Ever wondered how many meals The Ghan chefs plate on every all-inclusive rail journey? And what goes into the planning and preparation on board? Ahead of The Ghan’s 2026 season start in March, Journey Beyond General Manager Food & Beverage Malcolm Bendrau discusses the development of the new menu and how the destinations are reflected in the dishes.
The Ghan’s 2026 season commenced on 8 March, but the planning and preparation for the annual menu update took place long before the first luxury rail journey between Adelaide, Alice Springs and Darwin rolled out of the station.
It starts with a grain of inspiration, fresh seasonal ingredients and local providores, tracking through to a range of dishes that incorporate a sense of place and storytelling.
On The Ghan’s menu for 2026
During The Ghan’s season, chefs will prepare and plate around 3,000 dishes on each journey.
This year, Bendrau introduced a brand-new menu for The Ghan that emphasises modern, clean, visually appealing and flavour-focused dishes.
It follows new menus for Journey Beyond’s Great Southern and Vintage Rail Journeys brands, which have received overwhelmingly positive feedback, with refreshed dining options aboard Indian Pacific to follow.
Bendrau reveals that 93 per cent of The Ghan’s menu was updated with a focus on the comfort food guests know and love, but with a twist.
Highlights include beef fillet with beetroot hummus, maple-baked butternut pumpkin and truffle sponge; pork belly with crackling, apple and parsnip purée, pepperberry red wine jus and rainbow heirloom carrots; and beef tartare with mustard foam, pickled radish, parmesan crisp and capers.
For sweet treats, travellers on The Ghan can expect a cronut dessert with salted caramel, grilled banana and vanilla bean ice-cream, or an egg-free French toast with stone fruit compote, pistachio ice-cream and coral tuille.
It’s an evocative menu sample that traverses texture, flavour and colour on your plate, deliberately appealing to all senses.
“This year, we elevated The Ghan’s menu by refining the plating and presentation to create dishes that are appealing to the eye,” Bendrau says.
“The incorporation of fresh, seasonal, local and native ingredients set the tone, and then I look at current trends. This mix allows me the freedom to be creative – it’s challenging but rewarding when the menu works out.
“Lastly, I have put a large emphasis on nutritional value and portion sizes to ensure you are never left hungry, but also remember the dish you just enjoyed for a very long time.”
Procurement to plate
Bendrau says the procurement process takes time and patience, navigating supply chain challenges, seasonality and sustainable farming and harvesting practices, but ultimately the result on the plate highlights the sensory journey, too.
“Discovering areas of Australia that are remote but wild, beautiful, and flourishing allows us to showcase the wonders of the untouched landscape,” he said.
“We look at bringing that beauty and wonder onto the train, and this involves understanding the regions, local farming, natural fauna and flora and native ingredients and incorporating this into multiple dishes and beverages on board.
“As with the food, our guests will enjoy multiple beverages from the regions you are travelling through as we bring the outside in.”
Bendrau says catering for each journey is a similarly complex and nuanced process, starting with the procurement and storage of hundreds of thousands of products at the Adelaide Parklands Terminal.
Warehouse and service operator teams then ensure correct catering for guests and crew for each journey before items are loaded into the kitchens, bars and lounges.
With limited storage on board, it’s always a delicate balancing act to provide the right amount of produce to wine and dine guests as the kitchen crew navigate narrow spaces (and each other!) in the galley.
Hosts with the most
Like the journey, preparation keeps the kitchen tracking ahead smoothly. Chef Tess Jackson says a typical day for an onboard chef starts before sunrise with breakfast set-up, often scrambling eggs, frying bacon and slicing fresh fruit at the same time.
This flows into lunch prep, making sure everyone is tidy and organised while working in the small space, which Chef Jackson likens to Tetris, with each service bookended by crew meals shared together.
“By far, the most challenging aspect of being a chef on the train is organisation. The kitchen storage space is very small and we must utilise every space as efficiently as possible,” she says.
“In my interview, I was asked if I’m good at Tetris, and it was only when I started that I realised just how applicable that question was!”
While breakfast and lunch are two-course affairs, dinner can be up to four courses with canapes on arrival. Chef Jackson says this means all hands are on deck for dinner service with careful planning for dietary requirements.
Each kitchen has two to three chefs to prepare and cook for up to 100 guests, plus crew members (chefs prepare more than 180,000 crew meals per year).
“The space on board is tight but well thought-out, and like most things, practice makes perfect. Out on the tracks, the chefs have very long days filled with pressure and adrenaline-filled service, but passion drives and motivates them,” Bendrau says.
“The joy every time our amazing staff engage when delivering a dish or a beverage, and our guests delight in how it looks, smells and tastes, is so important as the most impactful times in our lives make the most vivid and fond memories.
“Hospitality is how you make someone feel, and creating an impactful and lasting memory for our guests that endures for a lifetime is what we strive to achieve.
“Despite having their heads down in service, the chefs still get to see much of the passing landscape and have the joy of making that come to life on a plate,” he says.
Chef Jackson agrees: “We get to see so much of Australia; whether it’s waking up in Western Australia one day and New South Wales a couple of days later, stepping off the train in Darwin or Brisbane or setting up for the Off Train Experiences at Rawlinna, Marla or Alice Springs.”
“We watch the views from the kitchen and get excited to see the sunrises, sunsets and all of the different animals. Personally, waking up in my room as we roll through the Blue Mountains never gets old.”
Ready for your epic rail adventure in 2026?
The Ghan and Indian Pacific 2026 journeys are selling fast; however, there is still availability to hop aboard these iconic rail experiences this year.
Explore more of Australia in depth and in luxury on an all-inclusive, transcontinental rail journey on The Ghan’s Adelaide-Alice Springs-Darwin route, or the Indian Pacific’s Perth-Adelaide-Sydney route, both of which can also be done in reverse.
Travel advisors can book via the Online Booking Engine or phone the Journey Beyond Reservations team on 1800 703 357.
For more information, visit journeybeyondrail.com.au
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