Thought for Food
Railway Fare
By RAYMOND POSTGATE IT is almost impossible to collect enough evidence to deliver a ' genuinely satisfactory judgment on British railway food. Merely to acquire ade- quate data would demand a long and frequently un- comfortable series of journeys to places one didn't want to go to; and in addition to this every- one's mind, my own in- cluded, is distorted by ancient and well-founded prejudice. Ever since anyone now living can remember railway catering has been a symbol of eVerything monstrous in gastronomy. The dirty teacups in the station buffets, the slatternly waitresses, the tasteless food, and the triangular slices of curling bread with a thin slice of luncheon sausage between them, called The Railway Sandwich, all have been the most visible and enraging evidences of the ineptness of the decaying railway companies ever since their heyday was past. Since about 1906, I suppose— for there was once a time when the railway com- panies were in the van of progress and the Station Hotel, with its blazing gaslights, was where the elite of the industrial towns gathered— anyway, for a full half-century restaurant cars and railway hotels and buffets have been covered with pretty well deserved obloquy. The tradition is carried on; it is now at least partly an unjusti- fied sneer; I remember a particularly vicious use of it in my presence by a female journalist, and I feel it is time to be fair.
Very great efforts, not all successful, have been made in the past five years by British Railways. They have had results in three spheres: station buffets, restaurant cars, railway hotels. So far as I can see, no changes of importance have been made in Pullman car food and drink, and I have no praise to give them. Of the others, most station refreshment rooms are now much cleaner and much brighter. Their decor is in general vulgar, and the flickering advertisements of soft drinks in particular are unpleasant to my eyes and probably yours; but the whole effect appears to be pleasant to the travellers' eyes. There is too much carbohydrate and too little meat in the sandwiches and pies, as always, but they are not as stale as they used to be. Nor are all station re- freshment rooms like this; the 'Shires' at St. Pancras, for example, is very different. It is well decorated in a conscientious modern style, it serves a standardised restaurant menu con- scientiously cooked, its staff is conscientiously obliging. If this description sounds less than enthusiastic, it should not; reliability in a restaurant is not a trifling merit in England. Moreover, its chef is prepared to have a go at what he calls 'special dishes.' The Shires also has a merit above any of the restaurants nearby; it serves the British railway wines at the price asked in restaurant cars. This means a sound Macon or Beaujolais at. 13s., a slightly less estimable Medoc at the same price, and Graves at 12s. The best white wine is an Alsatian at 16s. which has the real flavour; the cheapest the standardised Cape Hock called Paarl Amber at 10s. 6d.
The wines served, in restaurant cars, in fact. deserve to be much more appreciated than they are. They serve all these wines at no additional charge, and Australian and Spanish drinkable ordinaires at 10s. 6d.; there are also finer wines, but the shaking of a railway train does them no * Raymond Postgate, editor of the Good Food Guide, reports on restaurants and inns which may (or may not, after further tests) appear in the next edition. He cannot answer readers' queries, and for general information recourse must be had to the current Guide (Cassell, 7s. 6d.). goad. Also, the railway's own Royal Scot Whisky is better than most standard brands; it is blended in Derby largely from Highland malts and includes the essential touch of the Campbell- town whiskies which are nowadays despised as to( ) heavy. The service in the cars, too, needs to be quite highly praised; it is not fair, to take it for granted. I can quite truthfully say that caanot remember anything but courtesy and re- markable dexterity. The last time I lunched coming up from Manchester was on a diesel, which around Rugby was going faster than 1 think I have ever been on a train, but I noticed only one instance of even fumbling— from a boy Who was obviously being trained. A railway. steward has to be an acrobat as well as a waiter.
The lunch I had cost 12s. 6d. and was pretty tYpical, in that it showed a marked improvement over past years, but could easily show more. The first course was called 'patty dc foy' by the waiter; It was a good French-ish pá1, cut thick and pro- PerlY served with toast. Next a piece of halibut With --- a piece of tomato on it—a good fish but it had been allowed to dry upon a hot plate and was tasteless. Then roast loin of lamb, very tender and well browned—New Zealand, I think, not English but none the worse for it. My eyebrows Showed I thought my portion was small; I was at once offered, and took, another chop. Vegetables and cheeseboard passable, no more.
conjecture that British Railways have spent a lot of money in recent years in training staff, and the results are just beginning to come through. But they won't receive the 'full rewards of their training, keep their trainees, or get a kinder verdict than 'trying hard,' until they name the chef on the menus. All chefs think they are artists, and will only do their best if their pride iS flattered. The system is common on the Con- tinent; is a protection to the public also. I know now one chef, on the Venice-Milan express, that Shall at all costs avoid: few people can have his knack of making spaghetti into a sour mat tasting lightly of soap. Of British Railways hotels I am less certain. A great deal of thought and money has been spent in undoing the dilapidations of decades; the Physical inheritance of the nationalised railways must have been appalling. But the reports on the food are still what must be summarised in the discouraging word 'variable.' On the wines the verdict is easier as the wine lists are standard. There is a pretty wide selection of well-chosen Wines, vales, well served; they are all overpriced. So far as I can guess, the mark-up must be about 200 Per cent.; when I last inspected a dining room the customers were drawing the natural deduction and drinking beer. , Still, once more, one must be fair. Railway finances are grotesquely loaded against the rail- aYmen. They arc required to compete with c°aches, cars, trucks and buses whose per- manent way and signalling system are pitlIded by the Government. Colossal sums working out at I don't know how many pounds an inch are &Pent unchallengedly on new permanent ways hke the MI. To give an accurate financial Picture, either the Government should pay all the :=0st of railway permanent way maintenance and °f signalling, or it should load the whole cost of Maintaining and making roads on to motor licences.
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