592340 Sat Jan 31 02:29:43 -0800 2009 30 32 Chains 0 4374939 I do. As big as a pain in the butt it usually is to park there....sometimes I hit it up just for the meatballs. They are so GOOD!!!! And it's, what, five bucks for 10 meatballs, potatoes, veggies, a roll, lingonberry sauce AND a drink?? In these times of recession, you can't ask for a better deal! Sat Jan 31 02:29:43 -0800 2009 212582 schrutefarms 1 4374958 What do they call Swedish meatballs in Sweden? Plus I doubt they eat them anyhow. Same as chop suey was invented here (America) and no one knows it in China Sat Jan 31 03:26:29 -0800 2009 4374939 143858 gafferx 2 4374997 Köttbullar http://www.sweden.se/templates/cs/CommonPage____12926.aspx http://www.wisegeek.com/what-are-swedish-meatballs.htm Smörgåsbord, on the other hand, is also traditional, but something which has been in decline in Stockholm and eaten primarily by tourists now. If I'm starving at Ikea, I'll get an ice cream cone, hot dog, or a children's special, with meatballs. I used to buy the bags of meatballs before I decided to make them myself. What's not to like about meatballs? Most cuisines have a version of it. Kefta. Fishballs. Falafel (ok, not meat, but a ball shaped food). Serve them savoury or tart, on their own or in sauces, over rice or with potatoes, in a sandwich or embellishing a soup, on top of spaghetti, all covered in cheese (I lost my poor meatball, when somebody sneezed). Sat Jan 31 04:41:36 -0800 2009 4374958 224238 Caralien 3 4376879 Hi Yes you are right that meatballs are a cross cultural phenomena. Many cultures figured out that it's a good way to eat meat. I've had kefta in a felafel type sandwich. but just in America so who knows what meat was actually in the kefta. Fishballs in China Town. They're OK For me a conscientious pizzeria can make the best hot meatball parmigian sub and there is one near me. Making good Italian meatballs is an art& science. Up there with making good pho and good pizza Sat Jan 31 22:10:25 -0800 2009 4374997 143858 gafferx 2 4376240 En Sverige det kalle dem kjottballer. (translation: In Sweden they call them meat balls.) And yes they eat them. The ground beef is so lean one has to put butter in a frying pan to make hamburgers. We look around, eat, especially lox and the shrimp open face sandwiches and buy foods to take home (herring, flat bread, jams, cheeses, lox, and ligonberry concentrate.) I just wish there was one closer than a 7 hour drive. Sat Jan 31 16:38:07 -0800 2009 4374958 93538 Passadumkeg 3 4376888 Next time I go there I will ask for the kjottballer to see what happens. You mention lox where they should really call it gravlax Sat Jan 31 22:17:51 -0800 2009 4376240 143858 gafferx 4 4376946 Got me on the gravlox; I just wasn't feeling grav. Forget asking for kjottboller; no one speaks Svenska in US IKEA's Sat Jan 31 23:13:36 -0800 2009 4376888 93538 Passadumkeg 5 4377425 Right. Most of the people working in the San Diego location are Hispanic. Sun Feb 01 08:05:08 -0800 2009 4376946 12123 Cathy 4 4376964 If my memory serves me correctly, the little card calls it gravad lax. Sat Jan 31 23:36:06 -0800 2009 4376888 10996 JK Grence the Cosmic Jester 5 4376968 My memory no longer serves me at all. Sat Jan 31 23:38:03 -0800 2009 4376964 93538 Passadumkeg 5 4377082 wikipedia entry sez--->> Gravlax or gravad lax (Swedish), gravad laks (Danish), gravlaks (Norwegian, Danish), graavilohi (Finnish), graflax (Icelandic) is a Scandinavian dish consisting of raw salmon cured in salt, sugar, and dill. Gravlax is usually served as an appetizer, sliced thinly and accompanied by hovmästarsås (also known as gravlaxsås), a dill and mustard sauce, either on bread of some kind, or with boiled potatoes Sun Feb 01 03:39:57 -0800 2009 4376964 143858 gafferx 6 4377107 I was just funnin'. I lived in Norway and Finland for 10 years and speak fluent Norwegen. I ulearne to make my own gravlaks in Norway and still do. We bought our eldest son's crib and baby stuff at the Oslo IKEA in 1981. As Headmaster of a Diplomatic school in Helsinki, we supplied furnished housing to teachers and I bought it all at.....IKEA. We we returned to Maine and bought a house. I borrowed a lobsterman buddy's big pick up truck, drove down to the IKEA in Elizabeth (the closest ant the time.), rented a big U-haul trailer and filled up the truck and trailer w/ a houseful of furniture in 1 trip. Sun Feb 01 04:32:09 -0800 2009 4377082 93538 Passadumkeg 1 4375585 I tend to agree. The deals are hard to beat and you can fill up for cheap. I adore the lingon berry juice. Sat Jan 31 10:52:54 -0800 2009 4374939 190434 raidar 1 4376110 Meatballs are not bad. Breakfast is one of the vilest things on the planet. Sat Jan 31 15:17:29 -0800 2009 4374939 154102 Harters 2 4815606 ooh yes. I had their bfast once when I was there just before opening. AWFUL! Mon Jun 29 12:45:35 -0700 2009 4376110 65780 jujuthomas 1 4376209 The meatballs are good. Not sure if I want to know what is in them though... Sat Jan 31 16:18:58 -0800 2009 4374939 236136 AndrewK512 2 4809108 according to the packaging on the frozen ones, it's