Vande Bharat Sleeper vs Rajdhani train food menu full comparison: Check meal prices and breakfast, lunch, dinner options

When passengers compare India's premium overnight trains, the discussion is usually about speed, coaches and comfort. But food is another important part of the journey, especially on long-distance services where meals are built into the onboard experience.

The Vande Bharat Sleeper and the Rajdhani Express network both have dedicated meal arrangements listed by the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC). However, their menu systems are organised differently, with choices varying according to the train, route, region and passenger class.

Vande Bharat Sleeper has train-specific menus

According to the IRCTC website, rather than presenting one universal menu for every Vande Bharat service, IRCTC lists menus for individual trains and train numbers.

The distinction becomes clearer in the menu for Train Nos. 27575 and 27576, the Howrah-Kamakhya-Howrah Vande Bharat Sleeper service.

What is served on Vande Bharat Sleeper?

For Train 27575, travelling from Howrah to Kamakhya, the dinner menu includes:

• Rice: Ghee rice, Basanti pulao or green peas pulao
• Bread: Paratha
• Dal: Cholar dal, bhaja moong dal or mixed dal (panchmishu)
• Vegetable: Aloo gajar methi matar bhaja, aloo gobi kadaisuti bhaja or jhuri aloo bhaja
• Vegetarian main course: Matar paneer, chanar dalna or dhoker dalna
• Non-vegetarian main course: Bengali chicken curry, Murgh Rogini or murgir jhol
• Dessert: Kala Jamun, Sandesh or Kheer Kadam

On the return journey, Train 27576 has a slightly different menu:

• Rice: Jeera rice, jeera corn pulao or kishmish pulao
• Bread: Tehdar paratha
• Dal: Mixed dal made from arhar and moong
• Vegetable: Lesera aloo bhaji, bhendi aloo bhaji or beans aloo bhaji
• Vegetarian main course: Paneer masala or Kadai paneer in Assamese style
• Non-vegetarian main course: Chicken masala or chicken curry in Assamese style
• Dessert: Narikal burfi, rasgulla or Lalmohan

The menu also specifies:

• Morning tea: 6:30 am to 8 am
• Dinner: 8 pm to 10 pm

This shows why passengers cannot simply look up a generic 'Vande Bharat menu' and assume that the same dishes will be served on every train. IRCTC's menu listings are linked to individual services.

The IRCTC page also lists provisions for passengers who select the 'NO-FOOD' option during booking and mentions an RTE option for current bookings and passengers who opt out of food on Vande Bharat trains.

The first Vande Bharat Sleeper service was launched on January 17, 2026, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi flagged off the country's first such train. The service operates between Howrah and Guwahati (Kamakhya), with the journey taking about 14 hours.

Rajdhani has a much broader regional menu structure

Rajdhani Express has a longer-established catering system. IRCTC places its food service under the Rajdhani/Shatabdi/Duronto Menu category and provides options according to passenger class and region.

The menu is divided into North, East, West, South Central and South zones, with different dishes reflecting regional food preferences.

The breakfast menu, for instance, goes well beyond a standard continental spread. Depending on the zone and menu set, passengers can find:

• Luchi with aloo dum or chana dal
• Radhaballavi with dum aloo
• Bedmi poori with aloo subzi
• Bhatura with chole
• Stuffed parathas with curd
• Besan chila
• Poha and upma
• Idli and medu vada
• Set dosa
• Pongal

Egg-based breakfast is also offered as an alternative, with the standard menu listing two eggs that can be served as an omelette, fried, boiled, poached or scrambled, along with boiled vegetables.

Regional dishes on Rajdhani

The regional differences become even more noticeable at lunch and dinner.

East Zone

• Machcher jhol
• Fish curry
• Chingdi mach curry
• Shorshe mach
• Maach kalia
• Rice, parathas, dal, paneer preparations and seasonal vegetables

North Zone

• Kadhi paneer
• Matar paneer
• Paneer kofta
• Paneer butter masala
• Paneer do pyaza
• Several boneless chicken preparations

West Zone

• Gujarati kadhi
• Gujarati dal
• Amti dal
• Methi muthiya curry
• Konkani chicken
• Chicken Kolhapuri
• Goan fish curry

South and South Central Zones

• Bisebele bhaat
• Ghee rice
• Malabar chicken curry
• Chicken Chettinad
• Hyderabadi chicken curry
• Andhra chicken curry
• South Indian fish preparations

How much does the Rajdhani meal cost?

The IRCTC menu information supplied for the Rajdhani services lists rates including taxes:

Meal	Price
Morning tea	₹35
Breakfast	₹140
Evening snacks	₹140
Lunch/dinner	₹245

The lunch and dinner service includes soup, soup sticks, a dinner bun or croissant, butter and the main meal, followed by dessert.

Depending on the regional menu, the dessert can be:

• Premium flavoured ice cream
• Sugar-free ice cream
• Chhena poda
• Shrikhand
• Basundi
• Flavoured yoghurt
• Sandesh

Rajdhani also has Jain, diabetic and continental options

Rajdhani's menu accommodates specific dietary requirements.

Special meal options include:

• Jain meal: Food without onion and garlic, with rice, roti/parantha, dal, paneer or vegetable preparation, curd, pickle and dessert.
• Diabetic meal: Sugar-free biscuits, sugar-free tea/creamer, suitable breakfast options, seasonal fruit, nuts, sandwich and sugar-free dessert.
• Ragi options: Ragi dalia can be provided instead of breakfast cereals, while ragi khichdi can be provided as an alternative to the rice dish.

For 1AC and Executive Class, the menu also provides a continental option.

Vegetarian continental meal:

• Brown or whole-wheat bread
• Pasta with seasoning and red or white sauces
• Grilled cottage cheese
• Boiled assorted vegetables

Non-vegetarian continental meal:

• Bread
• Macaroni or pasta
• Chicken breast
• Boiled assorted vegetables

So, how different are the two?

The biggest difference is not simply the number of dishes but how the menus are organised.

Vande Bharat's food service is more closely tied to individual trains and routes. The Howrah-Kamakhya Sleeper Vande Bharat menu, for example, features dishes specifically reflecting Bengali and Assamese food preferences.

Rajdhani, meanwhile, follows a more elaborate regional framework. Its menus are divided into zones and service sets, with different breakfast and main-course combinations, while also providing dedicated Jain, diabetic and continental options.

This does not establish that one train universally serves better food than the other. The menus themselves show that the offerings can change according to the particular train, route, region and class.