First Class to Swansea

[VauxhallandI]

On the 12.45 to Swansea from Paddington on Friday.

Should I eat before I get on the train does a feast await?

Normally a weekend FC passenger so need info.

Ta

 

[TEW]

You'll get the standard drinks and snacks for free and you may purchase items from the Travelling Chef menu at your seat, they'll be freshly prepared by the chef in the kitchen. Menu is here. The food from the Travelling Chef is pretty good quality in my experience.

 

[VauxhallandI]

You'll get the standard drinks and snacks for free and you may purchase items from the Travelling Chef menu at your seat, they'll be freshly prepared by the chef in the kitchen. Menu is here. The food from the Travelling Chef is pretty good quality in my experience.

Thanks for the info much appreciated.

 

[breadfan]

I used a very good takeaway recently for my on board meal. As you face Swansea station, it is to the left across the road. Good variety of food, I went for baked potato and beans and a sausage roll, but used the complimentary drinks and fruits etc.

 

[merlodlliw]

You'll get the standard drinks and snacks for free and you may purchase items from the Travelling Chef menu at your seat, they'll be freshly prepared by the chef in the kitchen. Menu is here. The food from the Travelling Chef is pretty good quality in my experience.

Interesting to read the menu, good value in my opinion, however the sourcing of the food itemized seems to avoid any Welsh County,perhaps its the Milk/bread on the ups from Swansea.
I just put this up out of interest

 

[VauxhallandI]

Well I am cruising aling in to Wales as I type.

Train over ten mins late leaving due to a fault.

The bruger however was very nice and I agree excellent value.

Disappointed they have no wifi on board, a bit 1999!

Overall happy bunny.

I am satying in the Grand Hotel opposite the station so I intend to fall out of there tomorrow lunchtime and straight back to the safety of 1st Class.

 

[chuckles1066]

You'll get the standard drinks and snacks for free and you may purchase items from the Travelling Chef menu at your seat, they'll be freshly prepared by the chef in the kitchen. Menu is here. The food from the Travelling Chef is pretty good quality in my experience.

£4.50 for beans on toast?

£4.50 for cheese on toast?

£4 for a fruit scone?

That's just mickey-taking.

 

[merlodlliw]

£4.50 for beans on toast?

£4.50 for cheese on toast?

£4 for a fruit scone?

That's just mickey-taking.

Why is it Micky Taking, Go into any of the so called fashionable Coffee houses & expect to pay £3 or more for a Cup of Froth. Little Chefs are far more expensive than the FGW menu.

Some London Hotels are charging £30 for breakfast
The Great Westerner £8/50
Choice of Fried, Scrambled or Poached Egg with Sweetcure Smoked Wiltshire Back Bacon, Cumberland Sausage, Button Mushrooms, Tomato and Heinz Baked Beans, with a choice of Buttered White or Malted Bloomer Toast

I agree some greasy spoons will charge less, but after all this is food on a train. Anybody know if "Gorge with George" is still open on Cardiff Bay

 

[Flamingo]

£4.50 for beans on toast?

£4.50 for cheese on toast?

£4 for a fruit scone?

That's just mickey-taking.

Well, bring your own with you then!

 

[Essexman]

I find the Travelling Chef to be very reasonably priced and good quality food. FGW are employing someone for the sole purpose of cooking meals - it can't be a cheap service to provide and I'm very happy to pay for it. Prices compare favourably to motorway services, with quality much better and no time wasted as you eat and travel.

I find it harder to understand why people will buy a microwaved burger from the buffet when there's a chef on the train who'll cook a high quality one for a couple of quid more.

 

[Captain Chaos]

I find the Travelling Chef to be very reasonably priced and good quality food. FGW are employing someone for the sole purpose of cooking meals - it can't be a cheap service to provide and I'm very happy to pay for it. Prices compare favourably to motorway services, with quality much better and no time wasted as you eat and travel.

I find it harder to understand why people will buy a microwaved burger from the buffet when there's a chef on the train who'll cook a high quality one for a couple of quid more.

Most staff I know won't tend to buy anything from the Buffet as we can get discounted stuff from some of the outlets at the station. But quite a few are more than willing to use the Travelling Chef. Me being one of them. Yes it is pricey but I think you are getting what you pay for really. If ever there is the option to catch a train with a travelling chef on and enjoy a Bacon Baguette then I choose the travelling chef train every time!

Yet to try the Pullman though.

 

[TEW]

If you look at it as £4.20 for a reheated Bacon Baguette or £4.50 for a freshly cooked one I don't think it's bad value at all. The food is good quality as well. The food in the full breakfast is better quality than you'd find in most greasy spoons.

 

[Essexman]

If you look at it as £4.20 for a reheated Bacon Baguette or £4.50 for a freshly cooked one I don't think it's bad value at all. The food is good quality as well. The food in the full breakfast is better quality than you'd find in most greasy spoons.

Far better than greasy spoon.
And being freshly cooked to order, better than on East Coast's trains.

 

[F Great Eastern]

All FGW food is really good, having used the Traveling Chef many times and the Pullman once can't sing its praises enough. I don't get to use FGW as much as I used to but I always make sure I use travelling Chef and the Pullman when they are on my trains.

The other main line I use is the GEML which is laughable in comparison to the quality on FGW. Even the FGW Express cafe is good, thrashes the GA equivalent, really cannot find any fault.

Normally I'd use station outlets, but if I'm on a FGW journey I'll always buy on-board.

 

[daikilo]

Interesting to read the menu, good value in my opinion, however the sourcing of the food itemized seems to avoid any Welsh County,perhaps its the Milk/bread on the ups from Swansea.
I just put this up out of interest

Fresh bara lawr (lava/laver bread) with welsh bacon and a fried welsh egg and a Brains, pls.

