Unless you can time-travel, I don't think this is relevant here.

BTW if you go to /help/on-topic, this is totally on topic. Nowhere does it say we can't QA here past-and-present of the topics found on this site.

OK. That's fair. I was looking at it from a it can't help anyone with travel but history could be interesting.

If we allow factoid questions I don't see why this should be disallowed. Except "good" is going to be opinion based.

I guess it's useful if it's ultimately asking (in a non-rhetorical way) why TGV's food is bad. It may turn out that all French cuisine has gone downhill, which would be useful info for travellers.

All French cuisine didn't go downhill. I have eaten every day for a week on en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rue_Merci%C3%A8re and other places in Lyon last year and can testify first hand that the food served in bouchons are tasty :)

@Itai and if you could time-travel, this forum would be the relevant one.

@Calchas The question referred to "fine food" which hints at fine dining. I've edited to "restaurant-quality food" which I think preserves the intent of the question and is more objective than just "good".

of course "all French cuisine has gone downhill". but the question is about TGV, obviously @DavidRicherby has put in nicely.

I don't think this is opinion based. There's a clear difference between cold, snacky food like sandwiches and a freshly-cooked hot meal.

hi @Muzer indeed, since that concept is so difficult to grasp apparently :), I edited the question.

@gerrit Why on earth would you judge a country's cooking by a university canteen?

It's my fault: I stupidly added a humorous aside of a few words ("it's surprising to tourists that French trains only sell snacks!") You have to be incredibly literal and specific on this site. I edited it out.

@gerrit Food served in first class on weekdays on British trains can be very good. Probably the best is the Pullman Dining services that are run by Great Western Railway. And that IS opinion-based ;)

hi @gerrit it's really not a discussion about the general quality of food in France, thanks. Again I apologize that I happened to make a passing joke ("tourists are surprised by this"). the question is staggeringly straightforward, "have TGVs only ever sold snack food?" Again I apologize for making a passing remark about "tourists", I have edited away that part of the question; perhaps you could delete your comment equally as it's totally off track and seemingly making it difficult to find an answer to the simple question "have TGVs only ever sold snack food?"

@gerrit I completely agree. But if I wanted to judge the normal, everyday food of a country, I'd go to small local restaurants and cafes, not a university canteen. Institutional food is of low quality almost everywhere.