A Haunting Taste of Murder
Fort Myers, Florida, USA
Dined February 2016
By Sean Overpeck (CFE)
Lets say you're not a member of any form of law enforcement, or even if you are, have you ever wanted to solve a murder, and have dinner while you do it? If the answer is yes or even a maybe then you might want to take a drive down to Fort Myers, Florida between Sarasota and Naples, and hope aboard the Murder Mystery Dinner Train. You get to enjoy a five course meal, full bar with assorted cocktails, wines, and beers, plus have professional actors in dressed stage attire go from car to car and present you with the clues to solving a murder. Sound fun? Well, it was. Lets see who done it!
Scroll down to read the main review, accolades and wine tasting notes
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****
The worlds best restaurants, based on the
That I visited and reviewed on this site…
***
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You can also use these sites for reference on the top restaurant categories:
The Best Restaurants Near Me Trip Advisor Restaurant Finder, the Elite Traveler’s Guide Top 100 in the World, the San Pellegrino Guides Top 50+, the OAD Guide Top 100 in USA, the Michelin Guides Best of Europe, the Zagat Ratings List , OpenTable Top 100 in America, the Los Angeles Times The Top 101 in L.A., Yelp Top 100 In USA, Timeout.com List 100 Best New York Restaurants, the 50 Best in Europe, Top 100 Steakhouses in USA , Africa’s Top Restaurants, Australia’s top 100 The Best Down Under, New Zealand’s Best The Top 15 Restaurants, Latin America top 50 By San Pellegrino, the Best Restaurants in Dubai 7 Best in Dubai, the 101 Best Restaurants in Asia, the Top Restaurants in Russia, the 10 best in the Middle East, the Best of Canada The Top 100 up North , Gayot Best Restaurants List Best Restaurants by City and Category, The EATER 38 Top Places to Eat Where in the USA to Eat This Year
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ALL ABOARD THE MURDER MYSTERY DINNER TRAIN FOR UNIQUE DINING EXPERIENCE.
Main review:
My fiancé and I heard about this dinner from my dad and stepmother from a time a few years back when they dined and enjoyed a mystery. Though they had told me about it in the past, I didn’t pay it much mind. When they told my fiancé about it, and we talked more, we thought it would be perfect, not only for us, but to bring along her dad and stepmother as well.
The place is a little tricky to find, try not to rely on your car or phones GPS, because it tells you that the location is on the opposite side of the road from where it actually is. We went around in circles, wondering where it was hiding. We could see the railroad tracks, and finally we spotted it. Just remember that if you're exiting of I-75 and traveling down Colonial Boulevard it is on your right side before the railroad tracks, and for us traveling from Fort Myers and Sanibel Island on US Highway 41, then it is on the left side. You have to cross the tracks, do a u-turn, then you can reach the parking lot.
There is plenty of parking, and it is recommended that all guests arrive and check in at least forty-five minutes before the posted departure time. The main building where you pick up your tickets also has a gift shop of course. One the train arrives at the station, you can board.
The Murder Mystery Dinner Train travels north from the Colonial Station across the Caloosahatchee River to an area known as Tucker’s Grade just south of Puento Gorda. The train then heads back south to the Colonial Station along the same route, for about a 40 mile round trip. The standard Wednesday till Sunday Murder Mystery Dinner Train is a three and a half (3-1/2) hours round trip. However, certain special events such as the New Year’s Eve Gala are longer.
There are several cars, with each one having seven tables on each side, seating four people per table. At the end of each car is a service area for drinks and hot kitchen. Each car has one restroom, and the aisle is very busy with the service staff handling each table, and of course the actors coming through several times, giving away little clues about the story for you to solve. Each table has a piece of paper for each person so you can write down your notes, and try to pick up on the clues they give you.
This particular show was about a European society couple played by actors John E. Repa and Wende K. Gilmore. The story has them traveling on a train down south after surviving the sinking of the Titanic and testing out a new aeroplane design. Traveling with them is a famed female pilot played by Susan Dolan, and the couples manservant played by Lew Phillips. But, an accident happens and all four of them die, or was it? Which one is responsible for killing the others, and also killing themselves in the process? Now one hundred years later they are haunting the train that you ride on enjoying your meal, and you must discover who done it. Speaking of the dinner, the chef breaks your meal down into five courses list below:
- Starters
- Soup du Jour
- Salads and From The oven Breads
- Entrees
- Desserts
The Murder Mystery Train changes up the stories, so this particular one may be finished, but it also may return, therefor I will not tell you the outcome, only that the person I thought had done it, did not, so my skills at being a detective are the reason I am in food service, because I cook better than I can solve a crime. No wonder I always sucked at the board games of Clue and Scotland Yard! Correction, I was good at Scotland Yard when I played Mr. X, but in Clue my dice rolls always sucked.
