to discern the train number I was on based on the time and date of the photo. I think my memory is pretty good, so we'll see how well I do.
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Old Jul 11, 2012, 1:22 pm
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Originally Posted by jackal
I really like that the Cascades menu features many local PNW products. I had a very good macaroni and cheese dish on-board as well as a very good microbrew on my trip a few years ago.
Yes, I definitely can't argue with the Cascades beer selection. Would love to see a better selection on the long-distance trains, but I assume there would be issues with getting the beers in quantity and getting them successfully stocked at all the appropriate commissaries.
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Old Jul 12, 2012, 6:13 am
  #10  
 
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Train: 2164 (Acela)
Class: First
Where: At seat
When: July 11, 2012

Lunch with Rashida Jones and Paul Newman's forehead......


Steak & Vegetable salad: "a romaine and arugula salad with grilled eggplant and
roasted peppers, served with marinated flank steak and
toasted almonds".

This may be one of the better meals i've had on the Acela over the past year. The steak was a little on the tough side, but in terms of portion size and presentation, I think it was very good. The greens were fresh and the eggplant was marinated nicely. It could have used more almond slices, but overall I give the meal high marks.



Last edited by CKinMD; Jul 12, 2012 at 6:31 am
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Old Jul 12, 2012, 5:13 pm
  #11  
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I'm in! What a great idea.

Train: 19 (Crescent)
Class: Sleeper
Where: Dining Car
When: May 19-20, 2012



Pre-dinner drinks Oh wait, my Dad and I brought those with us

Dinner:


Numerous substitutions as usual, the crab cakes were actually salmon.



What? No cucumbers??!?



Steak with baked potato, really quite good, minus the vegetables.



Also good.
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Old Jul 12, 2012, 5:15 pm
  #12  
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Train: 19 (Crescent)
Class: Sleeper
Where: Dining Car
When: May 19-20, 2012

Breakfast:



Again, substitutions. The pancakes were french toast. The special was a blintz.



Mmm, best pancakes ever!

Lunch:



Special was a chicken and rice with gravy dish, actually looked pretty good, but I had to have my usual.



Da usual, always delivers!



Best ice cream flavor there is!
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Old Jul 26, 2012, 9:25 pm
  #13  
 
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Did you say bonus points for the food loaded onto a really, really late train? I can help you with that!

I was on the 29.5 hour delayed EB #8(16). This is my KFC dinner, which was loaded onto the train in Wisconsin Dells. I believe we had been on the train for over 72 hours by this point.



Also, possibly of some interest is the "chicken fricasse" over rice that we were served for lunch that day. Let's just say it was disgusting. I had a roll with some butter for lunch that day.



You can read all about the whole trip on my blog, trainsacrossamerica.blogspot.com.
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Old Aug 1, 2012, 7:17 am
  #14  
 
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What about the trains with "enhanced dining service" such as the Capitol Limited? Is it the same food/menu, just on real china?
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Old Aug 1, 2012, 11:27 am
  #15  
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Originally Posted by Paddlenpedal
What about the trains with "enhanced dining service" such as the Capitol Limited? Is it the same food/menu, just on real china?
More or less, although they may have slightly different items to choose from.
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