A Taste of Sweden, IKEA Restaurant and Sweden Shop, Rhodes

Care for a meatball?

Has anyone ever managed to leave IKEA a) in under an hour, and b) without buying anything?

Huh, me neither.

The great big escalator at the entrance takes you up to IKEA Land, straight into the oh-so-organised, 'wouldn't this look great, honey?' modern-looking demonstration rooms. Oh the efficient functionality. Oh the cleanness of design. Oh the quirky cheerfulness of 1970s retro designs.


Cooking and eating section

Unsurprisingly, it's the cooking and eating section that I linger in the most.

It seems appropriate then, that I'm here for a food blogger meet-up, organised by David from IKEA and author behind the This is Home website.


A Taste of Sweden food blogger meetup


Ikea restaurant

Our meetup takes place in a cordoned-off area of the IKEA restaurant, right next to the children's play area. In attendance are A Table for Two, Chocolatesuze, Citrus & Candy, Eat Show & Tell, Here Comes the Food, I Am Obsessed With Food and The Heart of Food.

We're here for a look at some of IKEA's range of kitchenware and a sampling of their Swedish food range and restaurant meals.


Kids' play area


Lingonberry squash
Available as a lingonberry syrup $4.95/500ml

As we sip on glasses of lingonberry squash, elderflower squash and pear cider, we listen to a brief talk on the Swedish people's affection for fish as well as a run-through of the various frying pans available. We're particularly awestruck by the 24cm frying pan that retails for $4.50 (yes, $4.50!) and it gets a special nod of approval as it's passed around.


Cider Koppaberg $2.50/500ml
Non-alcoholic pear cider

Already a fan of the IKEA lingonberry preserve (it's great with turkey at Christmas), the lingonberry squash tastes like a mixture of cranberry juice with the sweetness of strawberries. I purchase a bottle of the lingonberry syrup later that evening, and so far it's been delicious with ice and mineral water. I'm also envisaging a good match with vodka, and can see myself using it to cook with pork or in baking.

Elderflower squash provides elegant refreshment, and the pear cider is also a winner, bubbly and sweet with an almost lychee-like flavour of pear.


Entree platter
[Clockwise from bottom left]: Swedish red caviar on Tunnbröd with sour cream;
Leksands knäckebröd triangle with boiled egg and Kaller smoked roe;
Hällakaka rounds with boiled egg and mustard pickled herring;
Gravlax salmon on bread with sweet mustard and dill;
Sandwich fingers with shrimp, boiled egg, mayonnaise,
lettuce leaves and cucumber

The entree platter of mixed Swedish appetisers garners much excitement. The IKEA staff seem bemused by our photos, but I think even they understimated exactly how many photos and angles eight food bloggers need!


Pickled herrings
[Clockwise from bottom ]: Dillsill herring in dill marinade;
Inlagd sill herring in marinade with onion and carrots;
Senapssill herring in mustard sauce; and Hällakaka rounds


Dillsill herring in dill marinade;
Inlagd sill herring in marinade with onion and carrots; and
Senapssill herring in mustard sauce;


Food bloggers attack


Gravlax salmon on bread with sweet mustard and dill;
Swedish red caviar on Tunnbröd scroll with sour cream; and
Leksands Knäckebröd triangle with boiled egg and Kaller smoked roe

Gravlax salmon with sweet mustard and dill is soft and yielding, and I'm surprised by the scroll of Tunnbröd which reminds me of mountain bread, the filling of Swedish red caviar pairing well with the richness of sour cream.

The gigantic pizza-like wedge of Knäckebröd (how can you say that without smiling?!) is the most fun to eat, and I find myself quite liking the toothpaste squiggle of Kaller smoked roe. The pale pink paste has a sweet and salty roe flavour, and it's another product I'm moved to purchasing later that evening (picture of the blue Kaller smoked roe further on in this post).


Hällakaka round with boiled egg and mustard pickled herring;
Gravlax salmon on bread with sweet mustard and dill;
Swedish red caviar roll with sour cream; and
Sandwich finger with shrimp, boiled egg, mayonnaise,
lettuce leaves and cucumber

We order our main meals directly from the servery in the IKEA restaurant. There's a huge run on the meatballs but between us we manage to get most of the dishes on offer covered.