pretty much meat and spices in the meatballs themselves. The sauce is a different story. Fri Jun 26 12:44:41 -0700 2009 4376209 86221 lulubelle 1 4376241 I am dense, I admit. Is this the assemble-your-self furniture store? meatballs:Ikea::hotdogs:Coscto? Sat Jan 31 16:38:18 -0800 2009 4374939 89401 chownewbie 2 4376802 It is the self-assembly furniture store, yes. They have two different eateries: There's the full restaurant, the one with the Swedish meatballs, at the halfway point of the store. You see, the store is laid out in labyrinthine format so you see everything unless you take a shortcut. The restaurant acts as a sort of intermission so you can relax after wandering the showroom, and collect your thoughts before proceeding into the main merchandise area. Once you've paid for everything, on your way out there's the Bistro, which sells hot dogs for fifty cents, cinnamon rolls for $1 (or six for $4), frozen yogurt, and other snack type things. Swedish meatballs : IKEA :: Free samples : Costco 50¢ hot dog : IKEA :: $1.50 hot dog and drink : Costco Sat Jan 31 21:26:25 -0800 2009 4376241 10996 JK Grence the Cosmic Jester 1 4381968 I don't go for lunch but did go for 99 cent breakfast once. It was OK, but did not come with toast. And I thought the coffee was weak. But I do get a couple packages of the oat cookies dipped in dark choc on the way out. Mon Feb 02 18:05:03 -0800 2009 4374939 169994 pengcast 2 4383568 I know I can't leave without having some pear cider! Tue Feb 03 09:31:22 -0800 2009 4381968 152043 TampaAurora 1 4390884 Since I recently heard they will babysit my kid in the ball-room for 45 minutes, and also learned they have a shuttle bus from the subway, and now having read this thread reminding me there might be some interesting eats there... yes, I am tempted to go to IKEA just for lunch! The kid can eat some ginger thins on the way home ;) Thu Feb 05 13:23:49 -0800 2009 4374939 12120 julesrules 2 4391102 Hi Julesrules, just a heads up! The "small land" at the Ikea in Etobicoke is currently undergoing renovations and is closed. I made the mistake of going there counting on dropping my kids off for some play time while I did some window shopping, we were all very diappointed! Thu Feb 05 14:21:15 -0800 2009 4390884 43422 cheesymama 3 4392472 Thanks for the tip cheesymama Fri Feb 06 06:00:39 -0800 2009 4391102 12120 julesrules 1 4391086 Every once in a while I get feeling a bit homesick for the old Mensa back at the university in Munich. An Ikea opened nearby a few years ago and I was -thrilled- to discover that they had almost perfectly reduplicated the experience: cafeteria setup, staff speaking no known language (in germany it was usually romanian or polish, here I haven't a clue), almost no choice of food, uniform brown tint to everything and covered with sweet gravy, uncomfortable seats, and bus your own trays. Everything except having to buy a little colored token beforehand to use to pay. So yes I do go to Ikea just for lunch. Or more accurately, for the nostalgia. Thu Feb 05 14:17:31 -0800 2009 4374939 25310 Chuckles the Clone 1 4391118 My wife and I have "smuggled" bottles of white wine in the Elizabeth, NJ store. We sit and have our shrimp smorbrod and gravlax and watch the planes take off from Newark Airport and dream about to where we'd like to be flying. It was also a good break from my mom and we would wax nostalgia for NooorrrWAY! Thu Feb 05 14:25:09 -0800 2009 4374939 93538 Passadumkeg 2 4393416 That might be the cutest thing I have ever heard. Fri Feb 06 10:35:57 -0800 2009 4391118 212582 schrutefarms 3 4402695 I was trying to think of a way to write in words my reaction to this Passadumkeg, and I think schrutefarms said it perfectly. Mon Feb 09 19:34:01 -0800 2009 4393416 190434 raidar 1 4392520 Ikea occasionally does a free breakfast promo which should be AVOIDED AT ALL COSTS. Really, it's worse than the Denny's Free Grand Slam Breakfast promo: lines, crowds, one big mess. I usually stick with the hotdogs, since Costco stopped doing Hebrew Nationals and raised the price. Fri Feb 06 06:24:19 -0800 2009 4374939 12359 monkeyrotica 1 4785578 IKEA is one of the biggest slippery slopes the world has ever known. I went to the Sports Authority in Paramus to get some new rollerblades, saw IKEA next door and, feeling hungry, decided to just quickly go by the "marketplace" counter for a dog. I accidentally parked on the level closer to the cafe, though, and thinking that I might as well sit down while I eat, had a plate of lox there, instead. On the way out, I bought a cheese grater, fish-shaped ice cube trays, a picture frame, herring in dill sauce and various other things that I did not really need. I *meant* to go there just for lunch, but IKEA had other plans for me. :) Thu Jun 18 15:00:58 -0700 2009 4374939 64215 cimui 1 4817132 I don't have one close enough for lunch breaks. But we always stop at Ikea when driving between NC & NY for a coffee break. Clean facilities, close to the interstate, fun people watching, ok coffee and those sweet rolls... Tue Jun 30 00:23:02 -0700 2009 4374939 111267 meatn3