Worst Catering

[Caleb2010]

Travelling from Inverness to Nottingham today/last night. Had bacon roll and tea at 7 this morning from Caledonian Sleeper and it was very nice, proper roll , nice thick cut bacon and the tea was very refreshing.

I'm now on the 1015 East Midlands Trains HST from St Pancras to Nottingham and fancying more chanced another of the same.

What a deplorable contrast, was informed by the buffet car attendant that it was a bacon roll - it wasn't, it was a ciabatta sub with stringy, wafer thin bacon with no taste and served still in the plastic wrapper it was frozen in! And it was more expensive!

Haven't tried the tea yet, shouldn't think it'll measure up to the CS offering of Brodie's!

It got me wondering what people consider the worst snack catering on the rails. For me at the moment it is EMT, but are there worse??

 

[TT-ONR-NRN]

Are we talking complementary first class or standard class? I hate EMT HSTs, if it was me I would have taken VTEC and changed!

 

[Caleb2010]

No just walk from cattle class and buy it yourself, might investigate the cost of going back via vtec on Monday!

 

[NSE]

Eh, it's on train catering. I've never bought more than a drink/packet of crisps as it's expensive and I'd rather buy stuff before hand. The complimentary offer from East Coast (pre Virgin- not criticising Virgin, just not travelled with them yet) was quite good.

 

[tsr]

Must admit I've had some pretty grim stuff from VTEC's Standard Class offering in the not-too-distant past, including truly tiny portions of sandwiches, and hot drinks which cost about £3 and were basically dishwater, so don't rely on them being any better (I now head to somewhere in or near the station - when I'm at Kings Cross, the station's Pret or Waitrose may not be the least expensive option, but it's about the same price as onboard - and much, much nicer; stations further afield tend to have better value options).

As for bacon rolls, baguettes etc., the GWR hot bacon baguette is pricy but takes some beating, which is good as it's often all they have left to sell by early lunchtime. I haven't travelled with CS very recently so can't vouch for them, but their dinners always used to be substantially better than their breakfasts, so I'm glad that seems to have improved.

 

[fgwrich]

GWR offers a complete contrast in my opinion, from the excellent Pullman Dining to the poorer offerings of the buffet - things seemed to be pretty good in FGW days, but I had a sandwich last month made by the clever means of stuffing the meat and salad into the middle, then cutting it. Result - a full looking sandwich to the eyes, but virtually sod all in the rest of it. I did wonder if there's a bit of an alterior motive going on the GWR Buffets of late - slack on the stock available, bump up the prices, prepare passengers for the reduced stock available from the catering trollers in the near future.

Funny that you've just mentioned the Caley Sleeper - just had another excellent breakfast on that this morning - GWR Take Note!

 

[Mag_seven]

GWR offers a complete contrast in my opinion, from the excellent Pullman Dining to the poorer offerings of the buffet - things seemed to be pretty good in FGW days, but I had a sandwich last month made by the clever means of stuffing the meat and salad into the middle, then cutting it.

I miss the FGW (as it was) "Travelling Chef". I knew it was too good to last.

 

[Blindtraveler]

I didnt enjoy my GWR Bacon Baggette recently, I dont rate VTEC catering at all in iether class iether.

For shear value for money VTWC's meal deal takes some serious beating and actually the bacon roll whilst being microwaved is quite good.

By far the worst for me is XC, a long distance TOC serving warm soft drinks and not quite hot enough tea is IMO not clever.

Surprised at the OP however not enjoying EMT, I quite like their offering and their paid for food on the HST's is very good.

 

[Jonny]

The Costa version is much better (there is a branch at many principal stations).

 

[goblinuser]

In my experience of rail travel none of my regular services have ever had catering so I've been conditioned to buy refreshments prior to boarding any train.

Having a selection of high quality freshly cooked food at a reasonable price would be amazing, but for some reason hardly any UK train operator manages to get it right. Even back in British Rail days people complained about the sandwiches.

 

[Robertj21a]

Don't buy on-board, simply not worth the hassle.

 

[voyagerdude220]

By far the worst for me is XC, a long distance TOC serving warm soft drinks and not quite hot enough tea is IMO not clever.

