[Captain Chaos]

Have to say that the breakfast looks ok but the rest looks fairly dissapointing. Still want to try it though as it might be better than I think. But going by that I doubt it.

[Richard Armstrong]

Breakfast looks good but everything else looks decidedly lacklustre. To try and pretend that this is even close to the variety offered by the previous restaurant/at-seat dining is a joke. You can't even order any of the items available at the buffet to be delivered to your seat such as the paninis/sandwiches. I'd rather pay for a decent-sized sandwich/panini than have two small triangles from the limited-choice first class sandwich offering.

This is just a downgrade in quality with the fact it's 'free' being used to disguise this.

[Essexman]

Will they still do things like cottage pie, fish pie and lasagne that you can get from the buffet (standard class) or at seat (first class)?
With now such a limited choice of hot food knowing you could buy these would be a back up to not liking the complimentary offerings.

[All Line Rover]

Originally Posted by ainsworth74

Well that's pretty disappointing, Vegetable Biryani I guess being the hot meal on offer for the all day menu. Not brilliant that.

The breakfast offer is about the same as Virgin's.

The "All Day" sandwiches look nice (I do hope they have more than the two mentioned, though!), and although I am not fond of "vegetable" dishes, they serve a nice sounding crayfish salad - slightly better than Virgin's "Light Bites".

The "smoked salmon with cream cheese" sandwich on afternoon tea services also sounds nice - which covers for the lack of a salad - and they also serve scones - still better than Virgin's "Light Bites".

The "Evening Menu" served on all Southbound and some Northbound services doesn't look very impressive to be honest - Virgin's "Evening Meal" is better.

The "Evening Meal" service served on selected Northbound service is on par with Virgin's (it isn't any better), as long as they have more variety than "sausages and mash!" The only major disappointment is that the cheese platter seems to have been downgraded - the picture doesn't look impressive and the delicious chutney seems to have vanished. I hope they change it to how it was previously!

The weekend service, where savoury croissant and sandwiches are served, is DEFINITELY better than Virgin's. I can compliment them on that for sure!

Overall I would say the offering is good enough compared to Virgin Trains (except Southbound Evening services and the cheese platter). It isn't anything remarkable, but they'd be losing a fortune if they had too much variety like GNER!
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
I agree that the majority of the new offering is not as good as At-Seat dining. (You can't compare it to the Restaurant, as most people in it were Standard Class ticket holders!)

However, I haven't noticed First Class fares going up significantly, and you'll save £10-£20 each time you travel on breakfast.

In my opinion regular commuters will be the most pleased with this new offering.

[Richard Armstrong]

When travelling on Saturday, the new arrangement was being trialled, the two sandwiches were the only ones being offered with no other variants. This leads me to believe that sausage and mash and the curry will be the only options on the 'evening meal' services. There are only seven-odd of those anyway and they're all northbound out of London in the evening. Also, the hot food such as the fish pie and lasagne were no longer listed at the café bar with the closest thing to a hot meal now being a panini. It seems that this is now basically a 'you get what you're given' system in first class as after all, it's a bit more tricky to complain when it's 'free'...

I wouldn't mind AS much if you could still order sandwiches/paninis from the buffet to be delivered to your seat but it seems that any purchases in first class have now ceased to exist. It's either eat out of some plastic wrapping (with the cheese falling out the bottom of the panini...) or the meagre sandwich triangles on the majority of services.

[philjo]

Some good things, others not so good.

e.g. No smoked salmon/scrambled egg option for breakfast.
when I travelled 1st to Glasgow a couple of weeks ago with at seat dining I think a lot of people (including myself) were ordering that option juding by the number of plates that came past me from the kitchen.
Not everyone wants a full grill for breakfast & the smoked salmon is a lighter option.

The weekend offering is good - much better than Virgin/FGW. Though EC do charge more for weekend 1st then virgin

Could do with a larger sandwich selection on the all day menu. (e.g a fish option such as salmon or tuna). It doesn't spcify which type of chesse is used which always makes me suspect that it is cheddar!

Good to see Green tea on the menu after requesting it for some time (nearly every other train company already serves it)

Disappointing to see for much of the day Biryani is the only hot option. I don't like spicy food so that would not really be an option for me.

I assume the standard class cafe bar menu is being updated as I can't find this on the EC website at the moment.

[ainsworth74]

I suppose one good thing is that all services will now offer a decent breakfast (though not as good as the old one IMHO) as well as offering throughout the day a decent service (and an improved weekend service). But that doesn't make up for the loss of choice that the old at-seat dining offered.

[YorkshireRider]

Smoked salmon and scram eggs will be available 1 week in every 4 as the menu will be rotated every week on the wens of each week, greek yog, scram egg and chestnut mushrooms, porridge with sliced banana and dulce de leche, and the salmon will rotate over a 4 week cycle for breakfast.

The all day hot meal will also rotate between the Biryani, beetroot risotto, roasted feta and pepper quiche and red onion and goats cheese tart. The cakes will also rotate.

The evening meal will rotate between the sausage and mash, beef cooked in yorkshire bitter and veg, roast chicken with sherry vinegar, orange and paprika sauce and salmon fillet, pototoes and veg. The deserts will also rotate.

