Newport Dinner Train

Intrigue on the rails

by Bill Rodriguez

(800) 398-7427, 19 America's Cup Ave., Newport
Through December 23: Thurs & Sat., Rail & Sail luncheon departs at noon
Murder Mystery Train departs Friday at 6:30 p.m.
Romancing the Rails departs Saturday at 6:30 p.m.
Major credit cards
No handicapped access

A dining occasion is sometimes more than a meal. A non-nutritional component, such as ambience, is occasionally such a large proportion of the experience that the food itself can be merely not bad and you end up satisfied. Think hot dog at the circus. Think awards ceremony banquet. Or think the Newport Dinner Train, where if an ocean view around the bend, or even a murder mystery, doesn't distract you from the forkful that you're lifting, being transported back in time will.

The rhythmic jostle of a slow excursion on steel rails is mostly a thing of the past in this day of super trains and Amtrak expresses. But these 90-minute mini-journeys, combining dining with glimpses of Narragansett Bay, can be a treat even for those without train trip memories to be nostalgic about.

We took the leisurely mid-day Rail & Sail Luncheon, which departs promptly at noon (they told us to get there at 11:30 a.m.) Thursdays and Saturdays, and gets passengers back to the starting point around 3 p.m., after a bay cruise on a sightseeing boat. The 18-mile round-trip train ride goes through Middletown and into Portsmouth, hugging the western edge of the island at a leisurely pace. Peeking from the track-side greenery we caught glimpses and eventual vistas of the bay, chugging past the permanently berthed aircraft carriers Forrestal and Saratoga, on up alongside Prudence Island. On the other side of lunch, a cruise on the Spirit of Newport was informative as well as breezy. Who knew which bay-view room of Hammersmith Farm was the one where Caroline Kennedy always stayed, or that with 33 rum distilleries, Newport rivaled Boston as a popular port in colonial times?

The dining car we were in was designed to offer a turn-of-the-century atmosphere, with green velvet swags above the windows and wallpaper of a cream and burgundy floral design that might remind you of your great-grandmother's parlor.

As for the food, our meals were reasonable, considering the constraints. The train does have a kitchen car, unlike airlines, which desperately need a culinary version of the military fueling hook-up. No, we're not talking Earth-bound versions of in-flight meals. The salad, for example, was fresh, with iceberg lettuce accompanied by more interesting mixed greens, such as frisée; the thick raspberry vinaigrette, however, was bland. Since this was lunch, both our selections were in luncheon-size portions. Baked sole, stuffed with crabmeat and scallops, was a possibility that neither of us chose. I had the baby back ribs, five of them. The meat, not overcooked, was smothered in a barbecue sauce that entertained the palate with sweetness rather than piquancy.

Johnnie had the Chicken Forestiere, which was a small breast filet, too thin to be very moist on its own, under mushroom sauce. The evening version is Chicken Vanderbilt, with sun-dried tomatoes and spinach under a tomato-basil cream sauce. Both our plates came with foil-wrapped baked potatoes and fresh seeming baby carrots that were tasty, with an orange tang.

We were served by several of the wait staff, which was uniformly efficient and sometimes even friendly, from pre-dinner optional bloody Mary through coffee and dessert. The latter was a not fully thawed cheesecake that I enjoyed despite its occasionally crystalline texture. I tried to think of it as an intentionally novel innovation, a freeze cake.

The Rail & Sail excursion we took is listed at $39.95 per person, which came to $50 with tax and included gratuity. It left at 11:30 a.m., returning in time for an hour-long 2 p.m. cruise. The other offerings are the Saturday evening sunset and candle-lit Romancing the Rails, listed at $44.95 per-person, the Friday evening Murder Mystery Train at $54.95, both leaving at 6:30 p.m.; and the non-dining Thursday 5 p.m. Islander Wine Train at $24.95. For reservations, you can call (800) 398-7427 or sign up online, at www.newportdinnertrain.com.

Seating in the first-class car, at $9 extra per-person, assures you of not having to share your four-person table with another couple on the Rail & Sail luncheon. The day we came, coach accommodations weren't crowded, so every couple not in a group was seated alone anyway. Bear in mind, though, to ask for a window seat on the ocean side of the train when you make reservations.

The era of rail journeys may be over, but trains are still with us. On the Newport Dinner Train, you may not witness Orient Express intrigue over your champagne, but you may very well be intrigued yourself.