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Food & Beverage: The Aramark Era begins

Rob F said:
As a comparison we visitied AJ’s Dinner at Paultons Park, I had a classic cheeseburger meal £11.25 i think it was priced for, it was a decent sized meal, with some huge moist pattie in the middle, served with tornado fries, (curly fries) and drink. I was a little shocked at the overall cost for a family of 4, however once we had the food i can take that back, even there loaded crispers we had yesterday were really good, ( cross between fries and a crisp i guess is the best way to describe them.

On a contrast all the merlin food I've had this year has been sent back
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Ditto Paultons, we went on a peak day over summer and the food was to a high standard and served promptly. What really stood out was the kitchen, they had staff, actually enough staff, and there was someone managing the flow of food - and it was an open kitchen. Good operation.
 
Dannyski said:
Ditto Paultons, we went on a peak day over summer and the food was to a high standard and served promptly. What really stood out was the kitchen, they had staff, actually enough staff, and there was someone managing the flow of food - and it was an open kitchen. Good operation.
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I've tended to only eat at Route 83 diner at Paultons, as well as the food being clearly superior in quality to Merlin's offerings the whole operation is always super well-organised. As soon as you've ordered you get a number which pops up on the screen when ready to collect. The screens are all over the restaurant so you can sit at your table until the food is ready. Tables are cleared quickly and wiped down (wow!) so even when it's busy it's not hard to find a clean table. Everything was ready very promptly as well. Their approach to allergen orders is also impressive, with a separate ordering terminal with a trained senior staff member on hand to take your order and a separate preparation area in the kitchen. They do gluten-free burger buns and the chips (though sadly not the tornado fries) are also safe. (If being super-picky the bun is a bit dry, but at least I can eat it!).

The difference in experience at a Merlin park is chalk and cheese. None of the eateries at AT do specific gluten-free alternatives and will only mark meals as 'non-gluten containing' because they have no anti-contamination processes. I asked to do an allergy order at Woodcutters on my last visit and was told to use the app, so wasn't able to send the kitchen a request to prepare food safely. Fortunately I am not that sensitive so can afford to take the chance, but it is still a gamble. If I can't get into Woodcutters my options are even more limited.
 
James said:
It’s like someone once said, Merlin is stuck in a 90s model. There’s far higher demand for high quality and different ranges of food now and Merlin are missing out by sticking to cheap quality products and limited menus.
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Absolutely.

When you have places like Europa Park and Tivoli Gardens that have Michelin star world class restaurants, and Alton Towers can barely meet Wetherspoon or burger van standards it says a lot.

Now I’m not saying I want fine dining at Alton Towers. But just anything decent, and I’m happy to pay for it.

They’re leaving money on the table by being ignorant to the market.
 
James said:
It’s like someone once said, Merlin is stuck in a 90s model. There’s far higher demand for high quality and different ranges of food now and Merlin are missing out by sticking to cheap quality products and limited menus.
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And at one point they were trying to move in a good direction and add some different options and better quality. Then they contracted out to Aramark and the lowest quality is back.
 
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havaska said:
Absolutely.

When you have places like Europa Park and Tivoli Gardens that have Michelin star world class restaurants, and Alton Towers can barely meet Wetherspoon or burger van standards it says a lot.

Now I’m not saying I want fine dining at Alton Towers. But just anything decent, and I’m happy to pay for it.

They’re leaving money on the table by being ignorant to the market.
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I think that's a insult to spoons and some burger vans. My local spoons serves up good grub at a price that is reasonable. Some burger vans are very highly regarded too.

Alton food should be compared to cat and dog food at best. Possibly burger king, I mean after all they knowingly sold horse meat
 
SuperMuscleMan said:
I think that's a insult to spoons and some burger vans. My local spoons serves up good grub at a price that is reasonable. Some burger vans are very highly regarded too.