The sandwich fillings will also rotate but they will always be only 2 options

Also just to confirm alcohol will now be served on journeys under 70 mins but for all passengers not wanting anything off the menu they will have to go to the buffet themselves (for now anyway)

[Essexman]

Well I don't like any of those all day hot meals.
Looks as if I'll be travelling first class less often with East Coast.

I still don't understand why when the target market is business people who can claim reasonable expenses, East Coast think it is better to offer an inferior but free food service.

[Richard Armstrong]

Thanks for the information there 'YorkshireRider'.

All those evening mains actually sound pretty good though I wish they were available on more services as when I travel, it's north in the morning and south in the evening which means I'll be stuck with the all day hot meal, none of which unfortunately take my fancy apart from possibly the feta and pepper quiche though it's hard to see a bit of quiche as a meal!

I'm also confused as to why East Coast seem to have withdrawn any easy option for a first class passenger to give them more money, through ordering something from the café bar to be delivered to your seat, if what's on offer complimentary wise doesn't take your fancy.

[silentone]

Originally Posted by jonmorris0844

What a lame picture! There's no sense of speed created by that image.

Now it was merely a shot of a train they did up for another shoot, that would be fine, but it isn't!

How much would it have cost to have got a decent artist/designer to put that on a train actually moving through the country side to give the impression of speed?

It is a promo shot, I don't believe that actually is the train. The actual set, from the images I've seen are that both ends are purple with 'FLYING SCOTSMAN' sprawled along the side and they've created some whole 'brand' in purple with a Scottish Thistle, there are posters around the route. The flames seem to be a mere promo shot.

It did pass me today but I was too busy but certainly one end was purple.

I'm also sure that train is the only one which has been painted grey which might explain why it was painted grey.

Menu changes every Wednesday, the first menu seems fairly basic but there is smoked salmon and things to come. The first menu might be around for a few weeks while the suppliers and staff get to grips with everything.

See here http://news.scotsman.com/uk/Extra-sp...ook.6772647.jp

[bengolding]

Not a good start to the new timetable with signalling problems south of Edinburgh earlier causing severe delays and cancellations.

I'm planning on getting the 05:40 from Edinburgh this week. The only ticket that was available on this service was the First Anytime single, so the service must be proving popular in First, or EC may have given out lots of complimentary tickets to promote the service.

[jonmorris0844]

Originally Posted by silentone

It is a promo shot, I don't believe that actually is the train.

I merely meant they could have made the photo a bit more interesting and give the impression of speed, which is the message they're trying to convey.

To be honest, I think most of the pictures are rather dull and uninspiring.

However, I'm not knocking the service itself, the timetable changes or the plans for the future. But, if anyone thinks that cutting money on marketing is a good thing for the tax payer, these photos and the launch in general, suggests East Coast might have been better off spending a little more.

Only my opinion though!

[Skimble19]

They're fairly classy looking, and tbh good enough for the job.. A lot of stuff such as this is actually done in-house, such as the East Coast branding itself. Besides, if it was contracted out to some fancy design company there would no doubt be "outrage" at them wasting money..

Originally Posted by silentone

I'm also sure that train is the only one which has been painted grey which might explain why it was painted grey.

Sadly I believe there's definitely a fair few out in grey now, either that or I'm being stalked! Then again, in one of the videos on the site it's fairly clear the 91 is in the grey whilst the coaches are in silver

[All Line Rover]

Originally Posted by YorkshireRider

Smoked salmon and scram eggs will be available 1 week in every 4 as the menu will be rotated every week on the wens of each week, greek yog, scram egg and chestnut mushrooms, porridge with sliced banana and dulce de leche, and the salmon will rotate over a 4 week cycle for breakfast.

The all day hot meal will also rotate between the Biryani, beetroot risotto, roasted feta and pepper quiche and red onion and goats cheese tart. The cakes will also rotate.

The evening meal will rotate between the sausage and mash, beef cooked in yorkshire bitter and veg, roast chicken with sherry vinegar, orange and paprika sauce and salmon fillet, pototoes and veg. The deserts will also rotate.

The sandwich fillings will also rotate but they will always be only 2 options

Also just to confirm alcohol will now be served on journeys under 70 mins but for all passengers not wanting anything off the menu they will have to go to the buffet themselves (for now anyway)

It would be nice if East Coast could put the dates that each selection of food will be available, just like they did with the restaurant.

For example, I don't want to travel is "Biryani" is the only thing available, but I would happily eat a "red onion and goats cheese tart."

I also don't want "sausage and mash" in the evening - the beef or chicken sounds better!

Virgin do exactly the same as East Coast for sandwiches - they have 2 sandwiches available at any time (one of which is always nice) which rotate on a weekly cycle.

I don't understand why East Coast have not made smoked salmon & scrambled eggs a permanent fixture for breakfast. Whenever I travel with Virgin it is extremely popular. Not all of us like greasy British foods!

To be honest this "Biryani" doesn't sound very popular either, and I for one do not like Indian food. If customer feedback is poor I imagine that East Coast will change this option. And they really should bring back the NICE cheese platter! (Perhaps they can get some cheeses from "La Fromagerie" off Marylebone High Street .)