Food at Shatabdi Express

I have traveled quite a lot with Shatabdi Exp. and cannot even sleep for a while because they are all the time offering food to the passengers.

Last week at the end of my journey in India I was moving to Delhi from Amritsar. The schedule has been like that:

05.00 - Departure
05.10 - Mineral Water (1 l.) and glass
05.15 - Tray for afternoon snack: Dry dal, Sweet, Hot Cake, kettchup, two tea sets and thermo flask with hot water.
06.15 - Cold Fruit Juice (apple or mango)
07.20 - Tray with brioche, butter and hot veg clear soup.
08.20 - Full hot meal: Vegetables, Channa Masala, Paneer Korma, Rice Pulav, Salad, Pickles, Chapati and Lassi.
09.00 - Glace
10.30 - Arrival

I must say thet all the food was very good. Congratulations to Indian Railways.

Jorge

Jorge...you have travelled by one of the best Shatabdi trains in the country. Try the food on the Chennai-Bangalore Shatabdi...tummy-terror!!!

Was this first class? Curious, because it sure seems a like a lot of pampering.

Sidenote: Is it generally safe to drink fruit juices in India or is there the risk that they are thinned with water?

No first class in Shatabdi. Executive Class and Chair Car only. And the food seems to be Chair Car fare...

Sidenote: Packaged fruit juice is what Jorge musthave had...safe. Kiosks selling just made juice...dicey.

As rangss says, food varies according to which Shatabdi.

Out of Delhi, food is better.

Cool thanks for the juice tip,

Yeah, meant Executive Class - I'm not completely down with the train lingo yet!

I was traveling in Chair Car that means second class, I don't know what are they giving to first class passengers (Executive Class). The food id Delhi was the same for the journey: Delhi - Amritsar.

About the juice, was a packed juice (tetrabrik).

Jorge

chandigarh shatabdi sucks big time.
when i was there for a year, there were many stories in news paper about food quality in shatabdi.

pune mumbai in 1998 is my best exp so far.

try kingfisher airlines if you like pampering

I had a similar menu on the Jaipur-Delhi leg of the Ajmer Shatabdi.One difference is that we were offered a non veg option (mutton curry) for the dinner.This is more food than I would usually eat in a whole day!
Although I prefer South Indian food to North Indian,I've found that the meals on Indian Railways are always better when they're North Indian style.

We though maybe they had confused us for first class passengers the way we were being treated!

BTW...never had bad food on a Shatabdi..... or bad service.

The food service is equally good on the Rajdhani express long distance trains.

On the main meal was possible to take a non veg food (chicken or something like that).

As mt kailash say: more food than I usually eat in the whole day (well, when I´m in India. At home is different...)

Jorge

food on indian trains is absolute crap. shatabdi is no exception! I've never had a good meal on a train -never! juice in tetrapacks is rather good & abso safe - any day better than sweetened caffinated water!!

Food served in Chandigarh Shatabdi sucks. Food used to be best in Bangalore Rajdhani.

Does anyone know if Shatabdis get booked up first? We are travelling in February and March and I'm not sure how far are ahead we should book especially if we want to retain some flexibility.

Reading this website, I've noticed that it's definitely a good idea to book ahead for longer overnight journeys. I don't know how far ahead though - would a couple of days do?

No idea about Shatabdis... Anyone know?