IKEA Restaurant & Cafe, Midtown - Visited November 2015

Even though today I ate out at lunch with co-workers, I knew we would be eating out as well for dinner, but this time it would just be my wife and myself as we dined at the new IKEA restaurant before exploring the massive store they just opened at Forest Park and Vandeventer in Midtown by SLU. We arrived shortly before 5:00 pm and the spacious parking lot in front of the store had plenty of open spaces and we were able to park between D-2 and D-3, fairly close to the entrance. They located the restaurant right at the top of the escalator after you ascend to the upper level, so it is quite easy to enter the store and eat a meal first before following the lengthy illuminated maze through the store.

When you first enter the restaurant they have the meal choices displayed on screens by the entrance, but they change the panels so quickly you cannot read what all is there! It is easier to just walk up to the serving line to see what they have.

The line forms at the far right with the line serving the hot food being in the back. While you are in the line you can pick up a drink (water, milk, etc.) or a previously prepared refrigerated entree (wrap, sandwich, salad, etc.) My wife decided to order the salmon with Hollandaise sauce and I ordered the chicken meatballs. We had already picked up one slice of the Chocolate Overload cake while we were in line that we were going to share. Once I saw the size of my chicken meatballs with potatoes, I realized that with my small lunch at P. F. Chang's I would want a little more to eat so I went back and grabbed the marinated salmon wrap as well. Amazingly, the meatballs at $4.99 plus the wrap at $3.99 together cost less than the $9.50 I spent at P. F. Chang's for my nanofabricated serving of spicy chicken!

We carried our trays back to the very large and roomy dining area and picked a seat by the large windows so we could gaze out at the parking lot and the nearby SLU campus. The area was pretty empty but there were some people eating including a few families enjoying the very child friendly dining area. It is not a fancy, but a very functional area with plenty of space between tables.

The chicken meatballs themselves were good but really nothing all that special, but the gravy made them much more flavorful. The mashed potatoes were standard issue cafeteria potatoes and the lingonberry jam tasted like slightly more tart cranberries. My wife's salmon was actually better, primarily because of the Hollandaise sauce and also the unusual potato and broccoli medallion that came with it. It was quite enjoyable, whatever all they put in it. I also enjoyed the marinated salmon wrap which had a strong dill flavor to it. The Chocolate Overload cake was a good rich ending to the meal, although the mousse was more of a pudding than a mousse.

It was a fun little excursion to dine there and then afterwards be able to roam their acres of home furnishings. You get a good "flavor" of Sweden from both the food and the styling of their products.

Food Quality & Dining Experience

Dining + "Shopping" + Following the IKEA Maze