Besides the special drink selections, beers, and sangrias, their wine selection is okay, even though on their brochures they boast that they have a very good and diverse wine list. One selection from Italy, Germany, Australia, Argentina, and few from California is not too diverse, but better than some restaurants i’ve been to. The four of use settle on a pinot noir from Paso Robles called Five Rivers (Scroll down below the main review to see wine tasting notes).
Since we booked our reservations in early February, the menu selection reflected a Valentine romantic food menu and the first course was a hand crafted cheese selection with crisp crackers and seasonal fruits of red grape, pineapple, honey dew melon, and blackberries. The dish came with two varieties of cheese.
Course number two was the Soup du Jour of creamy potato and leek soup garnished with some parmesan cheese, fresh parsley, and olive oil. It was absolutely delicious. As we enjoyed these courses the actors would come through in sets of two and tell us more of the story giving away little clues to help us solve the crime.
The third course of a salad came with fresh oven baked bread, and was a caesar salad with hearts of palm, a Florida fruit cup, with toasted almonds and raspberry drizzle.
For the entree selections my fiancé enjoyed the win your heart salmon, an atlantic filet, poached, and topped with an orange blossom sauce served with some wild rice, haricot verts, and scallion garnish. The wild rice had a mixture of black and jasmine rice with cranberries, onion, and celery.
Her stepmother enjoyed the two young lovers’ chicken dish, which was a fairly good size breast of chicken, stuffed with cheddar cheese, wrapped in bacon strips, and topped with a creamy apple calvados sauce, and was also served with the wild rice and haricot verts.
My fiancé’s father and I ordered the same dish, the Valentine’s prime rib, slow roasted and cooked to a perfect mouth watering medium-rare, topped with a rosemary au jus, served with whipped potatoes and haricot verts. The meat was also garnished with a sprig of fresh rosemary.
Wine Tasting Notes:
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Wine & Grape:
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Nose (Bouquet):
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Palette Experience:
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Pinot Noir
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Winemaker: A unique nose with rhubarb, violets and cardamom with hibiscus flowers and nice, spicy undertones. Blackberry and nutmeg hints overpowered the nose with subtle hints of daisy’s and melon |
Winemaker: Tangy bright cherries, hibiscus nectar and a strong acid backbone follow the taste of wild strawberries. Intense, structured and complex Refreshing medium bodied wine with moderate acid tones from a lime flavor, with bright bing cherry’s, and blueberry’s with a long but sturdy finish. |
So many great wines in this world, but here are a few of my favorite tastings:
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Stellenbosch, South Africa
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Napa, California, USA
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Santa Barbara, California, USA
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Franschhoek, South Africa
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Willamette, Oregon
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Yarra Valley, Australia
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Asheville, North Carolina, USA
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Willamette, Oregon
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Alexander Valley, California, USA
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Constantia, South Africa
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Yountville, California
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Napa, California, USA
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Dessert:
The fifth a final course had arrived and so did the time for the actors to give their final clues on the murder mystery and for us to turn in our cards. After being turned in, none of us at the table got the answer correct, but still had fun with the entire experience. we enjoyed a sweethearts red velvet chocolate cake, with dreamy butter cream frosting and some coffee to finish out the evening.
So, with the meal complete, and our culinary appetites fulfilled, lets see how The Murder Mystery Dinner Train rates overall shall we….
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5 stars
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is Extraordinary
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4 Stars
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is Outstanding
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3 Stars
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Exceeded Expectations
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2 Stars
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is Above the Average
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1 Star
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is an Average Dining Experience
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No Star Rating
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The Restaurant is Basic, Poor, or Appalling
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Read below for a full breakdown on the conclusion to these ratings
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Overall Star rating by Wine, Dine, & Play:
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3 of 5
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Ambiance:
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5 of 10
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Quality of the Food:
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7 of 10
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Plate Presentation:
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5 of 10
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Customer Service:
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6 of 10
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Wow Factor:
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4 of 10
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Wine Selection:
(See the full list under the review basics section below)
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3 of 10
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Rating Breakdown And Analysis:
Professional Restaurant reviewers like the New York Times, Zagat, Chowhound, Gayot, or others base their reviews on either a single experience, and give in their opinion a specific rating to that restaurant. While some return a few times to get a better scope, and provide a fare well rounded review. These reviews and accolades tell the whole story and inform the diner of what to expect. Now social media from Facebook, Yelp and Trip Advisor have started to replace the traditional media, and a large majority of diners will look at these social ratings and write-ups and judge the restaurant on them versus the use of review sites like this one or the others I mentioned above. Social media is now the new make or brake to a Restaurant. Instead of being skeptical to the social review, people will see that others have given low ratings, and they will likely bypass and go to a neighboring restaurant. Whether it is here on Wine, Dine, and Play, or Zomato, the one thing we do is give an unbiased opinion and base our write-ups on what we experienced, giving you the most information we can. The ratings I give on Wine, Dine, and Play are based on the overall experience, so use this review as another source of information to help make your decision. From the tasting of the Chef’s specials to the lists of wines, prices, customer service, the property, setup, flow, and cleanliness; are just a few of the items I look at when giving a rating for a review. Sometimes I visit a place once, or many times, and I base it on the facts, versus a user on social media who writes a bad review because he had a bad day, or has a personnel dislike to an employee. I am one of many thousands of reviewers on this Earth, and my main job is to inform you the diner. I do this for fun as it is something I truly enjoy. You may end up having a completely opposite experience then the ones I write about, but in the end it is all in the eye of the beholder. I’m just giving you more information then what you see or here on social media.
