By Laurence Civil

For the first half of the journey I sat in the observation car at the back of the train to watch the landscape and to view the crossing that links Singapore with Malaysia. As the train left Johor Bahru I made my way through 18 carriages to my compartment, where I met my steward, Mon, who had been looking after me ever since we left Singapore.

Having shown me the features of my cabin, he asked me if he could serve after­noon tea. It sounded like a wonderful idea and within minutes he returned with a large wooden tray lined with immaculate, starched linen. On the tray stood a large silver teapot surrounded by an array of silver and porcelain ac­
cessories. I sat and worked with conviction through my afternoon tea. Twenty minutes later Mon returned and asked if I would like some more tea; how could I say no.

After a short nap, I made my way to the bar car in the middle of the train for a pre-dinner drink and to meet some of my fellow travellers. The bar allows customers to run a tab throughout the journey and to settle their account shortly before arriving in Bangkok. Due to space restrictions in both dinning cars, lunch and dinner are served in two sittings.

I had chosen the second sitting, so having changed into formal dress, I had dinner just before we arrived in Kuala Lumpur. Dinner was sushi of smoked fish with a pickled cucumber salad, followed by poached lamb with baby vegetables and lemon grass bouillon. Dessert was warm mixed fruit tartlet with passion fruit sauce finishing with iced petit fours and tea or coffee. An a la carte menu is available at additional cost if required. The place setting was immaculate; Ital­ian designed chinaware, crystal glasses and silver cutlery by Orfeverie Chambly of France.

After dinner I went to the bar car where a pianist was entertaining guests, while the Singaporean bar staff tried to encourage the guests to indulge in a little karaoke. The boys had written out the words of their favourite 50 songs. They wanted to do their bit to add to the guests’ enjoyment and their efforts were appreciated.

Back in my cabin, the bed had been turned down and an E & O Belgian chocolate thoughtfully placed on my bed. Some of the guests had difficulty sleeping on their first night due to the motion of the train; I however, slept the whole night through. The cabins are compact and the design of the bath­room and shower optimises the space. A few people have made less than kind comments about the shower, comparing it to a broom cupboard, but I found it perfectly adequate.

The train has two kitchens of limited space within which three chefs and three porters conspire to create a cuisine to satisfy every client.

The next morning, Mon brought my breakfast tray with a silver pot of tea, a bowl of yoghurt, some fresh pineapple and a basket of warm rolls and croissants with a selection of jams and butter. I was eating my breakfast as we passed through Malaysia’s tea growing area of Ipoh. After breakfast we stopped at Butterworth for a two and a half hour tour of Georgetown on Penang Island. Motor coaches with guides were waiting to take us across the Straits by ferryboat. An orientation tour highlighted the colonial history of Georgetown with its busy waterfront and markets. We passed by the historic Eastern & Oriental Hotel that once formed the triangle with Raffles in Singa­pore and The Strand in Rangoon, owned by the Sarkies brothers. There was a trishaw tour of the city, returning to the ferry terminal where we met up with our coaches that were to take us back to Butterworth and the Eastern & Oriental Express.

Once the train left Butterworth, lunch with a main course of fillet of sea bass in crispy potato skin with tomato and peanut salad was served. I wanted to know how meals for 100 guests were planned and prepared with such limited space, so I asked the executive chef Kevin Cape about the tastes of Eastern & Oriental Express.

Kevin joined Eastern & Oriental Express when the service was first started eight years ago to launch and implement the excellent selection of meals served on board. The planning of menus have a lead time of three months and are subject to constant tasting and fine tuning of each of the dishes. Many factors have to be taken into consideration. Firstly, no pork is served out of respect for Muslim Malaysians. There are high volumes of American, European and Japanese guests, each with different and demanding expecta­tions. The majority of the passengers are at an age where they have estab­lished which herbs and spices best meet their taste range. Certain meats, such as duck and veal, simply do not work on the train. Fish and lobster cannot be served as a main course; neither can chicken as it is considered a cheap meat amongst the Japanese clientele. Game is not liked by the Asian market because of its smell. Likewise, although the smell of roast lamb is popular in Europe, it is not so with the Asian market and can only be served odour-free as poached meat.

The train has two kitchens of limited space within which three chefs and three porters conspire to create a cuisine to satisfy every client. Organisation is the key to the kitchens working successfully, as staff cannot move freely and must remain static during the meal service. Considering the space re­strictions it’s amazing how many wonderful dishes can be created.

I returned to my cabin for afternoon tea as we went through the Thai-Malay­sian border at Keluar/Padangbadar. Guests entering Thailand on the Eastern & Oriental Express are given a special Thai Immigration stamp bearing the name of the train – a nice touch.

In consideration for ladies who have managed to drag their husbands away from the office to spend quality time together, there are no commu­nication facilities on the train.

With showers in every compartment and all those dishes to wash, the train is a thirsty creature. Each sleeper car has a capacity of 1, 200 litres of water and each service car has a storage capacity of 1, 700 litres. Those tanks have to be re-filled no less than four times between Singa­pore and Bangkok. In consideration for ladies who have managed to drag their husbands away from the office to spend quality time together, there are no communication facilities on the train. Regrettably, because of the narrow corridors and the general motion of the train, it is not possible for the disabled, or those with walking difficul­ties to travel on the Eastern & Oriental Express.

Dinner on the final night was salad of grilled sea scal­lop and chicken with a black bean dressing. This was fol­lowed by medallion of beef with Szechwan peppercorn sauce and a deep fried bouquet of vegetables for the main course. The dessert was a delightful chocolate and hazel­nut gateau, followed by petit fours and coffee.

I lay awake as we travelled through a rainy, dark Hua Hin at 5am. Shortly after daybreak, Mon tapped on my door with my breakfast tray. We came to a halt in Kanchanaburi at 11am for our excursion to JEATH Museum and the POW cemetery at Chungkai; returning to join the Eastern & Oriental Express before traversing spectacular cliffs and crossing the Tham Kasae viaduct. This proved an ideal moment to capture some spectacular images from the observation point at the rear of the train.

Finally, the Eastern & Oriental Express crossed the Bridge over the River Kwai and came to a halt at Kanchanaburi Station. As we pulled out of the station another exquisite lunch was served and once again I tipped my cap to the chefs on board.

Passing through Nakom Pathom, Mon served me afternoon tea for the last time. As we neared Bangkok’s Hualampong Station, good-byes and thanks were exchanged. I found the whole ex­perience memorable and the service impeccable.