I strongly agree with you Blindtraveler. Around 2 Sundays ago I travelled on the 15:30 Penzance to Leeds between Totnes and Tamworth. A few minutes into the journey, I asked the Retail Service Manager about buying hot food and she could only offer me a cheese and tomato panini. I forget how much it was, but it certainly wasn't substantial enough for my tea.

 

[yorksrob]

I hate EMT HSTs, if it was me I would have taken VTEC and changed!

Sacrilege!

In terms of food, If I'm on EMT first class, I find their food offering decent and worth paying for as an item (As well as the superior rolling stock).

There is the choice of a hot curry or chilly con carne, or a ham or cheese roll and salad.

 

[dave87016]

I also like the EMT meals

VTWC bacon roll from the onboard shop superb roll was nice and soft piping hot nd full of Bacon

VTEC Cheese Ploughmans Baguette from the cafe bar on board is fab good amount of filling and very tasty

VTEC Egg Mayonaise sandwich from the onboard cafe bar is very poor no taste to it and all you can taste is the bread!!

 

[Nym]

One line...
Burger King...

That is all...

 

[headshot119]

One line...
Burger King...

That is all...

Especially at Euston!

 

[Rick1984]

I stay away from bacon rolls as they're always rubbish. Except the one I had on CS.

I just wish every operator hada generous supply of some form of ham and cheese toastie as you can't get them wrong.

Burger on Pendilino was better than expected.

 

[Silver Cobra]

In terms of first class complimentary offerings, I was very happy with the Bubble and Squeak I had for breakfast when travelling with VTEC to Edinburgh on Monday. I'd definitely recommend it.

 

[ValleyLines142]

The Costa version is much better (there is a branch at many principal stations).

We currently have an offer in Costa at the moment where you can get toast or a toasted teacake for £1 with any medium or large drink (or a flat white) before 11am!

 

[James H]

We currently have an offer in Costa at the moment where you can get toast or a toasted teacake for £1 with any medium or large drink (or a flat white) before 11am!

Having a teacake before 11am seems wrong to me.

 

[James H]

On a positive note, RailGourmet had someone on board SWT trains between Bournemouth and Brockenhurst today selling tubs of Purbeck Ice Cream for £2 each which I thought was an excellent initiative.

 

[47271]

Since Virgin (both sides and both classes of travel) and GWR have gone downhill over the past few years, it's probably true that Caledonian Sleeper is as good as you're going to get overall in onboard catering nowadays. Which is funny considering that they do it all out of a microwave in a partitioned kitchen in a coach that could be as much as 45 years old.

In my view, the worst things slung across my table in the past year are those awful 'Enjoy Any Time' snack box things that Transpennine do in First Class. A tiny bag of crisps with a nasty bruschetta dip that you spill down your shirt, a bag of nuts and a flapjack. Nothing overtly unhealthy, but equally nothing that's going to keep you going for more than half an hour. They used to do sandwiches, but presumably that had to stop because they only last for a few hours and the wastage cost money.

'Enjoy Any Time' means 'Survives Forever, Operator Enjoys Savings'.

 

[Steddenm]

The catering on Iarnród Éireann/Northern Ireland Railways' co-operated Enterprise is actually very good. Their chicken Caesar salad is lovely and their coffee (in a proper caffetiére by the way) is fantastic. It can be expensive if you pay in euro though.

Back in good old blighty, the food on GWR has really gone down hill and got very expensive. Grand Central used to be very good when they first started but has also gone off the boil.

Those lovely people at Rail Gormless are only interested in profits now, and not on what the customer actually wants. I mean (GWR take note) why would you pay £4 for a cheese ploughman's (well cheese, pickle, tomato and soggy lettuce) sub roll when you can get the same thing in most Tesco stores for £1.49?!

 

[tsr]

Having a teacake before 11am seems wrong to me.

I'm sorry to say this, sir, and I'm not sure how to break it to you, but I'm afraid that implies there is in fact something wrong with you.

There is absolutely nothing at all which should prevent one from wishing to eat a toasted teacake at breakfast time. My evidence being that they are clearly nourishing foodstuffs in any urgent culinary situation.

On a positive note, RailGourmet had someone on board SWT trains between Bournemouth and Brockenhurst today selling tubs of Purbeck Ice Cream for £2 each which I thought was an excellent initiative.

