I finally used the Pullman once again last week. Food and service was excellent as ever, though as expected felt very different to what it used to be. It was a 9 car, and seats in both K and L were set up for dining, although they were starting with K, moving back to L. On this occasion there were no diners in L, but each table in K that had been laid out, was in use.
At the moment, with staff still sticking to social distancing rules, it was one party per table. As such the social aspect of Pullman, for which it is well known, just wasn't there, though as a solo diner, this doesn't particularly bother me. The trains themselves don't help in this regard anyway. However the crew were pleased to be back, and they believe a full service to resume in the new year, including silver service element, and reinstatement of the other Pullman services INCLUDING both breakfasts. Who knows.
I might be entering the fantasy realm now, but when the full Pullman service does return (silver service and all), I like to think there is still a market for the slimmed down bistro style dining on other services, as I think it worked well. It would be better on the shorter routes, such as Cheltenham, and maybe Bristol, and some of the Plymouth/Penzance services that don't have Pullman. I don't expect it of course, just think it could work.