A tasty departure from shopping in a maze
Written: Jul 15 '04
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Smoked salmon; inexpensive organic baby food; children's amenities
Cons: um....that it's a caf? None, really.
The Bottom Line: Following arrows on the floor all day can stir up a hankering for a hunk of imported cheese...you won't be disappointed with taste or selections here.
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| lisandrea's Full Review: IKEA Restaurant |
Well, IKEA has become my favorite store. It started as an infatuation in the late 80's in Pittsburgh when I had to outfit my college dorm...but I don't recall eating anything during that adventure that I didn't extract from my backpack...like maybe a stick of Big Red chewing gum. Has the restaurant always been a part of the scene?
So, from 1990 to 2000...a decade of IKEA was lost on me. Then I entered the shops in Nova (that would be Northern Virginia) at Woodbridge four years ago, and even though I live 3 1/2 hours away from this, the closest IKEA, my love affair draws me back time and again...
But, back to the FOOD! My husband's longing for the IKEA shopping experience is all tied up in the food! Yes, we love the clean line Scandia shopping that can literally eat up 4 hours of our time like an alien encounter, and a stop in at the caf makes that time breeze by all the sweeter.
Literally. The apple pie is dense and delicious. We always get a piece to share & it is not sickeningly sweet or slathered with unnecessary additives so I feel like a good mom giving big bites of it to my son.
The plate of smoked salmons drives my husband nearly giddy! The price is unheard of (on our last trip, though, we noticed it has recently gone up slightly) for lox.
The seasoned crackers used to be free with your meal...now they charge $.25 or some minimal fee. Still, you can get a very good and generous lunch here for less than a trip to the Mickey D's and it's a thousand times better for you!
Last summer they were carrying Earth's Best baby food at a cost cheaper than I could buy it in bulk through my organics co-op, but on this trip they had switched brands & the price went up from $.35 to $.75...still, a decent price for organic baby food. Nice flavors.
Compared to the typical children's menus at other establishments where hotdogs, chicken fingers and mac & cheese are your only options, IKEA offers a meatball platter for kids to include a cranberry-type relish (somebody help me out with what that red berry is called...starts with an "L"...). It's quite tasty.
I might add that in all of our dozen trips to the beautiful box of design called IKEA we have noticed that it is the epitome of the American Melting Pot. You can hear a dozen languages spoken around you while you eat, which adds to the atmosphere. Also, it is a strange phenomenon, but most shoppers are thin, attractive & healthy.
Wait...back to the restaurant.
I thought the servers & cashiers were very friendly & helpful. One cashier helped us with something & gave a sincere you're welcome. Again, this is VERY rare at any other fast food joint but Chick-Fil-A these days (where they are actually heard to utter "My Pleasure!"). For example, the decaf decanter was empty and upon my request there was fresh hot coffee in about 5 minutes. It was quite tasty. My husband envisioned Juan Valdez in the Swiss Alps & tried to figure out the Scandia native coffee concept while I threw logic and reason to the wind and just enjoyed it.
Here's the very best part beyond the tasty healthful light yummy food. This place is KID FRIENDLY in the most sincere way. The colorful plastic ware for children can be purchased just 40 feet away (good marketing, IKEA), as well as the hard plastic adjustable bibs, which hang cleanly on a wall rack. We bought the froggy bibs on one trip and the four sets of plastic ware for $5 on another trip (our home is almost a showhouse for IKEA now...). The wooden highchairs and the plastic booster seats were clean, as were the tables where we all ate together.
After your meal just slide your tray and all of its contents onto caf racks that will be escorted later into the cleaning rooms, but be sure to practice environmental responsibility while you're at it! IKEA makes that easy breezy--tall 5-hole trash receptacles are provided around every turn at the store, including, of course, in the caf. Plastics, paper, aluminum, etc. can all be separated on-site, giving you an "I done good" feeling even as you wipe the corners of your mouth to lap the second floor of maze travels in search of that perfect something you didn't know you needed until you found it.
Also, in the children's section, a separate area of the restaurant, there are low chairs & tables, occasional demonstrations going on during holidays (like face painting over Independence Day weekend), crayons, endless paper and a set-up easel to keep busy bees busy.
Finally, this eating place so perfectly matches the entire feeling and flow of the store you almost miss it if you don't know to look. It blends right in. What should not be forgotten here is that there is also a downstairs place to grab a hot sausage or less light and airy meal. That department also sells imported cheeses & crackers. In every bag of goodies as we head home, we have stashed our newly purchased ginger thins which we gladly devour on the long drive home again.
If you're going to be even within 20 minutes of an IKEA and are staring at Arby's and Burger King as your lunch options, take the detour--get yourself a better meal. Be grateful to be so close! Your stomach & senses will thank you.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
lisandrea
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Location: Virginia
Reviews written: 45
Trusted by: 4 members
About Me:
AP, NFP, WAHM/SAHM but NO SPAM (thank you, Ma'am)! :O)
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