Question: Ikea Restaurant?

[glmorgan03]

So, this coming weekend Ikea is advertising an "all you can eat" crayfish (crawfish) festival. The Tampa Trib also commented on the delicious (? Really?) food offerings and tasty meatballs. Has anyone out there ever eaten at the Ikea restaurant? Did you try the Crayfish fest last year? Any input would be appreciated.

[glmorgan03]

Thanks for the replies everyone! We finally went and tried the Ikea Cafe and the meatballs were quite good. We skipped the crawfish.

Wish I knew about the IC sharks thing earlier...would have gone in a minute. I am a sucker for lobsters in any form. :)

[hamrhdz]

Though I have not eaten here, I was tempted to check out the crawfish fest. Florida spiny lobster is sometimes called crawfish, but I'm assuming they are referring to mudbugs. Mudbugs are out of season, so I'm assuming these are frozen, not my idea of good.
I think I'm going to ICSharks for their lobster fest.

http://www.icsharks.com/SeafoodMarket...

[watch me eat]

No visit to an Ikea store would be complete without a stop in their restaurant! I have noticed that their menu has become more Americanized over the years with less and less Scandinavian foods, but still it's always cheap and good! And if you go on a weekday morning, they give you breakfast for free!

[queencru]

I have eaten at several and they are all quite good. The prices are very reasonable, which is a huge plus.

[sarahloves2eat]

I love their Swedish Meatballs! I've been eating there since I was a small kid. It was a treat when Dad would take us for the long ride out to Ikea and we'd always end up eating there.
The new one they opened in Orlando is a lot bigger and offers a lot more choices than the one in PIttsburgh did when I was little. I was happy to see how cheap it is and the meatballs are just as good as when I was a kid. I love the lingonberry sauce too.
The crayfish thing comes as a surprise to me though. I can't imagine going htere and ordering anything but the meatballs.

[holladay]

I agree, why would you go to Ikea for crayfish when you could have those wonderful meatballs slathered with lingonberries instead? :)

[travelnfood]

just wanted to point out that the festival is 8/20

[Miss E]

I have eaten at many IKEA cafeterias, and they're all the same: quite good! I used to get the meatballs, which come with mashed potatoes, gravy and lingonberry sauce, and they were always yummy in a school cafeteria kind of way. Now I get the smoked salmon plate, and while it isn't the finest gravlax I've ever had, once again, it's quite good, and did I mention cheap? With an always fresh little mesclun salad? So while I haven't experienced the crawfish festival myself--I know it's a big tradition in Sweden at this time of year--I would be game, because IKEA food has never let me down.
P.S. The desserts, which are mostly slices of cake that can be bought whole in the frozen section, are a cut above Sara Lee. I'm addicted to the Dahm cake, which has toffee.

[Old E.]

I like it too. i have no idea why. Sweedish meatballs are great. So is that sparkling apple cider drink. Everything is a little better than you would ever expect.

[Big Bad Voodoo Lou]

I love the Swedish meatballs, with egg noodles and cold lingonberry juice. That's good eats. No idea about how good the crawfish is, but I have to admit I would be intrigued if the Orlando IKEA has the same thing.

[Sandwich_Sister]

You took the words out of my mouth, Lou. I was skeptical eating there the first time but after eating the swedish meatballs and the logonberry juice I was a fan.