Here on Wine, Dine, and Play, I have an overall star rating scale of six levels with the lowest being a poor or appalling experience with zero stars, up to an extraordinary experience rated at five stars. From there I brake down the individual experiences such as wine, plate presentation, ambiance, wow factor, and food quality on a scale from zero to ten, with ten being the best. The overall zero to five star rating takes all the individual experiences such as into account, and combines them to give my final rating score. In the next paragraph, I brake down how and why I come to the conclusion of the rating numbers listed in the review chart above.
I have been to The Murder Mystery Dinner Train only once, but can tell you that one day I wouldn’t mind doing it again. It was a lot of fun.
I rate ambiance on several factors from the most important being cleanliness of the dining room and restrooms, to organization and flow. I look at the atmosphere, character, the tones, artwork, and the design styles to see if they match the themes of the food. During the daylight hours natural lighting versus electric is also a strong enhancer of enjoying a meal, and of course the styles of furniture, or if it is inviting and comfortable. I give a rating of 5 out 10 as for the dining room being a basic train car, and the windows were not easy to see out of, and that the air conditioning vents were above or heads, and were either turned off making it warm in the car or turned on full blast making us cold, besides that the ambiance was very nice.
The quality rating I base by an essential or distinctive characteristics that the food offers, or if I see that it is of a high grade, superiority, or excellence. Also important is the taste. Did the chef pair or match distinctive ingredients together, and did he send my palette on an adventure? I rate them at a 7 out of 10, as the food quality and taste of all the dishes were wonderful, and well garnished with perfect matching sauces.
The plate presentation is also at the midway point. I base this rating on the art of how the food is but together and displayed as it is brought to the table. Does it look unique, or have interesting garnishments, or built right at the table? Does it make you look twice and go “wow”? All of these attributes help add to the rating. With a rating of 5 out of 10 the plate presentation did not really excite me, as there was nothing that made me go “wow," so therefor a basic presentation in my mind.
Customer service can make or break a restaurant. You can have the best quality of foods, plate presentations that put Escoffier to shame, the most beautiful of ambiance, and a fantastic wine or bar list. However if you have a service staff that is not attentive to the needs of the guest, or has an unclean uniform, smells like a cigarette after returning from a break, does not act professionally, or lacks knowledge on the menu, food, and restaurant then you have a major problem. On the other hand a great server can bring a customer back over and over again even if the food is mediocre. People go to restaurants for the show of food thinking they are experts because they watched a reality tv show on the Food Network, but what needs to be understood is that as amazing as a kitchen staff and Chef’s may be, the front of house is just as great. With 6 out of 10, our server was attentive, but shared the car with one other server and an assistant, and from time to time seemed overwhelmed, but we did not go without anything. I took awhile to have the wine delivered, but that was no biggie.
The “wow” factor as I like to call it is a quality or feature that is extremely impressive, or it can be something that is seen or done that is funky, surprising, or pleasing. It is something that just makes me go “wow”. This rating is also the hardest to get high marks for. The wow factor is a combination of what ambiance, quality, plate presentation, customer service, and wine or mixology. Giving them a rating of 4 out of 10 is not a bad thing as I mentioned this is the hardest to score very high on. The plate presentation was simple, and though the food was very good it did not give me that “wow” I was looking for. The actors were very entertaining and made the trip worth while, however.
The wine selection can vary from restaurant to restaurant, and I base the ratings not just on the quality of the wines offered but also the selections. Wine is grown everywhere around the world these days and the demand for it has increased ten fold. Distributors in every major city whether they work for a large named company like Empire or a small boutique company can provide services to any restaurant if that restaurant wants it. Some restaurants will choose to have very basic wines and that to me will lower a rating faster than a plane nose diving. If they make an effort to have even a small selection with variety such as a wines from Napa California, Willamette Oregon, Bordeaux France, Stellenbosch South Africa, the Yarra Valley near Melbourne Australia, or the Piemonte in Italy, to name a few, then that rating will shoot up higher on my review list. I gave them a rating of 3 out of 10. As I mentioned, they boasted a nice diverse list, and six countries is a lot better them several restaurants out there, most of the wines on the list even though from a wide variety of places around the world, they were mostly table quality wine, with no real high or top quality vintners. Our wine was good, but it was a basic Paso Robles. Now if they had some J.Lohr or Ecluse from that AVA then that would be better.
