The decline of the dining saloon

[Derek Walker]

Yikes... has railway food come to this??

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[allanroy]

I thought BJ's was no longer running the dining cars.

[Stefan Andrzejewski]

No they are not. It must be a car still from that era,

[Brendon Anderson]

No they are not. It must be a car still from that era,

Thank goodness BJ's is have been axed from our trains. Recent RSSA Natal trips on Shosholoza Meyl have shown that the meals are good, but the service is not always the best. Its quite noticable that staff are not adequately trained before being employed. The Trans Natal is probably the worst of all the mainline trains..

[Stefan Andrzejewski]

Our Dining Car on the Tourist Class CT to JHB was fine. Not 5 star or Premier Classe but the staff were friendly and helpful and the food was good.

[John Ashworth]

I'm not really sure why BJ's gets such a bad press. I ate in BJ's several times, with foreign visitors, and we thought it was fine. True it's simple "fast food" style, not 5-star luxury dining, but the food was good, the price was reasonable, the staff were friendly and helpful, the dining car was clean, and the ambience was as good as any fast food joint. If complainants are bemoaning the fact that there is no longer 5-star dining n South African trains (except on Premier Classe), fine, but that's getting to be true worldwide. But in my experience BJ's is no worse than the dining experience in many trains across the world.

[Luca Lategan]

I recently watched the replaying of the Afrikaans Television series, Transkaroo. If I look at the level of service there and how the stewards dressed and how the tables were set then "the ambience was as good as any fast food joint" is just not good enough.

[John Ashworth]

But Luca, which century are we living in? If you look at old movies of British trains you will also see smartly-uniformed stewards and well-set tables. This is not the reality on modern trains. "Fast food" style, like it or not, is the norm. One can bemoan the fact that society has changed, but it's not specific to railways - it's society as a whole, and worldwide, not just South Africa. If you want it today, you have to pay premium prices for it - and indeed you can still get it on Premier Classe for that extra price.

[Dylan Knott]

Same as if you fly with 1time in opposed to BA. One is cheap and the other you get all the frills for the extra price.

[Steve Appleton]

Dylan, You get frills on BA? Front of the 'plane I assume?

[Derek Walker]

As long as they have a nice pie gravy and chips I am happy.

[Stefan Andrzejewski]

Derek you make my mouth water. Thats real staple food. Brilliant.

[Ashley Peter]

Yes, but at least the current lot on the Tourist Trains are trying to provide a reasonable variety of meals - BJ's seemed to be based on the old US "greasy spoon" concept where everything was an awful fry-up, dripping in what tasted like old oil. According to my kids the only thing they got right on the menu were the milkshakes and ice cream desserts - unfortunately no longer carried in the Shosholoza Meyl era!

There was a period when SA dining cars were at an absolute low, with plastic cutlery and polystyrene cups in use IN the dining car. I can recall ordering beers and cold-drinks which were then simply dumped on the bare table in front of us. The response I got when asking for some glasses - you'd swear I was asking for an interview with the president!

I must say that things have improved considerably since then.

[John Ashworth]

Funny how perceptions differ. I recall eating good meat and pap in BJ's - definitely not what I would call "greasy spoon". And I recall a menu that was varied enough to satisfy my foreign visitors. One man's meat is another man's poison! Of course I prefer Permier Classe's 5-star menu, and paying the extra price for that would always be my first choice.

[Stefan Andrzejewski]

I had a mixed grill in BJ's on my way to George January 2000. The food was okay but the dining car was very bare. Not even a table clothe. We got to George before it was open for breakfast.