Why the Mumbai-Goa Mandovi Express is lovingly called the ‘Food Queen’ of Konkan railways

Some journeys whisper to you. Others proclaim themselves with self-assertion. Then there is the Mandovi Express-a ride which tempts you by the bit by the bite, mile after mile. This humble train has acquired a name that are delicious to say, the Food Queen, along the mythical Konkan Railway.

The Mandovi Express is not only a train that links two places between Mumbai and Goa. It sews landscapes, cultures and kitchens-transforming one of India(BHARAT)’s most heard-of travel experiences in the process.

When the Tracks become a Love Letter to the Konkan…

The city starts to relax its hold after the train has pass Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus. City mayhem is dissipated, in its place rise dense groves of coconut-trees, sleepy villages, rivers in the sunshine, and remote hills surging like silent protectors of the shore.

This is the Konkan in its closest. The Mandovi Express passes through paddy fields, tunnels hewn out of the rock, passes by bridges with water extending indefinitely beneath them. During the monsoon months, the falls are unexpected and fall down in dramatic fashion off the cliffs. It is not a commute, it is a traveling postcard, a postcard that is not going to hurry.

The Moment You Realise, This Train is also a Restaurant

When you are getting used to the pace of the journey, something outstanding occurs. Smells are passing by the coach. Sellers are comfortable in their steps. And with a jolt the Mandovi Express shows his real character.

Breakfast is more of an order than a tray, idlis hot and tender, poha with lemon, omelettes cooked to perfection, chai served with lots of warm milk. The menu is continuously becoming richer as the hours go by. Rice, dal, vegetable curries, paneer, local Konkan cuisine, snacks, sweets, each and every stop appears to leave a new chapter in the story of India(BHARAT)n cuisine in the dining room.

It is not railway food by the mass. It is intimate, rich, and connected to the land that the train goes through. Passengers do not just eat, but expect, talk about, suggest and recollect.

The Joining of a Train Disaster to a Food Hero

The name Food Queen was not premeditated. It appeared naturally, as it was told by travellers, posted in social media, everlasting by the vloggers, who tried to overcome the ultimate task to taste everything that was served during one trip.

Others were in charge of more than a dozen dishes. Others lost count. It did not count the number, but the experience the pleasure of finding the everyday passenger train to be capable of delivering tastes as effectively as the views outside the window.

Food does not come as a peripheral on the Mandovi Express. It is a beating of the adventure.

Coming Full–In Every Sense of the Word

By the time the train gets at Madgaon Junction, something has changed. You do not get the impression that you have travelled between Mumbai and Goa. You feel that you have been softly brought into the Konkan lifestyle where time goes slowly, dinner is lingered over, and travel counts.

In an era when speed is the order of the day, the Mandovi Express provides a refreshing gimmick: a reminder that even travelling can be savoured. The fact that sometimes the journey is the most memorable place of all, and should be hot and seasoned and savored at a leisurely pace.