Finally the overall star rating from Wine, Dine, and Play that I give to The Murder Mystery Dinner Train is a three out of five stars, meaning that it exceeded my expectations, and my expectations are set at a high standard compared to others. I came to this conclusion based on all the other factors and how they rated.
This was my first dinner experience on a train, and I would like to try more like it. When I visited Zimbabwe to see Victoria Falls several Years back they did have a dinner train for the view of the falls, but I chose to have dinner at a more local style restaurant instead called the Boma, A Place Of Eating. The only comparisons I would have to it is dinner cruises to which I have done several from Paris, Dubai, Charleston South Carolina, and Florida. One really good one was the Moshulu in Philadelphia which was fantastic and had an extensive wine list.
Other Fort Myers / Sanibel Island reviews on Wine, Dine, and Play:
The Mad Hatter, on Sanibel Island
Food Prices Per Person
(excluding, alcohol, taxes & gratuity)
$£€¥ - Under 50.00
$£€¥ x 2 - 51.00- 99.00
$£€¥ x 3 - Over 100.00
$£€¥ x 4 - Over 200.00
$£€¥ x 5 - Over 400.00
**Currencies chosen reflect the world’s major travelers and restaurant connoisseur’s**
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My food bill:
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Currency:
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Price chart:
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$75.00
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United States Dollar (USD)
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$$
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£52.00
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Great Britain Pound Sterling (GBP)
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££
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€65.00
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European Union (EUR)
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€€
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$96.00
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Canadian Dollar (CAN)
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$$
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$100.00
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Australian Dollar (AUS)
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$$$
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¥487.00
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Chinese Yuan (CNY)
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¥¥¥¥¥
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Plus $89.00 in alcohol
Review basics:
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Wine selections by region:
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3 of 10
Old world:
New World:
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Corkage fee’s:
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American Restaurant standard is $25.00 per bottle
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Restaurant style:
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Conservative Attire
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Reservations:
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Required
Walk-Ins:
Not guaranteed
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Dress code:
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Business casual or Conservative attire
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Child policy:
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The Restaurants reviewed on this site may have a child’s menu or cater to them; however for full enjoyment of food and wine, it is recommended for children not to be in attendance, unless they have been trained in proper etiquette.
Hire a Babysitter.
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Cuisine style:
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Contemporary, Seafood, American
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Experiences:
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Romantic, Good for special occasions, Scenic views, Intimate, Tourist grabber, and a Neighborhood gem
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Payments:
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Visa, MasterCard, Discover, American Express
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Parking:
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Public lot
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Wifi
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The restaurants reviewed on this site may have Wi-Fi, but do not require you to go online, because the excitement of the food and wine alone will keep you too entertained instead of checking your social media and emails.
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Noise level:
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Low to Medium
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Smoking:
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Nonsmoking Train
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Restaurant address:
Colonial (Passenger) Station
2805 Colonial Boulevard
Fort Myers, Florida
33966
GPS Coordinates:
26.597362
-81.854905
Contact Information:
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Reservations:
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+1 239-275-8487
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Website:
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Serving Hours:
Eastern Standard Time (GMT - 5:00)
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Groupon
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Social Media
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Accolades:
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Reviewed by:
Sean Overpeck (CFE)
Picture below was taken at the Les Invalides Museum in Paris, 2010
About Sean:
I am based out of St. Petersburg, Florida working in the food service industry for the past twenty years, and am currently with the American Embassy as the Executive Chef in Basra, Iraq. Formally I have worked with groups contracting in Afghanistan, Dubai, and Antarctica, also working in restaurants in and around Atlanta prior to the wars. I have also owned a catering company and served proudly in the United States Army Food Service Program. The idea for the Wine, Dine, and Play started in late 2012 after a trip to Jordan, when I was asked by friends to write down the experiences from a few Jordanian restaurants, plus the wine from the region that I tasted, and locations of interest such as Petra, and the culture. Since that time, over 200 articles have been written on restaurants, including fifteen from the worlds top 100 lists of San Pellegrino and the Elite Travelers Guide; exotic world locations such as Dubai, Petra, Victoria Falls, and South African Safari’s; food recipes & Grand Food Dictionaries; country cuisines such as Afghan and Peruvian; and of course wine from vineyards in California, Oregon, the Carolina’s, South Africa, New Zealand, and Australia
Who is John Galt?
“Culinary perfection consists not in doing extraordinary things,
But in doing ordinary things extraordinarily well.”
-Angelique Arnauld (1591-1661)
TTFN
