Iskra
Established Member
They have teased elements of their all day menu and it looks alright to be fair. They say there is more to come too in the next few weeks.
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London North Eastern Railway (LNER) First Class service
- Thread starter MidnightFlyer
- Start date
They have teased elements of their all day menu and it looks alright to be fair. They say there is more to come too in the next few weeks.
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jnjkerbin
Member
Travelled on the 0952 Aberdeen to London today. First Class offering was as follows:
Aberdeen - Edinburgh: Bacon Roll or Ciabatta, tea, coffee, biscuits, water (two drinks services)
Edinburgh - London: Ham Salad Sandwich or Cheese & Pickle Sandwich, tea, coffee, biscuits, water, wines (red/white/rosé) or beer (three drinks services)
All drinks served in proper glassware/crockery.
Aberdeen - Edinburgh: Bacon Roll or Ciabatta, tea, coffee, biscuits, water (two drinks services)
Edinburgh - London: Ham Salad Sandwich or Cheese & Pickle Sandwich, tea, coffee, biscuits, water, wines (red/white/rosé) or beer (three drinks services)
All drinks served in proper glassware/crockery.
Andy Pacer
Established Member
Certainly sounds much improved.
Aboard the 1238 Newcastle to Edinburgh currently (0930 from London).
Host did a drinks service as we pulled out of Newcastle and asked if I'd like anything to eat; the offering being the ham salad or cheese and pickle sandwiches with crisps.
As we left Alnmouth I asked for a second can of Hop on Board and he rolled his eyes, saying they were trying to conserve stocks seeing as it was so busy. It was begrudgingly handed over though.
This portion of the train (it's a 10 coach 801 pairing) certainly isn't busy at all and I thought they'd restock in Edinburgh for the journey south. Certainly not the response I expected.
On the plus side, it's good to see at least a different sandwich offering after however many months of the egg and cress or chicken salad!
Host did a drinks service as we pulled out of Newcastle and asked if I'd like anything to eat; the offering being the ham salad or cheese and pickle sandwiches with crisps.
As we left Alnmouth I asked for a second can of Hop on Board and he rolled his eyes, saying they were trying to conserve stocks seeing as it was so busy. It was begrudgingly handed over though.
This portion of the train (it's a 10 coach 801 pairing) certainly isn't busy at all and I thought they'd restock in Edinburgh for the journey south. Certainly not the response I expected.
On the plus side, it's good to see at least a different sandwich offering after however many months of the egg and cress or chicken salad!
TT-ONR-NRN
Established Member
Great to see the famous LNER customer service in full swing
Frankly, I think it’s embarrassing. The Deli menu is literally an excuse to do away with proper meals on less busy trains. Prior to COVID, all trains on weekdays had a proper hot meal option, similar to Evening Meal but with two hot choices instead of three and a packaged cake instead of a dessert. It was decent quality too.
LNER are embarrassingly stingy now, and you can blame it on COVID if you like, but the fact that staff can get moody when the lady sat across from me asked for a second bacon roll to keep her going on her London Edinburgh journey - do they not remember they used to offer a full English with these same expensive tickets? Of course people are going to want seconds if you replace full meals with hot sandwiches.
lightning76
Member
I travelled 1st on the southbound "Chieftain" last Sunday, all the way. Apparently there was some issue with catering supplies, so after our bacon roll and coffee leaving Inverness, nothing else came until Berwick. Then it was a sandwich, more tea and coffee, and finally the wine. After Darlington they tried to take the wine glass away, but I managed to prevent that. Not that I want to get drunk, but it is over an 8 hour journey... Everybody got offered the same thing, so passengers boarding at York at 1500 were rather perplexed to be offered a 5 hour old bacon roll. Overall I thought the catering disappointing, and not a patch on either quality or service on the Avanti west coast service I used to travel to Scotland.
Very impressed to see that they're now offering some alcohol on weekends and a bacon roll for something hot in the morning (something I've long been banging the drum for!). I'd be fascinated to know if they're planning on offering any of the other menu's (whatever they end up looking like) on weekends. But even this is a huge improvement on what was previously offered. Makes first class a much more tempting prospect on weekends. Good to see proper glasses on a weekend to go with the mugs. I'm sure it used to be plastic glasses on a weekend which always just smacked of cheapness. Kudos LNER this is impressive. Might even give them the best long distance first class offering on a weekend?
Blindtraveler
Established Member
I meant to be doing a Sunday southbound from Inverness in a few weeks time, I was just going to get the coach but wondering if the chieftain would be a good idea instead based on this or not
TT-ONR-NRN
Established Member
Yet the move to DELI for certain services, compared to what it was, is a considerable downgrade for the weekdays.
