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Author Topic: Fine dining returns to Welsh train route  (Read 5163 times)
Chris from Nailsea
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« on: November 02, 2014, 23:18:06 »

From the South Wales Evening Post:

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Fine dining returns to Welsh train route


A sample meal now available on Swansea to London Paddington trains.

Fine dining on trains has returned to Wales as First Great Western (FGW (First Great Western)) cooks up a new Pullman menu for trains that run between London and Swansea.

Once patronised by the likes of Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor, bosses say the new Pullman menu combines the elegance of a bygone age with a locally-sourced modern selection, offering a breakfast and brunch service.

From today diners can eat sausages and bacon from South Wales; Glamorgan sausages made with Caerphilly cheese; and even Omelette Arnold Bennett - made with eggs and smoked haddock produced near to the railway line in Somerset.

The announcement follows the successful launch of a new menu and additional Pullman Dining services on routes to South West England last year. The launch saw FGW promise to fill its on board menu with as many products sourced from as close to the railway line as possible.

In addition to the new Welsh ingredients the menu includes award-winning produce from a third generation family butcher, fourth generation family baker and fifth generation family cheese maker. So far almost 90 locally-made products have replaced their mass-market counterparts - up from 50 since it launched the initiative a year ago. The Pullman Dining breakfast is available on the 0558 Swansea to Paddington service, and a brunch service is available on the 1045 London Paddington to Swansea.
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William Huskisson MP (Member of Parliament) was the first person to be killed by a train while crossing the tracks, in 1830.  Many more have died in the same way since then.  Don't take a chance: stop, look, listen.

"Level crossings are safe, unless they are used in an unsafe manner."  Discuss.
BerkshireBugsy
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« Reply #1 on: November 03, 2014, 17:10:00 »

I suddenly feel very hungry Smiley
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Chris from Nailsea
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« Reply #2 on: November 05, 2014, 19:07:05 »

From Wales Online:

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First Great Western's Pullman breakfast brings true Welsh flavour to Swansea-Paddington service

First Great Western has reintroduced the Pullman restaurant service ^ once patronised by Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor ^ to its Swansea to London service
 

Kedgeree is served in the Pullman carriage

For early morning travellers from South Wales to London the Welsh Dragon Pullman Restaurant is a name of distinction. Once strictly the first class preserve of the businessmen and women, the reinstated Pullman service is now open to travellers in standard class who can enjoy a full Welsh breakfast.

First Great Western (FGW (First Great Western)) chooses a damp, dismal day at the end of October to launch its breakfast menu fortified with the finest Welsh produce. The full Welsh breakfast includes eggs, smoked Welsh bacon, pork sausage and Welsh black pudding. You can also order bread, cheese, Pembrokeshire spring water and the mandatory Welsh cakes, prepared by travelling chef Matthew Ashton in his galley kitchen where space is at a premium.

The morning Pullman leaves Swansea at 5.58am and arrives in Port Talbot, where I get on board, at 6.15am to find one solitary diner just finishing his corn flakes.

Service team leader Edward Gough, a veteran of 37 years^ service firstly with British Rail and then First Great Western, anticipates my question. ^It^s half term as you know so we expect our numbers to be down,^ he says.
 
Obviously First Great Western management hadn^t taken this into consideration when choosing October 30 as the day to announce their heavily laden Welsh produce menu. Undeterred by the timing, Edward^s team swings into service and the invitation to coffee or tea follows immediately along with the enquiry as to when I would like to eat.

There is something romantic in sitting at a table impeccably laid out with gleaming knives and forks, a pristine table cloth and all that goes with a fine dining experience.

Although dawn has just broken there is light enough to appreciate the changing landscape as we move across the Margam Moors and the giant outline of the Tata Steel plant and on to Bridgend and the northern extremities of the Vale.

As we approach St Fagan^s, on the outskirts of Cardiff, Edward appears at my table with the menu and the choice of natural yoghurt, traditional porridge with or without honey, or corn flakes. On the expectation of plenty to come (I order the cooked breakfast) I choose corn flakes and sit back, awaiting the influx of passengers at Cardiff Central Station.

