Skip to content

Top Navigation

Travel + Leisure Travel + Leisure Travel + Leisure Travel + Leisure
  • Trip Inspiration
  • Plan Your Trip
  • World's Best
  • Destination of the Year
  • A-List Travel Advisors
  • Cruises
  • Travel Tips
  • News
  • Food + Drink
  • Travel Accessories
  • Check-In

Profile Menu

Your Profile

Your Profile

  • Join Now
  • Newsletters
  • Manage Your Subscription this link opens in a new tab
  • Give a Gift Subscription
  • Help
  • Logout
Login
Subscribe
Pin FB

Explore Travel + Leisure

Travel + Leisure Travel + Leisure Travel + Leisure Travel + Leisure
  • Explore

    Explore

    • World's Best

      The greatest islands, cities, hotels, cruise lines, airports, and more — as voted by you. Read More Next
    • The 50 Best Places to Travel in 2020

      Whether you're traveling solo or planning a family vacation, here are the 50 best places to visit in 2020. Read More Next
    • Let's Go Together Podcast

      Start listening to T+L's brand new podcast, Let's Go Together! Hosted by Kellee Edwards. Read More Next
  • Trip Inspiration

    Trip Inspiration

    • Trip Ideas
    • Weekend Getaways
    • Spring Travel
    • Summer Travel
    • Fall Travel
    • Winter Travel
    • Solo Travel
    • Romantic Getaways
    • Luxury Travel
    • Beach Vacations
    • Adventure Travel
    • Road Trips
    • Family Travel
    • National Parks
    • Holiday Travel
    • Travel Photography
    • Photo of the Day
    • Culture and Design
  • Plan Your Trip

    Plan Your Trip

    • Travel Guides
    • Flight Deals
    • Travel Deals
    • Ways to Save
    • Hotels + Resorts
    • Attractions
    • Amusement Parks
    • Disney Vacations
    • Festivals + Events
    • Airlines + Airports
    • Buses + Trains
    • Ground Transportation
  • World's Best

    World's Best

    • Top Hotels
    • Top Cities
    • Top Islands
    • Domestic Airlines
    • International Airlines
    • Tours
    • Safaris
    • All World's Best
  • Destination of the Year
  • A-List Travel Advisors
  • Cruises

    Cruises

    • Find A Cruise
    • Caribbean Cruises
    • River Cruises
    • European Cruises
    • All-Inclusive Cruises
    • Family Cruises
    • Alaskan Cruises
    • Disney Cruises
    • See All Cruise Vacations
  • Travel Tips

    Travel Tips

    • Travel Trends
    • Packing Tips
    • Points + Miles
    • Budgeting + Currency
    • Customs + Immigration
    • Responsible Travel
    • Travel Etiquette
    • Travel Warnings
    • Weather
    • Mobile Apps
    • See All Travel Tips
  • News

    News

    • Wellness
    • Celebrity Travel
    • Animals
    • Jobs
    • Offbeat
    • See All News
  • Food + Drink

    Food + Drink

    • Restaurants
    • Wine
    • Beer
    • Cocktails + Spirits
    • Bars + Clubs
    • Celebrity Chefs
    • Cooking + Entertaining
    • Food Fairs + Festivals
    • World's Best Restaurants
    • See All Food + Drink
  • Travel Accessories

    Travel Accessories

    • Travel Bags
    • Shoes
    • Travel Tech
    • Shopping
    • Style
    • Gift Guides
    • See All Travel Accessories
  • Check-In

Profile Menu

Subscribe this link opens in a new tab
Your Profile

Your Profile

  • Join Now
  • Newsletters
  • Manage Your Subscription this link opens in a new tab
  • Give a Gift Subscription
  • Help
  • Logout
Login
Sweepstakes

Follow Us

  1. Home
  2. Food and Drink
  3. Restaurants
  4. All Aboard for the Coolest Train Station Restaurants

All Aboard for the Coolest Train Station Restaurants

By Amy McKeever
May 20, 2015
Skip gallery slides
Save Pin
Credit: Evan Sung
Train station dining is usually serviceable at best: a fast food mega-chain here, a coffee-and-newspaper stand there. Real culinary tourism is best saved for one’s destination, not the journey. But there are some real gems bucking that norm. Iconic or even Michelin-starred dining experiences can be found in stations in major metropolitan centers such as Paris, Tokyo, Hong Kong, and London. Meanwhile, stations in Denver and Washington, D.C. have seen their fare improve in recent years. (And New York’s Grand Central is slated for another winning concept—a Nordic restaurant and food hall from respected Copenhagen restaurateur Claus Meyer.) Read on for nine of the world’s best restaurants that just so happen to be located inside train stations.
Start Slideshow

