Great Western Coffee Shop

I think we may have a restaurant car expert or three on the forum?   Any reports / comments?

From Wales Online (http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/tidy-fried-breakfast-dished-up-14110152)

Certainly looks extremely good...

Looks good, but I have not tried the Pullman on any of the new trains as yet.

Whilst I am pleased to see that the Pullman service has survived the introduction of the DMUs, it does  NOT make up for the absence of a buffet on a so called inter city train.

I would be interested to know how the service is run with a pair of 5 car DMUs, and how diners and non dining first class are accommodated in the two different first class areas.
Are standard class allowed in the restaurant ?

Questions regarding the pullman....

Am I correct you can only book using a first class ticket? If you have a standard ticket it is down to luck?

I would imagine some first class advances are reasonably cheap.  If you take the 1045 from Padd to Swansea which has the pullman (I think only on weekdays) how far should I travel to enjoy the fine dining at leisure as opposed to being constrained by time.  I guess I could upgrade my ticket...

What a fantastic service.  Just a shame there are so few Pullmans and I would not risk buying a standard class ticket on the off chance of gaining a table.  I presume First Class passengers pay extra for the food.

With priv rate I would imagine you can buy a priv rate standard ticket and again gamble for a seat...

Yes, first class can book a seat in the Pullman. On HSTs, standard class can also dine if space is available on the day, but can not book. I presume this also applies on the new trains.

No Pullmans operate on weekends or public holidays.

The time taken to enjoy a meal without rushing, is a bit subjective but I would say at least two hours. I regularly dine on the 18-03 from Paddington, alighting at Taunton. That is just under two hours and can be a little rushed.

The price of the meal is in addition to the fare, expect to pay from about £50 a head up to about £100 a head, depending on what if any drink is taken. Menus with prices are on the GWR website.

Just to add the 10:45 London Paddington to Swansea service serves the brunch menu rather than the full dinner, so you could probably fit in a meal without rushing in around an hour - so London to Swindon or Bristol Parkway.

Finally got the chance to take brunch on the 10::45 London Paddington to Swansea South Wales Pullman for the first time since it moved from an HST to an IET.

On the ten car service the restaurant is laid up in one of the two first class coaches in the five car set nearest the buffers.

The menu is the same as before with a choice of cereals, porridge or yoghurt (with or without granola).   Following that there is the traditional fried breakfast, vegetarian alternative or salmon with scrambled egg.  For a lower price there is also scrambled egg on toast.

(http://www.mbob.co.uk/rforum/ietbreak1.jpg)

(http://www.mbob.co.uk/rforum/ietbreak2.jpg)

The service is easier for the staff as it is a straight path out of the kitchen to serve the food.  The kitchen features halogen hobs, combi oven and a large grill.  It is also easier for the train planners as all the five car IETs have the same kitchen.  Currently reliability of the service to the West of England is suffering as control struggle to diagram the remaining HST kitchens onto the services to and from Plymouth and keep things like mini-buffets away from those trains.  All the modules used to bring the food and other equipment needed for the service now have dedicated storage places within the IET kitchen, so staff no longer need to push them past diners at the beginning and end of the meal.  They also have a dedicated door to load and unload which will be particularly useful on busy trains where delays can occur while passengers and modules try to board or alight at the same time at the start or end of a journey.

There are currently two things currently missing from the IET service.  There is no steamer so it is cold milk with the coffee (which doesn't really bother me).  However, for reasons no-one can explain, there is also no ice being provided.  Hopefully whatever the reason that will be resolved.

The seat layout may lead to some comment.

(http://www.mbob.co.uk/rforum/ietfour.jpg)

The bays of four are much the same as on the HST.  However the tables for two have been replaced by single seats all facing the same way.  I am not particularly worried which way I face so not an issue for me. However someone who likes to travel in a particular direction is either going to have to put up with it or tie up on seat on a bay of four which makes seating those travelling together more difficult.

(http://www.mbob.co.uk/rforum/iettwo.jpg)

There is one pair of seats together.  Currently it is not being laid up, and with a lack of any view, it isn't likely to be popular.

The nine car IETs will have a slightly larger kitchen and with first class at both ends of the train the plan is the whole of first class at the London end of the train will be devoted to the Pullman.  They are due to run to and from Swansea from mid-September.

I was on the 1255 from Plymouth to Paddington today, Pullman was virtually empty, repeated calls for anyone who fancied eating to go to coach K. As we pulled into Reading I heard the steward and one of the other staff complaining about the kitchens on the IET and suggesting that the Pullman format will be reviewed later in the year.

January/February is always a quieter time on the Pullmans, although usually a Monday is fairly busy - especially on the earlier 12:01.

I am told there is to be a big media re-launch in August when the new trains are here.

I know the West of England crews are very frustrated at the number of times they cannot do a service at the moment due to having a mini buffet rather than a kitchen.  That isn't going to help foster custom in the short or medium term.

Really? That would be a change from the plan as always seen so far, with the obvious arrangement of all the first class at one end (DPTS+MS+MS+TS+MS+TS+MC+MF+DPTF).

Was news to me, but that is what I was told.

The food does look mouth-watering, but I'll admit to not being convinced that putting a sizeable kitchen on every train is a sensible use of space for units that are going to spend much of their time on commuter duties.

Full fleet flexibility.

And who knows, maybe even a hot food offering in non Pullman 1st Class in the future. Say for journeys of around an hour or more. Just like Virgin West Coast and (soon to be HMG) East Coast.

......they could call it "Travelling Chef" 😂

The 9 Car Class 800s & 802s, will have first class at only ONE end. where the kitchen is, the other end will be standard class. As per HST.

No, that is to prevent plebeians from putting some into their glass of single malt whisky.  ::)

No ice was available on my last 2 Pullman trips on HSTs, so perhaps GWR have lost the instructions for making ice ?

Surely it is:
"More water than usual requires freezing"

Perhaps the weather is too cold for the ice maker ?

Maybe GWR's water is formed of 1 hydrogen atom instead of 2?

Maybe all the hot air about the new and improved services has caused the ice to melt. :)

.....perhaps Timmy the dog got loose & peed in the ice bucket?

Oh! Radical!

This forum does go down some interesting byways on occasion.

Who'd've thought we'd be doing chemistry puns on a thread about on train catering?
 ;D ;D ;D

Returning to more serious matters, here is a question for those whom have tried the service. What is the space between the back of the seat and the front of the table ? And how does this compare with the corresponding space on an HST.
Will I fit ? or is there a risk of a dimensional mismatch as I have become rather stout.

It would be unfortunate to become stuck :(

I've not tried dining on an IET yet, but plan to soon. I think the query could be answered by a fellow stout trencherman...

Paging bobm!  :P

BobM didn’t mention getting stuck in his review so I imagine you’ll be fine.

Well really! (I was waiting for CfN to contribute in his usual blunt (but frankly accurate) way!)

When I dined I sat at a single table.  As richwarwicker suggests I lived to tell the tale. I think if anything there is probably a little bit greater room compared to seat 13 on the HSTs - the only single table on those trains.

Might have to treat bignosemac to breakfast and we can annoy the staff by working our way around the tables in the name of research!

I strive to be factual, whenever possible.  ;)


My favourite memory of bignosemac's research around seating is the time he tried to disappear under one (http://www.firstgreatwestern.info/coffeeshop/index.php?topic=12746.msg140327#msg140327), when the conductor appeared at the end of the carriage.  ;D