It never happens. The only one to enter is a young man with a large pack on his back who reminded me of Bunyan^s pilgrim. He sits down a few tables in front of me. The service team leader approaches him in the usual way, welcomes him to the Pullman car and offers the choice of tea or coffee.

While this is being done my breakfast arrives on an enormous platter, to be served by Sally, one of Edward^s staff, who is a regular member of the team. Quickly and efficiently it is laid before me with a copious amount of toast and appears as appetising as it reads on the menu.

Fine food diligently served does concentrate the mind and Newport gives way to the Severn Tunnel and Bristol Parkway in what appears to be no time at all. Meanwhile the coffee flows continually and there is a chance to reflect on the journey so far.

Further down the car the young pilgrim is in the process of enjoying the smoked haddock, chosen no doubt in preference to the smoked salmon and scrambled eggs, which gives the atmosphere a distinct aroma.

Meanwhile the service team has moved down the first class carriages tending to the requirements of those first class travellers who are content with what can be conjured from the trolley.

It now seems an opportune moment to ask Edward what his views are on this bold experiment ^ the reintroduction of the Pullman service. Pragmatically he says: ^Normally we are full which confirms the decision to reintroduce the service. You have been unfortunate in your timing. Having a breakfast can make a great deal of difference to our customers, many of whom are going to London for a business meeting or conference that can mean they go with out food for the rest of the day. With our help they don^t have to worry about it. So I suppose we offer them a service that takes away the worry about eating for the rest of the day.^

But this peace of mind comes at a price. The freshly cooked Welsh breakfast costs ^18, which is in addition to the variable cost of a first class ticket from South Wales to London Paddington. Still, it seems a price worth paying for what is traditionally regarded as the main meal of the day, and to enjoy an ambience a FGW spokesman described as ^combining the elegance of a bygone age with a locally sourced modern selection of products on the breakfast and brunch menu.^

^Will you be returning with us on the 11.45am from Paddington? Then you can enjoy our brunch,^ Edward said. The answer is I will be returning with him and his staff but his offer is, I^m afraid, a brunch too far.

When you can eat the Pullman breakfast

The new Pullman breakfast is available on the 5.58 Swansea to Paddington service and the brunch on the 10.45 Paddington to Swansea service.

It follows the launch of a new menu and extra Pullman dining services on First Great Western (FGW) services to South West England last year.

How much does it cost?

The freshly cooked Welsh breakfast costs ^18, which is in addition to the variable cost of a first class or standard ticket.

Is it locally sourced?

In addition to the new ingredients the menu includes award-winning produce from a third generation family butcher, fourth generation family baker and fifth generation family cheese maker. So far almost 90 locally-made products have replaced their mass-market counterparts ^ up from 50 since FGW launched this initiative a year ago.

FGW is also adding yet more locally made food to its Express Caf^ range, found on board every high speed train, including Tregroes Waffles from the Teifi Valley, Cuckoo Bircher Muesli, Pembrokeshire sparkling water, Somerset cider, Herefordshire crisps and Cornish shortbread.

The company had already added cheese from cows that graze the banks of Cornwall^s Frenchman^s Creek, hand-raised pies from Somerset and haddock smoked over oak on the Somerset Levels.

Ah, yes: those famous "hand-raised pies from Somerset" - they're free range ones, apparently.  Tongue
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William Huskisson MP (Member of Parliament) was the first person to be killed by a train while crossing the tracks, in 1830.  Many more have died in the same way since then.  Don't take a chance: stop, look, listen.

"Level crossings are safe, unless they are used in an unsafe manner."  Discuss.
chrisr_75
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« Reply #3 on: November 05, 2014, 22:22:04 »

I guess the hand raised Somerset pies are perhaps a distant, domesticated relative to the free ranging wild Haggis to be discovered in the Caledonian hills?  Smiley
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bobm
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« Reply #4 on: November 05, 2014, 22:33:03 »

That kedgeree is wonderful - even if I do insist on having it with a hard yolk to the egg.
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