Mike Yardey: Europe's best railway restaurants

If you’re tripping your way around Europe independently, travelling by train is the incomparable transport mode of choice. It’s the fast, efficient and faff-free way to travel, with the added bonus of depositing you in the absolute heart of dream European destinations.

But across Europe, their grand and venerable railway stations also house some remarkable restaurant experiences – the real hidden treasures housed within these grand-scale transport hubs. So why settle for an underwhelming grab-and-go sandwich when Europe’s busiest stations host some brilliant trackside brasseries and bistros? They’re also a great way to herald your arrival or departure from some glittering destinations. More and more of these station restaurants have really upped their culinary game in recent years. So where should you go to sample some of the best in class?

Starting in London, Booking Office 1869 is located within St. Pancras Station. As the name suggests, it was originally the vast ticket office for the station. Four years ago, the space was redesigned as a Victorian-style winter garden, with towering palm trees and plant-themed chandeliers. Each one of features 275 hand-cut brass leaves! Backed by exposed brickwork, a superb 22-metre-long bar, carved from marble and walnut. Dining? Expect British classics alongside nods to far-flung destinations. The Scottish charcuterie board is perfect for lunch. It’s also a great spot for high tea.

Paris? You cannot beat Le Train Bleu at Gare de Lyon. Dating back to 1901, this explosion of Belle Époque grandeur fast became a meeting place for artists, poets and playwrights, and the decor was inspired by the Mediterranean coast’s most glamorous destinations. The walls are lined with priceless watercolour paintings, while chandeliers, gilt-framed mirrors, frescos and leather banquettes ramp up the luxury. Headlining the delectable menu, Provençal-style octopus stew and the roast leg of lamb, carved tableside. You may recall this is the restaurant from the Bean Movie, where Mr Bean had some trouble trying to swallow the king prawns.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:07):
You're listening to the Saturday Morning with Jack Team podcast
from news Talks at Brook.

Speaker 2 (00:12):
Climb Passes in the garden for us this morning.

Speaker 3 (00:14):
Good morning, sir, Good morning.

Speaker 4 (00:17):
And I was in the garden and I'm not now
I'm inside anyway. I am in the garden because my
grandson Edaway is looking after my miss nets. We're catching
birds at the mountain. Oh yeah, yeah, that's a lovely story.

Speaker 2 (00:31):
Oh that's good. Yeah, presumably that's yeah, yeah, yeah, of course.
You know, my wife had a very dramatic scene the
other day. She had to She was in a shop
and there was a kingfisher that got stuck in the
shop and yeah, I know, crazy, and then she ended
up what are they? And then and then she so

(00:53):
they no one knew what to do, and then someone
it was in the corner, and someone threw a towel
over it, and she Marvis sort of fancies herself in
emergency situations, and so she rushed over, rushed over. No
one knew what to do. As the towel was on it,
she picked it up, scooped it up and took it
outside and the towel and then released it. But she
said it was the most like she said, it was

(01:13):
the softest thing ever felt. Yes, you said it was amazing,
just like touching its you know, touching its coat. So anyway, good, Yeah,
it was all good. Flew away lived happily ever after
me and Mather had a story to dine out on
for about three days, you know, heroes with capes. Anyway,

(01:33):
this morning, you've got tips on using tomato seeds to grow,
because most of us, I'm a bit lazy with my tomatoes.
I just get a little you know, I go to
the go to the plant shop and just get a
couple of different varietals. But this could be an option
for next summer.

Speaker 3 (01:48):
It is.

Speaker 4 (01:48):
But it's also a way of actually getting your own stuff,
going from your own collections, if you like, because and
now it's a good time to do that because the
two others are still ripening, I suppose, but it won't
be long before it gets too too cold and all
that sort of stuff. And I thought i'd write a
little bit about that. And the first thing is, you know,
if you've got a tomato growing that's an F one hybrid,

(02:11):
then be aware that you can't have that. You cannot,
if you like, use those seeds because what you're going
to get is completely different from what you had. F
one is one of those little first filial generation, as
they call it in that work. These things will come
back basically to their old parents, and sometimes even a

(02:31):
different species. It's extraordinary. But if you've got air loom varieties,
the so called open pollinated varieties, they will come true
to type when you use the seeds. Things like I've
used tigarella all my life back grim Thessalonica. But now
Neil Robertson from Piano gave me this wonderful thing and

(02:54):
he said you'd love it. It's called Gardener's Delight, and
it is larger than a normal tomato, you know, one
of those little tomatoes.

Speaker 3 (03:04):
If you like.

Speaker 4 (03:05):
And it is sweet and it is absolutely juicy and beautiful.

Speaker 3 (03:09):
So on behalf of Neil. Thank you.

Speaker 4 (03:12):
I've actually got those things, and I've written exactly in
the system that will be online how to do that.
You basically get the fully ripe tomatoes, scrape, scrape off
the you cut them in half, scrape off the seeds
and put them on if you like, under in a colin,
under underwater, so most of the sticky stuff goes out.

Speaker 3 (03:34):
You know, you do that a few times if you like.

Speaker 4 (03:38):
And once you've done that a few times, you'll find
that the seeds are not so sticky anymore. You put
them in some kitchen paper, if you like, and you
dry them very gently, not in the sun.

Speaker 2 (03:49):
Oh okay, not in the sun, not.

Speaker 3 (03:52):
Too hot, not in the sun, but nice and dry.
That's it.

Speaker 4 (03:55):
And two days later, basically they will have desiccated. They
will be totally dry then. And what I do then
is I separate them and put them in little envelopes,
paper envelopes, and then I send them around to people
that might like them.

Speaker 3 (04:09):
So you should have yours in the letterbox by now.

Speaker 4 (04:12):
Yeah, And and Levy asked for some as well, so
it's gonna happen there, very good.

Speaker 2 (04:21):
I have to chiu. So just that, really, why didn't
you put them in the sun? So you want them
to dry, but you don't want them to dry too quickly.

Speaker 3 (04:28):
That's right.

Speaker 4 (04:29):
It goes really slowly because normally those you know, the
way these things basically fall off a plant is that
they split open and they are basically in the shade
under a plant, and that's how they go on for
next year. But in this case, you're going to sort
it out yourself. Not in the sun. Please leave them
nice and warm and dry and you'll be fine. And

(04:51):
so have a little tip you can do if you are,
for instance, in an area with a lot of relative humidity,
you can use some silica gel in the envelope to
absorb moisture and to keep those things dry and they'll
be actually, by the way, they'll be good for the
next two three four years.

Speaker 3 (05:05):
Wo okay, yeah, that's right.

Speaker 2 (05:08):
Oh, no pressure mucking and you would love it. I would.
You're right. Thank you so much for route climb past
in the garden for us. We'll make sure those tips
and varietals are up on the News Talks he'd be website.

Speaker 1 (05:20):
For more from Saturday Morning with Jack Tame. Listen live
to News Talks he'd be from nine am Saturday, or
follow the podcast on iHeartRadio.