 

[Trainfan344]

£4.50 for beans on toast?

£4.50 for cheese on toast?

£4 for a fruit scone?

That's just mickey-taking.

Or if you pay another 70p you can have cheese and beans on toast!

 

[chuckles1066]

Little Chefs are far more expensive than the FGW menu.

For beans on toast? You're not comparing apples to apples.

Do you pay £4.50 for beans on toast or £3.69 (from Little Chef menu) for a bacon/sausage butty (choose either two British pork sausages or three rashers of back bacon)?

Or a Breakfast Wrap - £3.69 filled with a rasher of back bacon, a British pork sausage, a free range egg, cheese, hash brown and tomato sauce?

Now behave. £4.50 for beans on toast (irrespective of where it's dished up) is a mickey-take.

 

[ainsworth74]

And being freshly cooked to order, better than on East Coast's trains.

Ah but back in the day East Coast had more chefs on more trains than FGW. No longer of course, because EC now give passengers what they want, apparently, rather than keeping the trappings of the last century.

 

[merlodlliw]

For beans on toast? You're not comparing apples to apples.

Do you pay £4.50 for beans on toast or £3.69 (from Little Chef menu) for a bacon/sausage butty (choose either two British pork sausages or three rashers of back bacon)?

Or a Breakfast Wrap - £3.69 filled with a rasher of back bacon, a British pork sausage, a free range egg, cheese, hash brown and tomato sauce?

Now behave. £4.50 for beans on toast (irrespective of where it's dished up) is a mickey-take.

I have just done a trawl of Little Chef menu http://www.little-chef.co.uk/menu/main

Olympic Breakfast £8/88 includes black pudding
The Works Burger £9/19
Beans on Toast £4/19 saving of 31p, in plastic surrounds


don't think FGW travelling Chef is the Mickey taker .
I compared the two as both use the word Chef, I know where I would prefer to eat at.

Bob

 

[Flamingo]

Don't mind Cuddles, FGW are the spawn of all evil, as far as he is concerned. You will never convince him that anything we ever do is acceptable.

 

[FGW_DID]

I was pleasantly surprised to read so many pro FGW posts even if it is just about food pricing / quality.

As for Cuddles, well you get people like that on every forum, who spew forth anti [insert TOC here] venom at every opportunity, even when the actual thread topic has nothing to do with them!

 

[chuckles1066]

Don't mind Cuddles, FGW are the spawn of all evil, as far as he is concerned. You will never convince him that anything we ever do is acceptable.

Which bit of

£4.50 for beans on toast (irrespective of where it's dished up) is a mickey-take.

did you miss? FGW, Little Chef, Sid's Greasy Spoon......£4.50 for two slices of toast and a couple of tablespoons of baked beans is a Mickey take.

 

[merlodlliw]

Which bit of


did you miss? FGW, Little Chef, Sid's Greasy Spoon......£4.50 for two slices of toast and a couple of tablespoons of baked beans is a Mickey take.

Can of Heinz BB 70p

Loaf £1/20

overheads £1/00

profit to pay overheads,staff etc £1/60.

so what would it cost you & how would you break it down including your time which as a price plus bread & beans are sold in tact.
,

 

[Essexman]

If you compare the cost of ingredients with the selling price of a meal any restaurant will appear expensive. FGW manage to sell food at competitive prices for the quality of what is served (Travelling Chef & pullman dining), despite the costs of providing such a service on a train. I think they are superb and I hope FGW keep the franchise to ensure we keep the best train catering in the UK.

 

[Flamingo]

Oh, I didn't miss any of it

 

[richw]

Which bit of


did you miss? FGW, Little Chef, Sid's Greasy Spoon......£4.50 for two slices of toast and a couple of tablespoons of baked beans is a Mickey take.

Little chef charge £4.19 for beans on toast, and Little Chef is so much poorer quality, justify Little chef charging only 31p less for food which is significantly inferior quality.

 

[chuckles1066]

Can of Heinz BB 70p

Loaf £1/20

overheads £1/00

profit to pay overheads,staff etc £1/60.

so what would it cost you & how would you break it down including your time which as a price plus bread & beans are sold in tact.
,

I have no idea where you do your shopping.

8 x 415g tins of Heinz Baked Beans (24 servings at least) = £3 from my local Asda. That's just over 12p per serving.

Loaves of bread can be forzen in slices of two easily......a very nice Tiger Batch loaf costs just 50p from Asda and will get you eight generous slices. That's just 6.3p per serving.

Overheads? Eh?

Profits to pay overheads / staff etc? Eh?

Doesn't the massively inflated rail fare take into account the last two points?

Sooooo......justify 18.3p of raw goods being dished up @ £4.50 when the overheads have already been accounted for.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
Still waiting the keyboard warriors here giving their "reasoned" responses?

:roll::roll:

 

[VauxhallandI]

I have no idea where you do your shopping.

8 x 415g tins of Heinz Baked Beans (24 servings at least) = £3 from my local Asda. That's just over 12p per serving.

Loaves of bread can be forzen in slices of two easily......a very nice Tiger Batch loaf costs just 50p from Asda and will get you eight generous slices. That's just 6.3p per serving.

Overheads? Eh?

Profits to pay overheads / staff etc? Eh?

Doesn't the massively inflated rail fare take into account the last two points?

Sooooo......justify 18.3p of raw goods being dished up @ £4.50 when the overheads have already been accounted for.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
Still waiting the keyboard warriors here giving their "reasoned" responses?

:roll::roll:

And your prices are before bulk buy discounts

 

[Flamingo]

I gave mine already - bring your own beans on toast with you!

 

[calc7]

In the eyes of many railway enthusiasts, FGW can do no wrong - purely because the fleet they operate is HSTs.