Ikea

Ah Ikea, a great place to get some build-it-yourself furniture at reasonable prices. In fact, there is a lot of Ikea furniture in my house right now. It looks pretty good and it didn't cost me an arm and a leg! However, don't ever try to move it, most of it won't survive. Unfortunately, the value of Ikea furniture is a result of low density particle board with veneers held together by glue and funny-looking screws. So tonight, the whole family heads out to Ikea in search for food. Wait. Food? What about the furniture? Well, we actually went to Ikea to eat at the cafeteria. Isn't that the home of the $1.00 breakfast? Why yes it is! Honestly, if it weren't $1.00, I probably would take a pass. I really didn't like it. However, I've never eaten dinner at Ikea. Ever.

As we arrived at the Coquitlam store, we decided to park at the upper level parking lot. Upon entering, we passed by the fast food stand and the smell of fresh cinnamon buns filled the air. I usually get a hot dog on my way out of Ikea. Was this a precursor to later eats? Stay tuned. We headed up to the cafeteria and took a look at the specials. This month, they had a Chicken and Rib special for $10.00. Viv seemed to have her heart set on that one. So, I decided to get the Swedish Meatball Combo which included a salad and drink for $6.50 Yes, you read that right $6.50! For the kiddies, we got some Mac n Cheese which included a drink as well. That was only $2.00. You can definitely see the prices are very reasonable, it is probably in hopes that someone would end up buying a Lack shelf or Malm bedside table.

Prices aside, the food ain't bad. The Swedish meatballs were good. There was enough seasoning and they were moist. The lingonberry sauce was a nice sweet compliment to the meatballs. I've never thought of putting a fruit jelly on meatballs before. Viv's meal was pretty decent as well. The short rib was super tender and wasn't over seasoned. Plenty of meat flavour here. The chicken leg was a bit overcooked; but Viv just ended up using my leftover gravy to moisten the chicken meat. The kiddies seemed to enjoy the mac n cheese. I took some bites of it despite the protest from my son. Noodles were very soft and it was indeed cheesy, if not a bit doughy. Hey, it was 2 bucks! Our total bill with tax came to under $20. With all the money I had leftover, I was in the mood to spend more at Ikea. I bet that's music to their ears... However, I didn't go buy a chest of drawers or an end table. Rather, I revisited the fast food stand on my way out.

That's right, I picked up a hot dog for 50 cents and a cinnamon bun for $1.40. You really can't get better than that. For the price of parking in downtown for 6 minutes, I got a hot dog. Well, I'm not going to talk about it much, it's ground up "you don't want to know" nestled in a bun. Enough said. However, the cinnamon bun was pretty good. It's definitely not as buttery or moist as CinnZeo; but it held it's own. Plenty of cinnamon taste and just enough sweetness. The kids seem to really like it. Duh, of course they did. I let Viv eat most of it since I already had dinner and a hot dog.

I was pleasantly surprised at my dinner at Ikea. It wasn't bad. For the price I paid, I don't think I could've expected much more. So, the next time I need to get a chest of drawers, I'll take a side of meatballs (and maybe a hot dog too) to go with it.

The Good:
- Cheap!
- Food ain't bad
- You can eat and leave with a chest of drawers in the same trip

The Bad:
- Food was lukewarm
- You can eat and leave with a chest of drawers in the same trip

Ikea Restaurant
1000 Lougheed Highway
Coquitlam, B.C.
604-636-1000
ikea.ca