Although IKEA is mainly known for its affordable, “easy-to-assemble” furniture, and its gargantuan shop floors, the world’s largest furniture retailer boasts an impressive selection of food at every one of its stores.
Although there’s other foods, like salmon filets, caesar salads, or chocolate cake, one dish stands out above the rest in terms of renown and reputation: IKEA’s Swedish Meatballs.
Accompanied by a sea of green peas and a mountain of mashed potatoes flowing with lingonberry sauce and gravy as well, the meatball meal gives an impressive amount of “bang” for your “buck.”
As I bit into the flagship meatball, staked by a miniature Swedish flag as if it were the pride of Sweden itself, I was pulled into a world gone past.
A wave of nostalgia rushed me as I tasted once more the familiar taste of formerly frozen medley of spices, beef, and pork, just like the Kids Cuisine and Hungry-Man frozen dinners I’ve devoured before. In other words, these meatballs tasted like home.
Aside from tasting sweet nostalgia, my taste buds were enveloped in flavors of mellow savoriness and rich meatiness, thanks to the beautiful duo of gravy and meatball. It was as if I was eating the personification of the word “meat.” However, that’s not to say that it was disappointing.
The meal tasted as it was portrayed, a mish-mash of food matter poured into a cardboard box. It was merely a homely hodgepodge of filling food, unremarkable in taste or presentation. I was satisfied with it.
IKEA’s Swedish Meatballs didn’t live up to its celebrity status, but it evoked a tasteful image of childhood paired with a savory sense of sentimentality. If you ever find yourself hungry and/or homesick, I encourage you to visit your local IKEA and devour some meatballs, a true hidden gem masked in its labyrinth of affordable furniture.
