Cafe Lafayette Dinner Train

greg milano

From the moment I was greeted by somebody at the reception desk they were very unfriendly. She gave me instructions as if I was a second grader and when I didn’t understand them, she got angry at me and repeated them with a stern voice. I walked away and joined my family. As I was explaining my encounter with the woman who greeted me, other guests around me agreed and said they felt the exact same way. It's advertised as a five-course gourmet meal but is nothing better than ordinary. A few sprinkles of parsley and an edible flower does not make it gourmet. 1. Bread was the first course. Bread!?!?!? Bread is not considered a course. They gave us bread for four people with one pad of butter. When I asked for more, they gave us one more pad to split among 4 people. 2. Salad was the second course. The salad was just an ordinary salad of greens with a couple of pepitas and cranberries thrown in. It was not gourmet (see picture). 3. A small scoop of sorbet was considered course #3. The sorbet was good, but sorbet is not a course. In Michelin and James Beard gourmet restaurants I have eaten in, the sorbet is served between the courses as a palette cleanser to prepare for the next course. 4. I had the short ribs for the main course, and they were dry and not warm (see picture). Another person in our party had the vegetable bowl and it was Ramen noodles with some vegetables. In fact, some of the noodles were not even cooked all the way and still stuck together like they are when they are dry (see picture). 5. The dessert also was not gourmet by any stretch of the imagination. The ONLY choice was chocolate whipped cream. Poor selection of one choice since some people don’t like chocolate or whipped cream. The alternatives they had was a dish with about six slices of frozen strawberries. Again, I’m not sure how you call that gourmet. 6. Most important, your staff didn’t even acknowledge my daughter’s birthday which was the whole premise we took this experience for. I reminded them 2 times about this. 7. When the waitress brought the check, she gave to our youngest son instead of me. What wait staff would do that? Did she really think he was paying $1400 for the party? 8. They generously added a 20% tip for themselves because we had a party of 8. I can understand that in a real restaurant when they must manage 8 different orders. But here it was cafeteria style where everyone on the train got the same bread, the same salad, the same sorbet, and the same dessert. They only difference with the main course. So having a party of 2 or 30 is not a strain on the kitchen or the wait staff managing timing of different orders to the party. And with the very poor service they certainly did not warrant 20%. I will agree with other reviews I have read that the scenery is nice at times and other times looking run down. When management finally responded to my email after a few days, she was not very nice or truly concerned for my feedback as a paying customer. Then she replied with 3 lies on my Trip Advisor review. 1. They did not put a candle in my daughter’s desert, 2. She did not respond within 24 hours 3. We did take the substitute desert which was 2 frozen strawberries sliced I would avoid this attraction!! Save yourself the $125. There are better places to spend your money in the area.

M Merryweather

The food was pretty "meh". No real better than any other restaurant. The train ride was okay, but be prepared for lots of views of backyards, camps, and self-storage units...would not recommend. At least the bar tender had a heavy hand

Chelsia M (chellymc76)

Awesome experience!! Very romantic, intimate dining aboard the train. Food is delicious and the serving style truly allows you to enjoy each course. Menu items may change based on the time of year that you go. …thank so much

Rosa Valente

This is a really cool experience for a special occasion. My boyfriend and I went for our anniversary, and we both really enjoyed it. The food is delicious, they have good drinks, the servers are friendly, and the ride itself is relaxing and …lovely review.. thank you