I never thought I would be here writing about the amazing meal I had, on a train. In my head I expect train food to be pretty much the same as plane food which I expect to be pretty much the same as hospital food. It's food, it will get you buy, it's nice to have a meal. In no way do I expect good food. In no way did I expect to be sharing train food for #FoodPornFriday
My wife has been trying to sell me to VIA Business Class for quite a few years now. Well, this year for her Birthday we went up to Toronto so she could hook up with a friend, attend ComicCon and we both could check out Breakout Con (an awesome tabletop gaming convention). Her condition for this trip was that we take the train, specifically VIA Business Class. I'm sold.
Business Class is better in pretty much every way. You load first. Seats are wider. There's more leg room. You could even end up in a private seat with no neighbor (Tip: ask for S class if traveling alone). Then there's the food and drink.
On the way up to Toronto, we were offered coffee and some really amazing Montreal bagels. Not Montreal style bagels, but actual bagles from Montreal. About an hour into the trip we were offered more coffee or some other beverage. These options included alcoholic drinks. I opted for a can of Steam Whistle. About another hour in, just past London we were served lunch. We got the choice of three different hot meals. There was pasta, fish and a meat. I got the meat which was almond encrusted chicken over rice and broccoli. It also included a cup of red or white wine (I went red), a fresh salad and a cookie. Before reaching Toronto we were offered chocolate and a small bag of snack crackers, and one more round of drinks.
The ride home was similar but without the coffee and more options and frequency of drinks (adult or not, your choice). The meal I chose this time was Butter Chicken which also came with wine, an amazing potato salad with a piece of prosciutto on top, a hot bun and some kind of fresh raspberry dessert. It was even better than the chicken on the way up. The beer selection was even better on the trip home and I had three cans of La Chipie from Archibald Microbreweries. This was the best beer I had on the entire trip. Yes, the best beer I had over a weekend trip to Toronto was on the train ride home.
There's one other thing I think is worth mentioning. At Union Station, there is a special room you get access to if you travel Business Class. This room has free wi-fi, charging stations, drinks (juice, water, and pop) and healthy snacks (it was apples when we were there, but my wife noted it changes and has been bananas before). It's a big comfy lounge with TVs and lots of reading material in the form of papers from all over and magazines.
Overall I give VIA Business Class a big thumbs up!