Chicken breast schnitzel with chips $3.95


Salmon pytti panna with basil and mustard sauce $3.95

I find it hard to fathom that a light dinner can be had for $3.95 but then this is the home of the $1 hot dog. The chicken schnitzel is a decent size, a deep golden hue and served with a huge pile of chips and a lake of gravy.

The salmon pytti panna is a Scandinavian version of the British bubble and squeak, explains Petra, a Swedish national. Traditionally made with leftover bits of vegetables and fish, it's a homestyle comfort food dish, although I find the faint taste of vinegar a little strange to get used to.


Swedish meatballs with chips $7.50 medium

But it's the meatballs that win the popularity contest, an iconic part of the Ikea Restaurant experience. Pleasingly rustic in their uneven size and shape, the meatballs have a pan-fried edge that gives way to a ridiculously soft and juicy interior. Both the graddsas cream sauce and lingonberry preserve add extra flavour to the meatballs and your carbohydrate of choice: the chips or the mashedp potato.


Swedish meatballs with mashed potato $6.95 small


Garden salad $2.00

A small bowl of salad provides some much needed vitamins.


Self-serve dessert display


Punch roll (front) and Delicato ball $1.50 each


Our dessert platter of Punch rolls and Delicato balls

Our dessert platter is a good time to try treats I've never sampled before. The Punch roll, Petra explains, is also known as a dammsugare or vacuum cleaner, due to its visual resemblance to an old-fashioned vacuum cleaner head. The log of chocolate cake has a faint taste of liquer, and is rolled in a layer of lime green marzipan with both ends dipped in chocolate.

The Delicato ball looks like a chocolate snowball and tastes like a mixture of chocolate, Copha and coconut.


Princess cake $3.95

It's the Princess cake that has Chocolatesuze excited - it's one of her favourites. It's a simple but striking dessert, a disc of sponge spread thinly with raspberry jam, topped with a thick layer of cream and covered with a thin dome of green marzipan. The history behind its green colour is not really known, although this post makes an admirable attempt to uncover the mystery.


Chocolatesuze: armed Princess and food blogger poster girl

We depart the restaurant laden down with goodie bags and meatball- and herring-lined stomachs. There's still time to get to the Sweden shop before it closes and I need a tube of that Kalles Kaviar, Daim bars and more...


Ikea carry bags


Kalles Kaviar $3.95/190g
Creamed smoked roe spread

The boy pictured is the son of the CEO at the time when Kalles Kaviar first commenced production in 1954, its packaging unchanged since its initial launch.


Svenskt Tunnbrod $3.25/225g
Soft arctic thinbread made from wheat, rye and barley meal


Dubbla Chokladflarn $9.95/600g
Double chocolate crisps biscuits made with oats


Lingonsaft lingonberry syrup $4.95/500ml


Nypon soppa $3.95/1L
Ready-made rosehip soup


Pasta-Algar
Organic pasta in the shape of elks


Ragbrod finax $5.95/750g
Swedish rye bread kit – just add water


Kottbullar Swedish meatballs $9.95/1kg


Daim chocolate $7.95/400g
Butter almond brittle


Almondy Daim $8.95/400g
Almond tart with Daim butter almond brittle



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IKEA Homebush Bay Drive
Rhodes Shopping Centre,
1 Oulton Avenue, Rhodes, Sydney
Enter off Homebush Bay Drive
Tel: +61 (02) 8002 0400

IKEA store opening hours:
Monday to Friday 10am - 7pm (till 9pm on Thursdays)
Saturday and Sunday 9am - 7pm

IKEA restaurant opening hours:
Monday to Friday 9.30am - 6pm (till 8pm on Thursdays)
Saturday and Sunday 8.30am - 6pm

Related Grab Your Fork posts:
IKEA Restaurant and Sweden Shop (Apr06)
Scandinavian - The Gourmet Viking, Newtown

Homebush -- Janani (Oct05), and (Jul05) (Sri Lankan)
Rhodes -- Rhodes Phoenix (Chinese)
Strathfield -- Bagan (Burmese)
Strathfield -- Crystal Seafood (Chinese)
Strathfield North -- Bar Biscotti (Cafe / Breakfast)
Strathfield North -- Outback Steakhouse (American)