TOOT SWEET:
From Istanbul to Bucharest and beyond, gourmand Jonathan Phang laps up all the luxuries aboard the fabled Orient Express.
Gourmand Jonathan Phang laps up all the luxuries aboard the fabled Orient Express.
WHETHER THERE is more pleasure in the travel or the arrival at one’s destination is hotly contested. But having travelled on the Orient Express for my latest TV series, I am convinced the journey itself is the most pleasurable part.
I took a series of iconic train journeys for a six-part culinary show, Jonathan Phang’s Gourmet Trains. Each episode features a different journey, so I got to experience some of the world’s most iconic and scenic train trips. I went from Paris to Venice, Istanbul to Bucharest, and Budapest to Venice on the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express. Aboard the Eastern and Oriental Express, I travelled from Bangkok to Singapore and on to Malaysia. In the United Kingdom, I went from London to Whitstable and Rutland on the British Pullman and the Northern Belle, ‘‘sister’’ trains to the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express.
For me this really was a dream come true. After nearly 30 years in the fashion industry representing supermodels including Naomi Campbell and Kate Moss, and hosting a number of popular foodie shows in the UK, I was given the opportunity to combine three of my favourite things – travel, fabulous food and five star service – in one show.
Being part of the generation
You would think it would be hard to get sick of eating the world’s finest caviar, but after all this sensory overload I was hankering for cheese on toast.
that grew up with the evocative 70s movie, Murder on the Orient
Express, featuring screen luminaries Lauren Bacall, Ingrid Bergman and Sean Connery, the Orient Express has long been on my bucket list. And there really is nothing quite like it – the train is extravagant, luxurious, romantic, glamorous and takes you back to the golden age of travel when everything was done with style and class. These days transport is often just functional, so to experience getting from one place to another amid the glamour and elegance of a bygone era was really quite special.
The service on the Orient Express is unparalleled. For the staff, immaculate in uniforms complete with white gloves, no request is too big or too small. The attention to detail is remarkable. Dinner is all silver service and fine china, and accompanied by the world’s best wines. The dining carriages are beautifully lit and the tables are adorned with fresh flowers. You just sit back and submerge yourself in the sheer luxury of it all.
These great trains just ooze history. On the Northern Belle, the six dining carriages are named after grand British castles and stately homes. The British Pullman – named after George Mortimer Pullman, the father of luxury train travel – has carriages used extensively by the British royal family as well as European heads of state. Two of the carriages were part of Winston Churchill’s funeral train, while others (the delightfully named Audrey and Vera) were restored after sustaining damage during air-raids over London’s Victoria Station in 1940.
Each journey had its highlights. On the Venice Simplon-Orient-