Rourkela's food scene reflects its origins as a planned industrial city — there is a sprinkle of north Indian, south Indian, Bengali, and Odia kitchens, all reasonably priced. The standout is Madhuvan in Civil Township, a long-running vegetarian thali restaurant where a full plate with three vegetables, dal, rice, rotis and a sweet runs to around 200 rupees. For Bengali and Odia fish curries, head to Vatika.
Pure-veg North Indian travellers should look out for Renuka, near Sector 2 market, where the dal makhani and stuffed parathas are well above average. Street food clusters around Bisra Chowk in the evening, with chaat carts, momos, and gupchup (the Odia version of pani puri) selling till late. For chai and Bengali sweets there are several decent shops on Main Road in Uditnagar.