Ice cream on trains always seems to go down well (inside you, less so one's sunglasses or on other pax). I remember during the 2012 Olympics I was offered a free and fairly substantial ice cream upon boarding a train from Euston to Holyhead, and I believe VTWC have done the same on various other occasions of fairly high footfall in the summer. It was an excellent gesture, and selling ice cream on a train during a summer's weekend is really the next best thing.

 

[headshot119]

Since Virgin (both sides and both classes of travel) and GWR have gone downhill over the past few years, it's probably true that Caledonian Sleeper is as good as you're going to get overall in onboard catering nowadays. Which is funny considering that they do it all out of a microwave in a partitioned kitchen in a coach that could be as much as 45 years old.

In my view, the worst things slung across my table in the past year are those awful 'Enjoy Any Time' snack box things that Transpennine do in First Class. A tiny bag of crisps with a nasty bruschetta dip that you spill down your shirt, a bag of nuts and a flapjack. Nothing overtly unhealthy, but equally nothing that's going to keep you going for more than half an hour. They used to do sandwiches, but presumably that had to stop because they only last for a few hours and the wastage cost money.

'Enjoy Any Time' means 'Survives Forever, Operator Enjoys Savings'.

The WAG Express catering is very good. You can purchase some good dishes from the buffet car if travelling in Standard, full English breakfast on the morning train which you can take back to your seat.

 

[Parallel]

The WAG Express catering is very good. You can purchase some good dishes from the buffet car if travelling in Standard, full English breakfast on the morning train which you can take back to your seat.

I did business class in the WAG Express for the first time last week, and was seriously impressed with the food. I tried some stuff I wouldn't usually go for and it was really, really tasty - And with some decent advance fares available, I couldn't recommend it enough.

 

[sheff1]

The WAG Express catering is very good. You can purchase some good dishes from the buffet car if travelling in Standard, full English breakfast on the morning train which you can take back to your seat.

Surprised they do a full English, I would have expected a full Welsh complete with laverbread.

 

[marks87]

...things seemed to be pretty good in FGW days, but I had a sandwich last month made by the clever means of stuffing the meat and salad into the middle, then cutting it. Result - a full looking sandwich to the eyes, but virtually sod all in the rest of it.

A classic British Rail sandwich.

Two slices of ham made to look like three, and so on.

 

[Blindtraveler]

I have had marvelous Icecream on the S and C before, a real trat. Also their trolley does loveley coffee and nice cakes.

 

[TT-ONR-NRN]

Since Virgin (both sides and both classes of travel) and GWR have gone downhill over the past few years, it's probably true that Caledonian Sleeper is as good as you're going to get overall in onboard catering nowadays. Which is funny considering that they do it all out of a microwave in a partitioned kitchen in a coach that could be as much as 45 years old.

In my view, the worst things slung across my table in the past year are those awful 'Enjoy Any Time' snack box things that Transpennine do in First Class. A tiny bag of crisps with a nasty bruschetta dip that you spill down your shirt, a bag of nuts and a flapjack. Nothing overtly unhealthy, but equally nothing that's going to keep you going for more than half an hour. They used to do sandwiches, but presumably that had to stop because they only last for a few hours and the wastage cost money.

'Enjoy Any Time' means 'Survives Forever, Operator Enjoys Savings'.

That's very interesting to hear you say GWR have gone downhill in First Class. Only last week I travelled with them and received on that day:

Lemonade
Scone with Jam (That one was with XC)
Lucozade Orange
Fruit Cake
Fruit Cake (again)
Banana Muffin
Tea
Popcorn
Crisps
Sprite
Lucozade Original
Tea
Even more Fruit Cake
Honeycomb Cookies
Honey Muffin
More Popcorn
Sparkling Water
Salted Peanuts
Coffee
Golden Oat Crumbles
More sparkling water
More honeycomb cookies
Even more honeycomb cookies
Even more honeycomb cookies
More Golden Oat Crumbles!
Even more Golden Oat Crumbles!
Diet Coke
More coffee
Roasted Peanuts
More salted peanuts
Those honeycomb cookies again!
More crisps
More popcorn
Still Water
Sausage, Bacon and Egg muffin (That one was with XC)

I kept politely declining but they insisted!

So, they seem pretty generous to me. Then again, I do know a lot of XC and GWR staff, so maybe that helped.