Bargarh is a working district town, not a culinary destination, and eating out means joining locals at the no-frills restaurants and dhabas clustered around the bus stand and the main market. The food is firmly rooted in western Odia cooking: rice is the staple, served with dal, a simple vegetable curry, and often a piece of fried or curried freshwater fish from the Mahanadi. Dalma — lentils slow-cooked with vegetables and finished with a tempering of mustard, dried red chilli, and grated coconut — is the defining dish of Odisha, and a good bowl of it here costs almost nothing.
Sweets are taken seriously. The town has several mithai shops selling chhena-based sweets — rasagolla, chhena poda (a caramelised cottage-cheese cake baked over charcoal), and khaja, the multi-layered flaky pastry soaked in syrup that is the traditional offering at Odishan temples. Morning hours are the best time to find freshly made sweets and savoury snacks such as dahi vada and aloo chop.
There are no restaurants aiming at a tourist clientele, and menus in English are rare. Point at what looks good, or ask for a thali — the standard set meal — which is always available and always filling.