Food on Eurostar: What to Eat and Drink on the Train

Updated: 5 October 2026

The food situation on Eurostar is one of the clearest points of difference between the ticket classes. In Standard, you go to the bar buffet car and buy what they have — a serviceable range of snacks and hot drinks. In Plus (formerly Standard Premier), a light meal and drinks are brought to your seat. In Premier (formerly Business Premier), it’s a fine-dining menu.

For a two-hour train journey, how much this matters depends on what time of day you’re travelling. A 9am departure from London with a decent breakfast inside you and nothing until Paris lunch? Standard is fine. A 7am departure heading to a business meeting where you haven’t eaten? Plus starts to look very sensible.

Here’s what to expect in each class, and whether it’s worth bringing your own food.

Standard: The Bar Buffet Car

Every Eurostar train has a bar buffet car, now branded Eurostar Café, and it’s open to all Standard passengers throughout the journey. It sells:

Hot drinks:

• Tea and coffee — standard espresso-based options (flat white, cappuccino, latte, Americano)
• Hot chocolate
• Prices typically £2.60–£3.90 per drink

Cold drinks:

• Water, soft drinks, fruit juice
• Beer (typically a lager, sometimes a Belgian option) — around £5.50–£5.70
• Wine by the small bottle — £6 for an 18.7cl bottle, £8 for sparkling
• Spirits in miniature bottles

Food:

• Sandwiches and wraps (usually 3–5 options — a chicken, something vegetarian, possibly a prawn or smoked salmon option)
• Salads and snack boxes
• Pastries and sweet snacks
• Crisps and chocolate

Prices: Expect to pay £6.30–£6.90 for a baguette, flatbread or hot dish, £2.20–£3.70 for a snack. Broadly in line with an airport food outlet — not cheap, but not offensive.

The bar buffet is physically a standing-order counter in a converted carriage. On busy trains — particularly Friday mornings and Monday afternoons — a queue can develop. If you want a coffee at the start of the journey, it’s worth going early rather than at the point when everyone else has the same idea. By the middle of the journey on a full train, the queue can be 10–15 minutes.

Practical tip for Standard passengers: The selection at the bar buffet is limited. If you want specific food — a particular dietary preference, or just something better than a basic wrap — buy at the station before you board. St Pancras has good food options, including Pret a Manger, a bakery, and several other outlets in the main concourse. Bring it through security in your bag. The Eurostar baggage allowance guide confirms that there is no restriction on bringing food through — it goes through the X-ray like everything else, but no restrictions on type or quantity.

Eurostar Plus Menu: The Meal Service

Plus includes a light meal and drinks served at your seat on routes to and from London. On other routes, Plus passengers choose light bites from Eurostar Café instead.

What’s included, per Eurostar:

• A choice of two dishes
• Breakfast on departures until 10:14; a choice of dishes from 10:15 onwards (typically bowl food)
• Drinks: hot and cold drinks, and on later departures a soft drink, wine or beer, plus tea or coffee

The menu changes seasonally, and Eurostar publishes the current Plus menu on its site. Vegetarian meals can be requested up to 24 hours before departure, other special meals up to 48 hours. Eurostar’s current catering is provided in partnership with a chef or food partner (this has changed over the years — they’ve worked with various names in British and French food). The quality is consistently above airline catering and below a mid-range restaurant, which is about where you’d hope it would be for a two-hour train journey.

I’ve eaten the Plus meal on several journeys and it’s always been properly cooked. The dish is generally warm and reasonably substantial — not a tiny airline portion. A glass of wine with lunch on the way to Paris feels exactly right.

Is Eurostar Plus worth it for the food alone?
If the price premium over Standard is small — which it sometimes is, particularly on morning and evening trains when demand for Premier is moderate — it’s almost always worth it. You’d pay £10–15 for a comparable meal and drink at a station café. If Plus is £25–35 more than Standard on a specific booking, the meal broadly covers the cost. Check at the time of booking.

Eurostar Premier: The Full Dining Experience

Premier is where the food genuinely shifts into a different category: at-seat fine dining served by a dedicated onboard team, with menus built around the time of day, from breakfast to dinner.

