Located 10 miles south of DU on I-25, Ikea Centennial masquerades as a furniture store, but in reality, it is the epicenter of authentic Swedish cuisine in the Mile High City. The dining experience at Ikea is one of utmost excellence and culinary expertise.
One enters the dining area by way of escalator and is greeted by an open, bright and well designed (duh) eating space with a cafeteria-esque kitchen attached. The area is surrounded entirely by spectacularly large windows offering views of the gorgeous expanse of I-25 and Park Meadows Mall. First off, one grabs a plastic tray (no assembly required) and travels down a line of delectable food products. Up first on the gastro highway are the desserts: Apple Cake ($2.29 or 18.64 Swedish Krona), Daim Torte which costs $1.79 (author’s note: I have no idea what Daim Torte is and the internet is not helping) and Chocolate Mousse (no price given). After the desserts, one will find pre-made sandwiches, salads and other useless stuff like that because really, everybody is here for one reason and one reason only.
Meatballs—delicious, moist, melt in your mouth Swedish meatballs; of which you have three overwhelming options: Köttbullar ($5.99), Kycklingköttbullar ($4.99) and Grönsaksbullar ($4.49). Of course, as it was a dollar cheaper, this reviewer went with the Kycklingköttbullar….which means chicken meatballs by the way. The meatballs are served with a sauce of Gräddsås, a gravy-like cream sauce, a heaping of mashed potatoes (no fun Swedish names for these) and a tiddlywink-sized serving of Lingonberry sauce—not a bad deal for $4.99. Add a Bubbel Päron, a sparkling pear drink (you’re gonna know Swedish by the end of this article) and a chocolate chip cookie, and you get a pretty decently diverse meal for around 8 bucks (USD).
The chicken meatballs were just as good as imagined, and the lingonberry sauce paired perfectly with the mashed potatoes. The portion size was a little underwhelming though; I finished the meal quicker than you can say Kycklingköttbullar. Honestly, the best part of the meal was the chocolate chip cookie. It was incredibly soft, as if just baked, and had both a mix of dark and milk chocolate. This reviewer thought about grabbing another one for the road, but did not want to be judged by the kitchen staff for eating two large cookies in one meal.
While the food was great, and the dining room entertainment of a small child throwing a tantrum because he didn’t like his food was a surprising and enjoyable experience, there is one glaring issue with dining at Ikea. This major issue being what happens after the meal. The escalator leading to the dining area is one-way only. To exit, you have to go through the entire bottom half of the store, an impossibly arduous task not unlike a corn maze of well-designed and cheap Scandinavian houseware. In fact, as of writing this article I am still stuck somewhere deep within the store, near the bath towels and cookware. Please help me and maybe bring some more Gräddsås.
Ikea is open 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Sundays.
