A relaxing trip on NXEC
by JFC AdminAlthough I’ve not been generally happy with the way that NXEC has been ‘enhancing’ services since they replaced GNER I still generally have decent experiences on-board. Ultimately, they were all GNER staff at one time!
My most recent trip was on the 19:00 from Kings Cross to Newcastle. Delays on the tube meant I arrived at the station with only five minutes to spare. I thought by this time I’d be out of luck and all seats in the restaurant were taken. I was wrong, and I was lucky enough to get an individual seat so I could dine in private.
The dinner menu was based on a pricing scheme introduced by GNER during the last few months of their franchise. If you’re having two or three courses the price is fixed regardless of the individual items you order. The current price was £24 for two courses and £29 for three. I think this was slightly more expensive than GNER’s prices but not too ridiculous.
The crockery has been changed from the traditional round plates and dishes used by GNER to rectangular ones. The bread plate was the ideal size and shape to act as an iPhone holder, stopping it sliding off the table.
I chose a salmon fish cake for the starter and sirloin steak for the main course. To drink I stuck with water and a Stella. Before the starters were served bread rolls were offered. The starter arrived 10 minutes after ordering and was very well presented, like any good starter it was a small, tasteful portion that set your appitite up for the main course. After the dishes were collected the main course arrived within five minutes, the steak was cooked the way I requested (medium) and was served with mash potatoes and vegetables. The vegetables were already on the plate, unlike GNER where they used to bring a tray of vegetables over for you to choose.
For dessert I had the delicious Chocolate Trifle followed by a pot of tea. By the time I had finished the train was approaching York so I only had an hour to go until reaching Newcastle. The restaurant is an ideal way to relax on a journey and make the time go by quicker. After departing York I paid for the meal (I had a Dine & Go ticket so I had a voucher to cover the cost of the meal - the drinks were paid by Visa as Amex is no longer accepted on board). As there were no further sittings in the restaurant and I had a First Class ticket I was invited to remain seated in the restaurant area so I ordered another couple of cans of Stella and took advantage of the (slow) free WiFi to catch up with some news.
The train arrived in to Newcastle on time, I already had my ticket for the Metro and was in Heworth in under 25 minutes.