Great Western Railway: on-board catering, buffets, Travelling Chef, Pullman - ongoing discussion

[whole diary]

[IndustryInsider]

Didn't I read somewhere that the trolley folks are being trained as I type & some trolleys may be out on test sometime quite soon?

Need to get on with it with the first services due to start on the 16th of October.

See my post on here for more information on the current situation regarding catering:  http://www.firstgreatwestern.info/coffeeshop/index.php?topic=15945.15

To be honest, this appears to be one of the few areas GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) management have got a grip of at the moment.

[Chris from Nailsea]

To be honest, this appears to be one of the few areas GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) management have got a grip of at the moment.

Cough, splutter. 

[ChrisB]

I

Didn't I read somewhere that the trolley folks are being trained as I type & some trolleys may be out on test sometime quite soon?

Need to get on with it with the first services due to start on the 16th of October.

See my post on here for more information on the current situation regarding catering:  http://www.firstgreatwestern.info/coffeeshop/index.php?topic=15945.15

To be honest, this appears to be one of the few areas GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) management have got a grip of at the moment.

I've cleared the question on Standard Class trolleys in the thread mentioned above directly with Ben Rule last night at the ACORP^▸ (Association of Community Rail Partnerships) Awards

[1st fan]

Agree that the kitchen equipment SHOULD be more reliable than on 40 year old trains, and hopefully it will be.

However newer does not always mean more reliable, and I perceive a risk of initial unreliability for a year or so. And whilst Hitachi have a vested interest in proving that they can build reliable trains, I doubt that this extends to catering equipment.

Hitachi identified their supplier in this area as "Kugel (Germany)" - or Kugel Edelstahlverarbeitung, if you want to find it via Google (Kugel means "ball", so is not a helpful search term). You can jump to your own preconception on that.

There is a picture of the new kitchen here https://www.blanco-professional.com/files/jpg15/html/Railway_Produkte_kombiniert/1004x0505.jpg only one I've found. Can't find any railway trolleys that keep things hot and cold and allow sales of things like beer, crisps, sandwiches etc.

Just to add the picture above shows two different products. The one on the left is from the IET^▸ (Intercity Express Train) and the one on the right obviously isn't (cos there's no buffet on these trains  ).
There's another picture here taken from I think the other end https://pbs.twimg.com/media/B2SY8DRCEAAq8WF.jpg

[broadgage]

I have just enjoyed another two Pullman meals, making four in the last couple of weeks.
Generally most enjoyable, can be summarised as follows.

Meal one, 13-34 from Taunton, last week. Excellent meal, insufficient port on board, and none left when I wished to order.

Meal two, 18-03 from London, last week. No hot food due to electrical failure. Restaurant only about half full, BEFORE the electrical failure, not in reaction to the breakdown. Sufficient port available, BUT demand may have been restricted by the very limited food service.

Meal three, 13-34 from Taunton yesterday. Excellent meal, restaurant full again, port supplies insufficient, I ordered two glasses which was the entire stock. I could have done with a third glass, and anyone else ordering port would have been out of luck.

Meal 4, 19-03 from London, yesterday. Meal was of the usual very high standard, restaurant very busy including tables laid in the adjacent coach. No port. Train late, but not badly.

General conclusions.
Food quality-------------excellent every time
Food availability---------not so good, only 3 times out of 4.
Availability of port------ very poor.
Availability of other drink----good as far as I could see.
Timekeeping of relevant trains-----acceptable.
Booking system-------excellent, I booked each time and every booking was honoured.

Other points I noted, the ride quality was subjectively worse than usual, this was commented on by others, especially in the up direction near Castle Cary.
The up Pullmans were much busier than in the past, making a first class ticket and advance booking essential if you wish to be certain of a meal.
The recently increased prices do not seem to have reduced demand for Pullman dining. Fillet steak is the most expensive option and also the most popular.

Although I enjoyed the starter, a terrine, I would have preferred the smoked salmon to start but this is not in the new menu. Hopefully smoked salmon might return in the next menu change.
The Great Port Shortage seems to be a recurring problem, it cant be that hard to put an extra bottle or two on board.

[IndustryInsider]

Would there be any objections if you bought a nice bottle of port and glass with you and drunk that alongside the Pullman meal?

