Vegetarian dishes on Russian trains (European part):3 XSN UuG7zGg Yyi N Vvp QZzxqtp P4Cb EeW T5Pw 123Z
On Russian long-distance trains that include restaurant cars, should I in 2019 expect that I can buy full vegetarian dishes there? On those pictures of a 2015 menu on the Trans Siberian Express linked by this answer, it seems that virtually every dish contains meat or fish. Should I expect difficulties as an ovo-lacto-vegetarian (but not vegan)?
I will be travelling in classes 2К and 2Т on trains 024Й, 042В, 041М, and 009Щ, where the trains do appear to have some 10 minute+ stops to stock up on food (and water) off-train if food on the train is too limited, assuming such is available on the platform.
-
Someone has been downvoting the question and all the answers... – gerrit 3 hours ago
-
Vodka is vegetarian :) – Harper 40 mins ago
2 Answers
No, you definitely cannot count on having vegetarian meals on long-distance trains in Russia. In fact even the menu is misleading, as quite commonly only a very limited selection of dishes are actually available on any given train.
Beware that fresh/hot food selections at stations are also quite limited, and vegetarian options even more so. (They've cracked.down on unlicensed sellers, they need to rent stalls now and this has cut down on them a lot.) Vegetarianism in general is poorly understood in Russian, and even notionally vegetarian Russian staples like piroshki cabbage pastries may contain lard.
You're not going to starve, because you can always buy vegetarian packaged snacks (potato chip, peanuts, etc), but I would strongly encourage you to bring along enough staples to last you until your next stop. Hot water for noodles, porridge etc is always available.
You may find my little review of food options on the Trans-Siberian last year useful: https://driftingclouds.net/2018/07/04/from-siberia-to-tibet-life-on-a-train/
@jpatokal is right, "you definitely cannot count on having vegetarian meals on long-distance trains in Russia" (as well as on a menu).
However, there might be something in a restaurant car as, e.g., a salad suitable for a vegetarian. In fact, I traveled with a vegetarian girl this July on 056Ы, and she was quite happy with salads from a restaurant car and vegetarian snacks we bought on train stations.
There are classes where you can preorder food (full board, half board (breakfast, dinner), only breakfast or lunch or dinner, with a choice from the menu -- unfortunately, I cannot find this info in English). Breakfast is usually a porridge (kasha); however, I don't know whether you are OK with milk or not. Here a passenger provides a review on food options on the Trans-Siberian in 2018 when you preorder food online (the review is in Russian but full of pictures).
-
1I can have milk, eggs, honey, etc. I'm vegetarian and one rule of thumb is that I don't eat what I wouldn't feel comfortable "harvesting" ;-) – gerrit 8 hours ago
-
Does preordering food make any difference for a vegetarian? Can one order food with special dietary restrictions? – gerrit 8 hours ago
-
The picture in your preorder food link actually does show a picture of vegan food. – gerrit 7 hours ago
-
@gerrit concerning special dietary restrictions, I don't think so. Actually, the guy providing the review (the third link in my answer) shows that you can choose from "standard", "child", and "vegetarian" and what's inside the chosen option depends on the type of railroad car (сouchette car/platzkart, corridor coach/coupé, sleeping car (I class)/sv etc.) you travel in. – colombien 5 hours ago
-
Preordering food does make a difference because otherwise you definitely cannot count on having vegetarian meals in a restaurant car even though they are on a menu. – colombien 5 hours ago