1 of 9

Save Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Grand Central Oyster Bar

Credit: Bryan Smith

Grand Central Oyster Bar is a New York City landmark. Opened in 1913 on the lower level of Grand Central Terminal, the oyster bar was both an architectural beauty and go-to stop for travelers coming to and from New York. To this day, it remains one of the best places for oysters in a city full of options, and the kind of restaurant that inspires food writers to wax nostalgic for its Manhattan clam chowder and timeless ambiance.

1 of 9

Advertisement
Advertisement

2 of 9

Save Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Stoic & Genuine

Credit: © Marc Piscotty

When Denver’s Union Station reopened last year after extensive renovations, it brought with it a clutch of new—and worthy—restaurants. Stoic & Genuine, a seafood temple from Denver chef Jennifer Jasinski commanded attention even before it opened. Between its raw bar, “seafood tower of power,” and “surf in turf” dish of big-eye tuna wrapped in New York strip steak, Stoic & Genuine won strong reviews and was even named one of 5280 magazine’s top ten new Denver restaurants.

2 of 9

3 of 9

Save Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Mercantile Dining & Provision in Denver's Union Station

Credit: McCall Burau

In a stroke of fortune, Denver Union Station’s remodel project actually yielded two highly regarded restaurant projects. Mercantile Dining & Provision, run by chef Alex Seidel, is one part casual restaurant and one part food market selling charcuterie, cheese, jam, and more. The menu here offers a variety of pasta dishes such as squid ink bucatini, Spanish octopus a la plancha, a crispy half chicken, and family dinners like a bone-in 36-ounce rib-eye or roasted lamb shoulder, each served with a variety of sides. Mercantile, too, was named one of 5280 Magazine’s best new restaurants in 2015.

3 of 9

Advertisement

4 of 9

Save Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Sukiyabashi Jiro in Tokyo's Ginza metro station

Credit: Adam Goldberg / A Life Worth Eating

Just as Tokyo is a place for world-class dining, the Japanese capital also offers world-class train station eats. Sukiyabashi Jiro is the most famous sushi restaurant on the planet, particularly since owner Jiro Ono’s dedication to perfection was immortalized in David Gelb’s film Jiro Dreams of Sushi. Attached to Tokyo’s Ginza metro station, Sukiyabashi Jiro has three Michelin stars, one of the world’s toughest tables to book, and an omakase offering that has won praise from critics, chefs, and even world leaders.

4 of 9

5 of 9

Save Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Rokurinsha in Tokyo Station

Credit: Jonathan Khoo

Tokyo Station is the city’s main train station and it, too, has some pretty incredible dining. For one, there’s an entire section of the station called Ramen Street, home to some of the city’s best ramen restaurants. Rokurinsha commands some of the biggest lines with its focus on tsukemen, a type of ramen in which you dip noodles into a separate bowl of soup. This is the spot that Momofuku’s David Chang has declared “the best ramen in the world.”

5 of 9

6 of 9

Save Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Tim Ho Wan in Hong Kong

Credit: Celia Hu / Girl Meets Cooking

Hong Kong’s dim sum favorite Tim Ho Wan has several locations across the city, including one in Hong Kong Station. Famed and affordable, Tim Ho Wan’s specialties include a barbecue pork bun, steamed egg cake, and pan-fried carrot cake. Hong Kong-based food writer Janice Leung Hayes notes that the Hong Kong Station location is convenient to the Airport Express train “and if you get takeout, the queue is much shorter!”

6 of 9

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement

7 of 9

Save Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Le Train Bleu in Paris

Credit: Train Bleu

Open since 1901 in the Gare du Lyon in Paris, Le Train Bleu is a legend of train station dining. With a dining room that’s ornate and palatial, Le Train Bleu is named for the express train to the French Riviera that once was a symbol of all things luxurious. It has served as a scene in a variety of films, and though it’s certainly not a top-tier dining option in Paris anymore, it continues to command respect for its menu of French cookery.

