Famous Food and Where to Eat in Udaipur

Udaipur is a feast for the senses and not least for the taste buds, for the lake city serves up some of the richest and most flavourful food in all of Rajasthan, from hearty royal thalis and fiery curries to crisp street snacks, syrup-soaked sweets and creamy lassis, all enjoyed in settings that range from bustling old-city bazaars to romantic rooftop cafes overlooking the water. This guide from Delhi Agra Tour Packages covers the famous food of Udaipur and where to eat it in full, with the must-try dishes laid out by category, the best areas and types of eateries and plenty of tips, a delicious companion to any trip, whether a standalone escape or part of a Golden Triangle tour extended into Rajasthan.

I was born in Delhi and in more than 11 years planning trips across the region for Experience My India. I have eaten my way around Udaipur many times over and I love introducing travellers to its food. Here is the clear, practical guide to what to eat and where.

About Udaipur's food scene

The food of Udaipur is, at heart, the food of Mewar and of Rajasthan, a cuisine shaped by the region's royal kitchens, its warrior history and its dry landscape. It is a cuisine known for its bold spices, its clever use of ingredients that keep well in a dry climate, its rich gravies and its love of ghee and of sweets. Much of the everyday food of Udaipur is vegetarian, reflecting the strong vegetarian traditions of the region's communities, though the famous meat dishes of the old Rajput kitchens are also part of the story and can be found in the city.

Eating in Udaipur is as much about the setting as the food. You can feast on a traditional Rajasthani thali in a simple, much-loved local eatery, nibble crisp snacks and sweets in the lanes of the old city or linger over a meal at a rooftop cafe with the City Palace and Lake Pichola spread out before you. This variety, from humble to romantic, is part of what makes Udaipur such a joy for food lovers and it fits beautifully around a day of sightseeing, as our things to do in Udaipur guide covers the city's attractions. Below, the famous dishes are laid out by category, followed by a guide to the best areas and types of places to eat.

The famous dishes of Udaipur, by category

Here are the dishes that define Udaipur and Rajasthan, grouped by category so you can plan your eating. Each is a local favourite and together they make up a wonderful culinary tour of the city.

Signature mains and the Rajasthani thali

The heart of Udaipur's food is its rich mains and the grand Rajasthani thali, a platter that brings many of them together in one glorious meal.

Breakfast, snacks and street food

Udaipur's streets and bazaars are full of crisp, savoury snacks, perfect for breakfast or a bite between sights.

Sweets

No meal in Udaipur is complete without something sweet and Rajasthan has a glorious tradition of rich, indulgent desserts.

Drinks

To wash it all down, Udaipur has its own much-loved drinks, perfect in any season.

Must-try signature dishes explained

A few of these dishes deserve a closer look, for they are the ones you simply must not miss in Udaipur.

Dal baati churma is the king of Rajasthani food and the one dish above all to try. It brings together three elements: baati, hard baked balls of wheat flour; dal, a rich lentil preparation; and churma, the baati crushed and sweetened with sugar or jaggery and ghee. Eaten together, generously doused in ghee, it is hearty, satisfying and utterly delicious, a taste of the desert kitchens that has fed Rajasthan for centuries. Gatte ki sabzi, with its gram-flour dumplings in tangy yoghurt gravy, is another vegetarian classic you will find everywhere, as is the tangy, dry ker sangri, made from desert berries and beans, a dish born of the region's arid land. For those who eat meat, the famous laal maas, a fiery red mutton curry fragrant with Mathania chillies, is the great Rajput speciality, with the milder, creamier safed maas as its royal counterpart. And to taste as many of these as possible in one sitting, nothing beats a full Rajasthani thali, an ever-replenished platter of dals, curries, breads, rice, sides and sweets that is the best possible introduction to the region's food.

A note for vegetarians and Jain travellers

Udaipur is a wonderful city for vegetarians. Thanks to the strong vegetarian traditions of many of the region's communities, a great deal of the city's food, including most of its signature dishes, snacks and all of its sweets, is vegetarian and pure-vegetarian eateries are everywhere. Vegetarian travellers will find themselves spoilt for choice.

Jain travellers, who avoid onion, garlic and root vegetables, are also well catered for in Udaipur, with many restaurants offering Jain versions of dishes on request and some pure-Jain establishments in the city. It is always worth mentioning your requirements when you order. For those who do eat meat, the famous Rajput meat dishes such as laal maas can be found at selected restaurants, though the everyday street and snack food of the old city is overwhelmingly vegetarian. Whatever your diet, Udaipur has a great deal to offer.

Where to eat in Udaipur: the best areas and types of places

Knowing where to eat is as important as knowing what to eat. Udaipur offers several distinct kinds of eating experience, each suited to a different mood and time of day. The table below lays out the main types of places and what they are best for.

The old city, around the Jagdish Temple, Gangaur Ghat and the lanes leading down to Lake Pichola, is the heart of Udaipur's eating scene, packed with everything from humble thali houses to the famous rooftop cafes. For a romantic meal, the lake-view rooftops are unbeatable, especially at sunset, with the illuminated City Palace reflected in the water and they pair perfectly with a day's sightseeing there, as our City Palace Udaipur guide and timings covers that great palace. For street food, the bazaars and old-city lanes are the place to wander, sampling as you go. And for sweets, the city's traditional mithai shops are an institution. Rather than fixating on a single name, the joy of Udaipur is to explore these areas and follow the crowds to the busiest, freshest spots and we are always glad to point our travellers to the current favourites.