Depends what the other menus look like and what services they appear on to be honest. Hard to make a judgement on the final product when we've not seen it.
Butts
Veteran Member
Let's hope the Alcohol provision is extended beyond Wine and Hop on Board Ale that is currently all that is on offer both in 1st Class and Paid for in the Cafe Bar.
Where have all the other products such as Lager,Cider and Spirits disappeared to ?
Not everyone likes Wine or Beer.
Also until the return of Full Breakfasts, they should offer everyone at least a couple of Bacon Rolls as a matter of course. Even better there should be a sausage one as well, you could have one of each then.
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TT-ONR-NRN
Established Member
I got a tiny little crazy feeling that you’re talking about the scotch
Also I completely agree about the breakfast, and while one roll is enough for me I actually complained to LNER because some other people asked for more last time I travelled and got a rude response. It’s as if the staff forget that were it a year or two earlier, we’d be getting a full English for the same ticket, the price of which has not decreased. The least they can do is let us have a second tiny roll on a four hour journey to Edinburgh.
While I’m not keen on their TMs, I find Avanti’s hosts tend to be more generous. Since the ECML was nationalised I find the LNER hosts (and TMs) to be somewhat arrogant and a little stingy.
voyagerdude220
Established Member
- Joined
- 13 Oct 2005
- Messages
- 3,277
LNER state on Facebook that they will be offering a special Afternoon Tea service on next Tuesday's 15:00 London Kings Cross to York (I'm assuming it's the Stirling train) service in First Class, although I don't have any further information in regards to what specifically will be on the menu.
Butts
Veteran Member
DeeGee
Member
I don't imagine there's any prospect of the new menus being in place for mid September, is there?
I'm taking the wife away to London for an overnight stay and a museum visit, and I'm just looking for something that will push me out of the car and on to the train. If I was going on my own it would be an absolute no-brainer, but for the two of us it's a more critical cost-benefit analysis that's going on.
The LNER sale that's on at the moment is very tempting, but we'd be travelling at dinner time and if the first class offering is going to just be sandwiches then I'm going to struggle to justify "booked train only" for a journey that's going to take the same sort of time by road.
I'm taking the wife away to London for an overnight stay and a museum visit, and I'm just looking for something that will push me out of the car and on to the train. If I was going on my own it would be an absolute no-brainer, but for the two of us it's a more critical cost-benefit analysis that's going on.
The LNER sale that's on at the moment is very tempting, but we'd be travelling at dinner time and if the first class offering is going to just be sandwiches then I'm going to struggle to justify "booked train only" for a journey that's going to take the same sort of time by road.
Well that's all they told me. Who knows?
DeeGee
Member
What was the originally planned date for the new menus to come in to service?
Of course, another option is the "buy on board" option and travelling in Standard. I'm guessing that's just sandwich and crisps, isn't it?
I wonder why it's going to take so long.
Butts
Veteran Member
Perhaps they are having a problem sourcing The Champagne ?
Hot food is back! The bacon rolls are definitely hot out of the kitchen
But being serous for a moment it would be good if they did hurry up and start getting back to having proper food again. The current menu is nice and hits the spot most of the time (especially around lunchtime or in the evening) but it's still a bit naff compared to pre-covid.
Butts
Veteran Member
Hot food is back! The bacon rolls are definitely hot out of the kitchen
But being serous for a moment it would be good if they did hurry up and start getting back to having proper food again. The current menu is nice and hits the spot most of the time (especially around lunchtime or in the evening) but it's still a bit naff compared to pre-covid.
But only one ......
and no sausage baps to accompany them.And seriously, not just for me, they need to bring the Spirits back and extend the Beer Range.
Informed Sources Third Law applies I fear!
‘Informed Sources’ Laws 2020
Here’s your handy guide, plus some background...
www.keymodernrailways.com
Doesn't autumn start on the 21st?
Meteorological autumn starts on the 1st. Besides, as I say, someone claimed that they’d been told it started today. I always suspected that was nonsense……Doesn't autumn start on the 21st?
Monkeyhead
Member
- Joined
- 21 Sep 2016
- Messages
- 68
I took my daughter to Edinburgh last week from York and was toying with the idea of upgrading to first for a treat, but when I looked at the catering, it seemed particularly poor value for money. Extra £40 or so (pretty much the same via Seatfrog too) for a bacon sarnie and a couple of cups of tea. Nah thanks.