It has been a while since IKEA opened. There was news about the huge lines, which made me hesitate to go, but at some point articles came out saying the lines were gone, so I figured now was the time and went. Once there, sure, there was no line, but by the afternoon the place was packed. If you want to browse at a leisurely pace, I recommend aiming to arrive right after the morning opening.

If you are going by public transport, the most convenient way was to get off at Cheolsan Station and take a bus. The buses that go to IKEA have a sign saying so, which makes them easy to spot. The bus route is not direct and winds around a lot, so it takes a bit longer than the actual distance would suggest, and the bus back does not leave from in front of the main entrance so you have to walk quite a way, which was a little inconvenient.

After finishing the first pass through the showroom, it was time to eat. I headed straight for the food court without hesitation. Or rather, once you are done with the showroom the food court simply appears anyway. You have to decide whether to eat and then shop, or just leave, because IKEA is laid out so that going back the way you came is really hard. I decided to eat first. Before the line got any longer.

Desserts

Not especially cheap, and I could not tell what was supposed to be good about them. The desserts felt a bit weak.

Salads

Anything with salmon in it felt pricey across the board.

Meatballs

Better made than I expected. I even got the feeling they tasted better than when I had them in Japan years ago. The meatballs, the jam, the mashed potatoes and even the sauce are all sold in the food market, and both the taste and the price are decent, so I have been buying them to eat at home.

Kimchi fried rice

It was something like 2,000 won, very cheap, and still pretty tasty. Highly recommended.

Bread

This one, well.. compared to the Costco croissants that used to reek of butter, it is very ordinary.

Chicken leg

This one was so-so too. Not a menu item I would recommend, but go for it if it suits your taste.

Salad

For the sake of your stomach, it is good to have a salad as well.

The full spread

It is expensive if you call it expensive, cheap if you call it cheap. The total came to about what you would pay ordering at a regular restaurant. Just because it is a food court does not mean it is that cheap. Still, the food itself is not bad, and going somewhere else is a bit of a hassle – although with the Lotte Outlets right next door there are plenty of options – so next time I would probably end up at the IKEA food court again. Swedish food is fine once in a while.

Soft serve

You cannot come to IKEA and not have one~ It is cheap too.

Hot dog

The hot dog was just so-so that day. I had been looking forward to it, so that was a letdown. I should have asked for extra fried onions when ordering, which I also regret a little.

The 1,000-won chocolate

If you look closely at the ingredients list you will see that it is about the same quality as a typical 3,000-won chocolate bar in Korea. Amazing value for money. When I lived in Japan I ate so much great chocolate that I never appreciated it, but in Korea this level is precious. It seems I am not the only one who thinks so, because around Lunar New Year and Valentine’s Day that whole mountain of chocolate sold out and I could not buy any. Really impressive.

Having gotten through the first visit without a hitch and picked up some momentum, and since we had only just moved house, we went back again the very next week.

Salmon lasagna

The looks alone are a bit off-putting. For the price, the taste was not that impressive either..

Bulgogi rice bowl

More legit than I expected. It is on the cheap side and tastes good too, so they must have done their homework on the Korean menu.

Chocolate sundae

Eaten like this it is pretty decent too. The chocolate is Hershey’s chocolate syrup.

Today’s hot dog

My complaints about the hot dog from last time vanished in an instant. Maybe they are improving bit by bit.

The day’s haul

Surprisingly, the sparkling juice (apple and lingonberry) tasted great. The giant biscuit on the right (rye crispbread, KNÄCKEBRÖD) was handy as a meal substitute, and the chocolate on the left was just so-so.

Cinnamon rolls

They contain real cinnamon, not just cinnamon-flavored spice. I would say this is the top pick from the IKEA food market. The downside is that you need an oven to bake them.

IKEA furniture is honestly not that high in quality, so there is not much worth buying. On the other hand, the assorted household goods and the food market are truly something to fall in love with. I felt the urge to go every week and restock on food. Once life settles down a bit, I will have to go often. Just going to IKEA on a weekend is a perfectly enjoyable outing in itself.

한국어로 읽기日本語で読む