eastwestdivide
Established Member
A recent holiday on a 1st-class interrail (not as expensive as it sounds, especially when it includes UK travel and only a €38 supplement for Eurostar) saw me criss-crossing Austria and sampling the on-board at-seat service on the Railjets and also on the Transalpin EC service.
They were still on the spring menu, which was on every table (note the variety of languages):
And in the back was a note that you could either order by flagging down one of the staff as they pass, or order via the on-board wifi, filling in your coach and seat number, so that's what I tried:
and a little while later, here it comes, chicken breast, potatoes and lingonberry sauce/jam. Not bad:
Also available on the wifi were various entertainment options:
Other food sampled was a nice asparagus ravioli:
And an OK curried veg, which wasn't very filling (the red water bottle is my own):
As you can see by the curved window, this one is on board the Transalpin, using one of the Swiss panoramic coaches that still bear the "Gotthard Panorama Express" branding. They turn up now on this service, on the two pairs of EC between Northern Germany and Switzerland (EC6/7/8/9 I think), and on the Zurich-Munich services.
The Edelweiss beer was good too, served in a proper glass:
The wifi ordering was interesting, probably slower to wade though the on-screen menus than to order from a person. Also, there was one occasion when my order didn't make it through, and after 20-25 mins I went to the restaurant car to find out what had happened. "Not confirmed" the chap said, although it was on my screen.
One more thing to add - at medium-sized stations, German ones are much better equipped with food stands than Austrian ones. Changing trains at various Austrian stations, I was hoping to pick up elevenses (bakery stuff), but had to resort to my emergency biscuits.
Bon appetit!
They were still on the spring menu, which was on every table (note the variety of languages):
And in the back was a note that you could either order by flagging down one of the staff as they pass, or order via the on-board wifi, filling in your coach and seat number, so that's what I tried:
and a little while later, here it comes, chicken breast, potatoes and lingonberry sauce/jam. Not bad:
Also available on the wifi were various entertainment options:
Other food sampled was a nice asparagus ravioli:
And an OK curried veg, which wasn't very filling (the red water bottle is my own):
As you can see by the curved window, this one is on board the Transalpin, using one of the Swiss panoramic coaches that still bear the "Gotthard Panorama Express" branding. They turn up now on this service, on the two pairs of EC between Northern Germany and Switzerland (EC6/7/8/9 I think), and on the Zurich-Munich services.
The Edelweiss beer was good too, served in a proper glass:
The wifi ordering was interesting, probably slower to wade though the on-screen menus than to order from a person. Also, there was one occasion when my order didn't make it through, and after 20-25 mins I went to the restaurant car to find out what had happened. "Not confirmed" the chap said, although it was on my screen.
One more thing to add - at medium-sized stations, German ones are much better equipped with food stands than Austrian ones. Changing trains at various Austrian stations, I was hoping to pick up elevenses (bakery stuff), but had to resort to my emergency biscuits.
Bon appetit!