Street food in Udaipur

The street food of Udaipur is one of its great pleasures and the old city is the place to enjoy it. Wandering the lanes, you will find vendors frying crisp mirchi bada, the large spiced-potato-stuffed chillies that are a local obsession, alongside flaky pyaaz kachoris, samosas and all manner of chaat, the tangy, spicy savoury snacks that Indians adore.

Mornings bring their own street-food rituals, with poha and hot jalebis a popular breakfast combination, while through the day the stalls do a brisk trade in quick bites perfect for refuelling between sights. Eating street food is a wonderful way to taste the real, everyday flavours of the city and to soak up its bustling atmosphere. As ever with street food, it is wise to choose busy stalls with a quick turnover, where the food is fresh and the oil is clean and to ease into the spicier offerings gently. A guided food walk through the old city is a lovely way to enjoy the street food with confidence and it is something we are always happy to arrange.

Sweets and drinks: the perfect finish

Rajasthan has one of the great sweet traditions of India and Udaipur is no exception. The star is ghevar, a beautiful disc-shaped sweet with a honeycomb texture, soaked in syrup and often crowned with thick malai or khoya, especially popular around the festival season. Alongside it you will find hot, crisp jalebis dripping with syrup, creamy rabri, syrup-soaked malpua and a whole range of rich milk-based mithai in the city's sweet shops. Leaving room for dessert is essential in Udaipur.

To drink, the great local speciality is the makhaniya lassi, a thick, creamy, saffron-scented sweet lassi topped with a generous layer of malai, rich enough to be a meal in itself and wonderfully cooling. Masala chai is the all-day staple, savoury spiced buttermilk or chaas, is a refreshing accompaniment to a meal and falooda, a rich milk drink with vermicelli and sweet toppings, is almost a dessert in a glass. Together, the sweets and drinks of Udaipur are the perfect finish to any meal in the city.

Lake-view cafes: eating with a view

One experience unique to Udaipur deserves a special mention: dining with a view of the lake. The old city is famous for its rooftop cafes and restaurants, which climb several storeys to terraces with sweeping views over Lake Pichola, the City Palace and the island palaces that seem to float on the water.

To sit at one of these rooftops as the sun sets and the palaces light up, with a meal and a drink before you, is one of the most romantic experiences in all of India and it is reason enough in itself to linger over your food in Udaipur. The cafes serve a mix of Indian and international dishes to suit every traveller and while you come as much for the view as the food, the setting makes everything taste better. For honeymooners and couples especially, a rooftop dinner by the lake is an unmissable Udaipur experience, best enjoyed in the pleasant evenings of the cool season, as our best time to visit Udaipur guide covers the seasons in the city.

Tips for eating in Udaipur

• Try a full Rajasthani thali at least once, the best way to sample many of the region's dishes in one meal.

• Do not miss dal baati churma, the signature dish and the makhaniya lassi, the signature drink.

• For street food, choose busy stalls with a quick turnover, where the food is fresh and the oil clean.

• Ease gently into the spicier dishes, as Rajasthani food can be rich and fiery.

• Vegetarians are spoilt for choice; Jain travellers should mention their requirements when ordering, as many places oblige.

• Save an evening for a lake-view rooftop dinner, especially at sunset, for the romance of the setting.

• Leave room for sweets and seek out ghevar, jalebi and the city's traditional mithai shops.

• Consider a guided old-city food walk to enjoy the street food with local knowledge and confidence.

How to plan your food exploring

Eating well in Udaipur takes no great planning, but a little local knowledge helps you find the freshest street stalls, the best thali houses and the rooftop cafes with the finest views and lets you weave the food around your sightseeing. By private car with a driver and, if you wish, a guided food walk through the old city, you can enjoy the best of Udaipur's cuisine with ease and confidence.

Udaipur is one of the jewels of Rajasthan and fits beautifully into a wider trip through the region and the Golden Triangle, as our one week North India itinerary guide maps out a route taking in the great cities and sights.

Want your Udaipur trip planned, with the sightseeing, the stays and the best food experiences all sorted around you? Message us on WhatsApp and Experience My India will build it for you.

What to expect

A culinary visit to Udaipur is a rich and varied delight. You can expect to feast on hearty Rajasthani thalis and famous dishes like dal baati churma and gatte ki sabzi, to nibble crisp street snacks such as mirchi bada and kachoris in the old-city lanes, to indulge in syrup-soaked sweets like ghevar and jalebi, to sip the creamy, saffron-scented makhaniya lassi and, best of all, to dine on a rooftop with the palaces and lake laid out before you at sunset.

With its royal Rajasthani cuisine, its lively street food, its glorious sweets and its unbeatable lake-view dining, Udaipur is a wonderful city for food lovers and tasting its flavours is as much a part of the experience as seeing its sights. Whether you eat simply in a local thali house or splendidly on a heritage rooftop, the food of Udaipur will be a highlight of your trip.

Plan your trip with us

A visit to Udaipur, with its food experiences woven into a wider Rajasthan trip, is easiest and most enjoyable when the travel, the stays, the guide and the sightseeing are all arranged for you. That is what we do, a comfortable private car and an experienced driver, a knowledgeable guide to show you the city and its flavours, well-chosen stays and the whole trip planned around you, with food walks and the best rooftop tables arranged if you wish.

Tell us your dates and group size and we will price it honestly around your standard rather than a fixed figure. You can combine Udaipur with the classic circuit on our Golden Triangle tours and we can build it all within our wider Delhi Agra Tour Packages.

Related guides

• New Delhi tour: the capital's imperial landmarks.

• Old Delhi tour: the Red Fort, Jama Masjid and Chandni Chowk.

• Delhi day tour: the best of the capital in a day.

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