7 of 9

8 of 9

Save Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Gilbert Scott in London's St. Pancras

Credit: The Gilbert Scott Bar

Dining has long been an afterthought in London’s railway stations, but the 2011 opening of The Gilbert Scott was a welcome change for many, including The Guardian food writer Tim Hayward, who declared that the new restaurant was “a rare treat: destination dining to be proud of.” Owned by British celebrity chef Marcus Wareing, The Gilbert Scott celebrates British produce and cuisine with dishes like Cornish chicken, rabbit and prawn pie, grilled sea bream, and a weekend roast menu.

8 of 9

9 of 9

Save Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Shake Shack at Union Station, DC

Credit: Evan Sung

Shake Shack isn’t just another fast food company. It is a cultishly beloved burger chain borne of Danny Meyer’s New York-based Union Square Hospitality Group. In recent years, Shake Shack has expanded not only aggressively beyond New York City, but also into the airport and train station game. There’s a location in New York’s Grand Central station, but it’s by far the best dining option in Washington, D.C.’s historic Union Station. As of this spring, this outlet serves breakfast burgers now, too, for early morning travelers.

9 of 9

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Replay gallery

Share the Gallery

Pinterest Facebook

Up Next

By Amy McKeever

Share the Gallery

Pinterest Facebook
Trending Videos
Advertisement
Skip slide summaries

Everything in This Slideshow

Advertisement

View All

1 of 9 Grand Central Oyster Bar
2 of 9 Stoic & Genuine
3 of 9 Mercantile Dining & Provision in Denver's Union Station
4 of 9 Sukiyabashi Jiro in Tokyo's Ginza metro station
5 of 9 Rokurinsha in Tokyo Station
6 of 9 Tim Ho Wan in Hong Kong
7 of 9 Le Train Bleu in Paris
8 of 9 Gilbert Scott in London's St. Pancras
9 of 9 Shake Shack at Union Station, DC

Share options

Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message
Travel + Leisure Travel + Leisure

Magazines & More

Learn More

  • Subscribe this link opens in a new tab
  • Contact Us
  • Advertise
  • Content Licensing this link opens in a new tab
  • Sitemap
  • Travel Guide Sitemap

Connect

Follow Us
Subscribe to Our Newsletters
Other Meredith Sites

Other Meredith Sites

  • 4 Your Health this link opens in a new tab
  • Allrecipes this link opens in a new tab
  • All People Quilt this link opens in a new tab
  • Better Homes & Gardens this link opens in a new tab
  • Bizrate Insights this link opens in a new tab
  • Bizrate Surveys this link opens in a new tab
  • Cooking Light this link opens in a new tab
  • Daily Paws this link opens in a new tab
  • EatingWell this link opens in a new tab
  • Eat This, Not That this link opens in a new tab
  • Entertainment Weekly this link opens in a new tab
  • Food & Wine this link opens in a new tab
  • Health this link opens in a new tab
  • Hello Giggles this link opens in a new tab
  • Instyle this link opens in a new tab
  • Martha Stewart this link opens in a new tab
  • Midwest Living this link opens in a new tab
  • More this link opens in a new tab
  • MyRecipes this link opens in a new tab
  • MyWedding this link opens in a new tab
  • My Food and Family this link opens in a new tab
  • MyLife this link opens in a new tab
  • Parenting this link opens in a new tab
  • Parents this link opens in a new tab
  • People this link opens in a new tab
  • People en Español this link opens in a new tab
  • Rachael Ray Magazine this link opens in a new tab
  • Real Simple this link opens in a new tab
  • Ser Padres this link opens in a new tab
  • Shape this link opens in a new tab
  • Siempre Mujer this link opens in a new tab
  • Southern Living this link opens in a new tab
  • SwearBy this link opens in a new tab
Travel + Leisure is part of the Travel + Leisure Group. Copyright 2021 Meredith Corporation. Travel + Leisure is a registered trademark of Meredith Corporation Travel + Leisure Group All Rights Reserved, registered in the United States and other countries. Travel + Leisure may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice. Privacy Policythis link opens in a new tab Terms of Servicethis link opens in a new tab Ad Choicesthis link opens in a new tab California Do Not Sellthis link opens a modal window Web Accessibilitythis link opens in a new tab
© Copyright . All rights reserved. Printed from https://www.travelandleisure.com

View image

All Aboard for the Coolest Train Station Restaurants
this link is to an external site that may or may not meet accessibility guidelines.