What Premier includes, per Eurostar:

• Freshly made amuse-bouches
• A seasonal main course
• A dessert
• Drinks throughout the journey, from tea, coffee and soft drinks to beer, wine and champagne

Eurostar publishes the current Premier menu on its site.

The Premier coaches are calmer than Standard, with 2+1 seating on the e320 trains (the same seats as Plus). Service is personal — your food and drinks are brought individually, not via a trolley. The meal is the centrepiece of the journey rather than an afterthought.

For business travellers, the meal is part of the overall Premier proposition alongside the lounge access, flexible ticketing, and priority gates. See the Eurostar seat classes guide for the full comparison.

Drinks: What’s Available in Each Class

You can buy alcohol at Eurostar Café in any class. For alcohol you bring yourself, Eurostar’s alcohol policy sets a per-person limit for drinking on board: four 440 ml cans or bottles of beer, or one 750 ml bottle of wine. You can’t drink large bottles of spirits on board, and Eurostar reserves the right to confiscate excessive amounts. Unopened bottles packed to take to your destination are fine.

Bringing Your Own Food

You can bring your own food on Eurostar. There’s no restriction on carrying food through security (it goes through the X-ray). Drinks in sealed containers are fine.

What makes sense to bring:

• A better sandwich or meal from St Pancras if you want more choice than the buffet
• A bottle of wine (within the on-board consumption guidelines — you can open one bottle at your seat; bringing back bottles in your bags is fine and duty-free limits apply on return)
• Snacks for children, specific dietary needs, or if the buffet options won’t work for you

What to note: Eurostar’s limit on alcohol you bring to drink on board is four 440 ml cans or bottles of beer, or one 750 ml bottle of wine, per person. Large bottles of spirits can’t be drunk on the train. On ski trains and sports-event specials there’s no alcohol at all: none is sold, and any you bring is confiscated at check-in.

Food at Gare du Nord and Brussels-Midi

A few notes on food at the main arrival stations:

Gare du Nord, Paris: The station has a range of food outlets — some decent brasseries and cafes within the station itself, and the surrounding neighbourhood (10th arrondissement) has excellent options within a short walk. Eric Kayser bakeries are near the station. The surrounding streets have traditional brasseries if you want lunch immediately on arrival.

Brussels-Midi: The station itself has limited options and the immediate area around Brussels-Midi is not the best part of the city. Get on the Metro into the city centre and eat there. The Grand Place neighbourhood has restaurants at every price point within 10–15 minutes of the station.

Amsterdam Centraal: Much better immediately outside — several decent food options in the station and around the Stationsplein. The city centre is immediately accessible.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is there food on Eurostar Standard class?
Yes — a bar buffet car sells sandwiches, snacks, hot drinks, and alcohol. It’s available to all Standard passengers throughout the journey.

Does Eurostar Plus include food?
Yes. On routes to and from London, Plus includes a light meal (a choice of two dishes) and drinks served at your seat. Plus was formerly called Standard Premier.

Can I bring my own food on Eurostar?
Yes. There’s no restriction on bringing food through security and eating it on the train. Food goes through the X-ray like everything else.

How much does food cost at the Eurostar bar buffet?
Baguettes, flatbreads and hot dishes are typically £6.30–£6.90. Hot drinks £2.60–£3.90. Beer and cider £5.50–£5.70; wine £6–8 per serving.

Is the food in Eurostar Premier good?
Yes — noticeably better than Plus, which is itself better than Eurostar Café. Premier provides at-seat fine dining with drinks including champagne. Premier was formerly called Business Premier.

Can I drink alcohol I’ve brought on board?
Yes, within limits. Eurostar allows each passenger to drink up to four 440 ml cans or bottles of beer, or one 750 ml bottle of wine, that they’ve brought themselves. Large bottles of spirits can’t be drunk on board. The exception is ski trains and sports-event specials, where no alcohol is allowed at all.

For the full picture on Eurostar — routes, check-in, tickets, baggage, and seat classes — see the Eurostar travel guide.