First of all, just to make sure we’re on the same page: I’m talking about the IKEA “restaurant,” not the “bistro.” The one by the entrance that serves meatballs, not the one by the exit that serves hot dogs.
Second, obviously it was never fine dining or anything, but it was pretty tasty and a decent value, by the standards of a college student.
Anyway, part of of it might’ve been the novelty (not many other places to get Swedish food around here) wearing off, but I think they’ve also been cutting some corners. Sometimes they’re out of potatoes and/or lingonberry jam to go with the meatballs and give you mixed vegetables instead, for example. Also, I think the potatoes themselves have gotten cheaper-tasting, somehow. I’ve been trying to look up the restaurant menu from a decade ago to compare, and I’ve noticed things like how they used to garnish your meatball plate with parsley to show they cared, which they don’t bother to do anymore.
They also lowered the selection and (especially) raised the prices on their Easter, Midsommar, and Julbord (Christmas) smörgåsbord events. It’s like $10 more per person than it used to be, and IIRC they got rid of the smoked salmon, among other things.
I’m not even trans, but I used to live near an IKEA and would go just to eat at their restaurant and then leave without buying anything else.
(I don’t do it anymore both because I moved across town and because their food got worse. 🙁)
i am a food snob but i only ate there once and was disappointed. what was good?
First of all, just to make sure we’re on the same page: I’m talking about the IKEA “restaurant,” not the “bistro.” The one by the entrance that serves meatballs, not the one by the exit that serves hot dogs.
Second, obviously it was never fine dining or anything, but it was pretty tasty and a decent value, by the standards of a college student.
Anyway, part of of it might’ve been the novelty (not many other places to get Swedish food around here) wearing off, but I think they’ve also been cutting some corners. Sometimes they’re out of potatoes and/or lingonberry jam to go with the meatballs and give you mixed vegetables instead, for example. Also, I think the potatoes themselves have gotten cheaper-tasting, somehow. I’ve been trying to look up the restaurant menu from a decade ago to compare, and I’ve noticed things like how they used to garnish your meatball plate with parsley to show they cared, which they don’t bother to do anymore.
(source from 2010)
They also got rid of the Princess Cake! I found this while looking up what it was called, so clearly I’m not the only one who’s noticed the decline: https://www.mashed.com/1304386/ikeas-restaurant-just-isnt-as-good-as-it-used-to-be/
They also lowered the selection and (especially) raised the prices on their Easter, Midsommar, and Julbord (Christmas) smörgåsbord events. It’s like $10 more per person than it used to be, and IIRC they got rid of the smoked salmon, among other things.