Ikea cafeteria & packaged foods

[peanutgirl]

No Velveeta. Just add a few eggs as a binder and a little mayonnaise mixed with the cream of mushroom soup. Sprinkle with crushed potato chips.

Hmmm... sounds like something to make for the next pot luck. I think I'm making it!

[Jason Perlow]

Peanutgirl, I think you need to make one right away and photograph it.

I'm thinking in addition to the crushed potato chip crust we use Durkee onions, for maximum white trash effect.

Edited May 24, 2006 by Jason Perlow (log)

[peanutgirl]

Peanutgirl, I think you need to make one right away and photograph it.

I'm thinking in addition to the crushed potato chip crust we use Durkee onions, for maximum white trash effect.

←

Sounds like a plan! When I make it, and I will... I will definitely photograph it. I am sadly not in possesion of any Ikea Meatballs at the moment though .

[Chef Metcalf]

Has anyone tried the Ikea copenhagens?

Highly addictive.

[chickenlady]

...ate at the IKEA in Long Beach

←

Where is there an IKEA in Long Beach?? There wasn't one when I was there!!

We used to buy Hafi Gooseberry and Cloudberry preserves for really cheap when we went to IKEA. It was a couple dollars per vs. the nearly $10 our local gourmet sells it for. Of course that several years ago. Was that in Torrance?? We'd always also stop in for lunch when we shopped, but that was when I was a vegetarian, so I've never had their meatballs. I hear there's an IKEA in Montreal, but, what with crowds, traffic & children, we haven't been there yet. Actually, children may be the best reason to shop there...

[Jason Perlow]

More Ikea photos:

The blue and yellow labyrinth of Medium Density Fiberboard Furniture hell. All it needs is a good Minotaur or Rancor beast and it would be complete.

Don't miss these cookies, whatever the hell they are called.

I think what they are trying to tell you is that you should have the meatballs.

The menu.

The Cafe was very busy that day.

The Newark location is great for plane watching.

Rachel thought the mac and cheese was from Stouffer's.

Salmon Plate

The soup of the day, a vegetable minestrone, was very good.

The signature meatballs. Yum.

There's something very Horn and Hardartian about this place.

Ligonberry Drink. I like to call this Bug Juice.

Daim Cake. It was much enjoyed by all.

The Apple Cake. Also very good.

Ligonberry Cake. Eh.

A view from the cafe. Lost Ark of the Covenant, Aisle 34.

What we came for. You didn't think I was gonna buy any of that cheap Swedish furniture, did you?

Get your fill of Swedish Candy.

And pickled herring.

Edited June 4, 2006 by Jason Perlow (log)

[srhcb]

Too bad you couldn't get a picture of the Ikea store with a saab hybrid parked out front!

SB (that would have been an urban-trendies wet dream)

[rlibkind]

The Newark location is great for plane watching.

←

The view is of Newark airport, but the Ikea locaion is in Elizabeth. The airport is roughly 1/3 in Elizabeth, 2/3 in Newark.

[Jason Perlow]

I also strongly recommend the Svenska Lantchips potato chips they sell at the Cafe. Truly excellent.

http://www.svenskalantchips.se/Nyheter/sta...p?ttWCM=1,1,1,0

Edited June 4, 2006 by Jason Perlow (log)

[Pontormo]

Cf. the article linked in the first post of this short thread on Ikea.

[rlibkind]

15 Swedish meatballs with mashed potatoes and lingonberry sauce, $4.99.

Half a rack of ribs with cornbread and fries, $7.99 (Wednesdays after 4 pm).

Pasta in veggie tomato sauce, $1.99.

Scrambled eggs, bacon and home fries, $0.99.

Hot dogs, $0.50.

Really, does anyone do cheap, industrial food better than Ikea? Sure, it's virtually all factory-made, and those meatballs are the same ones you can buy bagged in the Swedish Food Mart at the exit. But it's nutritious, tasty and cheap.

Even the Swedish food mart for prepping at home excels. The dethawed Chinese crayfish that I'd pay $11.99 a pound for cooked at the Reading Terminal Market are $5.99 for a 2 kg box (4.4 pounds). The local Swedish American Chamber of Commerce holds its annual crayfish fest at Ikea's restaurant. The savings are nearly as dramatic on the smoked salmon and gravlax. And if Russ & Daughter or any Eastern European ethnic store isn't easily available, it's hard to find a better herring selection, even if its jarred rather than prepared in the back room.

[rlibkind]

Re: the crayfish cited above. It's the thawed Chinese crayfish that cost $11.99/pound at the RTM vs. the $5.99 for a 2 kg box of still frozen crayfish at Ikea.