Alton food should be compared to cat and dog food at best. Possibly burger king, I mean after all they knowingly sold horse meat
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Nothing wrong with a bit of horse meat, I lived off those Findus Lasagne's at one point.
 
DistortAMG said:
Nothing wrong with a bit of horse meat, I lived off those Findus Lasagne's at one point.
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It's one thing having horse meat if you know it's being served. But burger king was knowingly selling horse meat in burgers not marketing it as it for one weekend during the scandal. So in my view that's the bottom.
 
SuperMuscleMan said:
It's one thing having horse meat if you know it's being served. But burger king was knowingly selling horse meat in burgers not marketing it as it for one weekend during the scandal. So in my view that's the bottom.
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I am pretty sure I brought 'Findus Beef Lasagne' without knowing there was any horse in it too. You must remember the scandal that happened around that.
 
The quality of food that Aramark has been serving has been hit and miss. It seems that they've made massive improvements in the hotel though, compared to what they were serving at the start of the season. We can only hope that they take the feedback on board and we see that kind of switch in the park.

I generally do agree with Towers contracting out F&B operations, it frees up capital and resources to go to other areas of the resort which needs improvement. Aramark haven't delivered yet, inside the park, outside of the Gloomy Wood outlet.

If we step outside of the prison catering lens for a moment, does anyone have examples of where they do deliver high quality catering?
 
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GooseOnTheLoose said:
If we step outside of the prison catering lens for a moment, does anyone have examples of where they do deliver high quality catering?
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They run a lot in the US including many sports stadiums for both the fast food and the corporate hospitality and many university and school cateering operations. I get the impression at least some of that is better quality that what they have done at AT, but its all stuff where there is a captive market (like sports stadiums and university campus) or catering to a fixed budget (schools and prisons).
But in general the impression of their US operations is better than the UK, but USA food is often style over substance anyway!
 
I believe Aramark has the contract for catering at UK military messes, although they provide the service under a different name.
This will include run of the mill breakfast, lunch and dinner, plus formal occasions such as dining in nights. If that wasn’t up to scratch I would have expected one of the papers to be howling about it by now.
 
GooseOnTheLoose said:
The quality of food that Aramark has been serving has been hit and miss. It seems that they've made massive improvements in the hotel though, compared to what they were serving at the start of the season. We can only hope that they take the feedback on board and we see that kind of switch in the park.

I generally do agree with Towers contracting out F&B operations, it frees up capital and resources to go to other areas of the resort which needs improvement. Aramark haven't delivered yet, inside the park, outside of the Gloomy Wood outlet.

If we step outside of the prison catering lens for a moment, does anyone have examples of where they do deliver high quality catering?
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Alton manor ice cream booth shows that they can “step up” certain aspects of their offering. I believe Chessington have donuts that are similarly good too. Surprisingly hard to find “real world” examples though considering how big they are.

Really though they are so big that they can provide effectively anything based on a given price point. A price of £2 per burger vs £4 per burger will get you something very different for example.

I doubt anyone will ever forget that pizza box breakfast though.
 
Live scenes from Aramark head office following the minimum wage news this afternoon.

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Angry White Woman GIF
 
We’re at Warwick Castle today and I was given the run around re vegan food. Under Croft cafe sent me to Conservatory, they said they don’t do vegan food “because of an incident at Alton towers”.
Unusually for me, I asked to see a manager (politely, of course) as this seemed very odd.

Warwick manager turned up and said there was an incident at Towers involving gluten free food, and Aramark have responded by refusing to do ANY dietary requirements for the foreseeable. Merlin are “working with Aramark to rectify this as soon as possible”. Hmm said I, not really good enough is it? And he agreed but obviously there’s nothing he can do.

So if you’re venturing to. a Merlin attraction and have special dietary requirements I recommend you take packed for now. Or if you’re at Warwick try the Roebuck Inn. Only a short walk and very tasty food. (Thanks to @GooseOnTheLoose for the recommendation)
 
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