[broadgage]

Would there be any objections if you bought a nice bottle of port and glass with you and drunk that alongside the Pullman meal?

I doubt that so doing would be allowed normally, it is normal restaurant practice to prohibit* the taking of ones own drink.
The Pullman crew might perhaps make an exception in case of lack of on board port.
Any anyway, I would not drink a whole bottle and the remainder would assuredly leak. Half bottles of port do exist but are rare.

*A minority of restaurants DO allow customers to bring their own wine, but charge a corkage fee for this.

[JayMac]

If you can drink your own port anywhere else on the train it would be a bit mean to ban it in the one carriage offering a meal service.

In fact this very issue came up with me some years ago. I was told by a Pullman host I couldn't drink my own red wine and I was subsequently denied a meal when I complained. I'd even offered to pay corkage.

I further complained to Customer Services and the relevant director at the time contacted me personally to apologise saying there shouldn't have been a refusal of service and I should have been allowed to consume my own wine.

I normally would order wine from the menu but on this occasion I was fiscally limited and could only afford the 3 courses and an aperitif.

[grahame]

Half bottles of port do exist but are rare.

I guess that when one half of the contents has gone, the temptation to drink the other half bottle is almost irresistable?

[TaplowGreen]

Half bottles of port do exist but are rare.

I guess that when one half of the contents has gone, the temptation to drink the other half bottle is almost irresistable?

Get yourself a hip flask!

[Western Pathfinder]

That's exactly what I do.

[Tim]

Get yourself a hip flask!

Is that a Thermos with a trendy beard?

[1st fan]

Didn't I read somewhere that the trolley folks are being trained as I type & some trolleys may be out on test sometime quite soon?

Need to get on with it with the first services due to start on the 16th of October.

See my post on here for more information on the current situation regarding catering:  http://www.firstgreatwestern.info/coffeeshop/index.php?topic=15945.15

To be honest, this appears to be one of the few areas GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) management have got a grip of at the moment.

I know you say you haven't seen one but if anyone has.........the trolley doesn't look anything like this from Swiss railways does it? https://www.ceka.ch/files/medien/bilder/Branchen/ceka-minibar-03.jpg You can certainly do a decent range of coffees from that. As a friend said GWR have got a nice coffee machine on the HST^▸ (High Speed Train). What she was worried about on the new trains is reversion to the old Turbo catering. Specifically coffee where a cup with instant granules/power packed at the bottom just has hot water added from one of those pump flasks. I'm not a coffee drinker so I wouldn't know the difference but she says instant is the work of the devil.

[bobm]

The recently increased prices do not seem to have reduced demand for Pullman dining. Fillet steak is the most expensive option and also the most popular.

Although I enjoyed the starter, a terrine, I would have preferred the smoked salmon to start but this is not in the new menu. Hopefully smoked salmon might return in the next menu change.
The Great Port Shortage seems to be a recurring problem, it cant be that hard to put an extra bottle or two on board.

The steak certainly has been the most popular over the years, however on Tuesday lunchtime the nine diners all had the lemon sole.  The previous night there were more takers for the fish than there was stock on board.

As for the port I have only once recently been out of luck.  A new bottle was opened for me on Tuesday.

The smoked salmon starter used to be on all three menus - now it is missing on menu two - which is this week's one.  Also on menu two is the Roast Dorset Lamb, however this has been temporarily withdrawn as the chefs are not satisfied with its quality.

It seems broadgage and I chose the same items this week.





That was my fare on Monday night.  On Tuesday lunchtime I had the goats cheese starter and lemon sole but omitted to take the obligatory photographs!

Reliability has been a problem - taking this week, these are the ones I know about.

Monday
05:05 Penzance to Paddington (breakfast from Plymouth)
There was a service but set failed at Taunton

18:03 Paddington to Penzance
No service - wrong catering vehicle diagrammed

Tuesday
12:56 Plymouth to Paddington
No service - faulty boiler

Wednesday
19:03 Paddington to Plymouth
Pullman service OK but supplies for the buffet didn't reach the train
Set fault meant the train was terminated at Exeter St Davids nearly an hour late.

Apparently if you do make a reservation via the website you will get an email if the service is cancelled ahead of departure.

[JayMac]

An improved 1st Class complimentary offering from Monday 16th October 2917.

Attached is the new menu.