$3.59 Caviar at Ikea
With financial giants collapsing all around us, caviar may seem like a bit of a faux-pas, an extraneous luxury. Lobster costs around $30 per pound, and truffles are going for $160 an ounce. But you don’t have to give up the good life—if you buy your caviar at Ikea.
The Ikea Swedish Food Market stocks ABBA’s 80-gram jars of chilled lumpfish caviar for a meager $3.59, which ABBA claims gives your food the “extra-luxurious edge of perfection,” and which Ikea urges you to serve on canapés. Sounds like recession luxe to me.
Have any of you tried it? If so, what did you think?
Add a comment:
Previewing your comment:
HTML Hints
Some HTML is OK: <a href="URL">link</a>, <strong>strong</strong>, <em>em</em>
Comment Guidelines
Post whatever you want, just keep it seriously about eats, seriously. We reserve the right to delete off-topic or inflammatory comments. Learn more at our Comment Policy page.
If you see something not so nice, please, report an inappropriate comment.
18 Comments:
The Ikea food court is seriously underestimated. There are tons of good Swedish items there, beyond the meatballs.
The Hafi brand preserves (the gooseberry is particularly good), the cookies, some of the frozen foods are really good and reasonably priced. Lots of different kinds of herring, if you like that kind of stuff. Worth checking out.
Pupster at 2:09PM on 09/26/08
I saw that and ALMOST bought it! I'm also curious to see if anyone of you have tried it.
tschuetz at 2:17PM on 09/26/08
Let me just follow up and say that I had a phenomenal lunch at Ikea! I, of course, had the Swedish meatballs with mashed potatoes and that amazing creamy gravy and lingonberry jelly, with a lingonberry juice-water combination to drink, along with a $1 dark chocolate bar . I think the whole thing came to $6, and I couldn't finish it, and it was really very good...certainly gave me the energy to tackle the Ikea in New Haven! The Swedish food store was a gold mine; they had crab pate, caviar, and my favorite thing ever: concentrated elderflower that i can mix with seltzer for the best English floral spritzers. They also had the cutest elk-shaped pasta. It really is worth a trip for the food...You could do great things with the stuff from that market, and really enjoy not spending a lot of money. Also, from what I overheard in the check out line, the $1 frozen yogurt is "to die for."
Kerry Saretsky at 2:28PM on 09/26/08
i've actualy tried both, the black and the orange. if you expect $3.59 caviar, you won't be disappointed. otherwise stay clear of the caviar and stick to the chocolate covered toffees. i don't think i'll ever buy the caviar at ikea again. sometimes nothing is better than something.
bionicgrrl at 2:40PM on 09/26/08
I considered trying the caviar, but couldn't bring myself to it. But I am a HUGE fan of the Creamed Cod Roe. It's comforting to be able to eat cheap roe that isn't trying to be caviar. That Creamed Cod Roe is delicious on seeded flatbread crackers with creme fraiche.
I love IKEA's cafeteria... the shrimp and egg plate, the shrimp salad, and the gravlax plate are always so refreshing and so... Swedish tasting.
Tactful_Cactus at 2:46PM on 09/26/08
You might be able to get me to eat this caviar
... especially if the band ABBA pops out of the lid singing "Dancing Queen!"
or perhaps the little roes could line up and do a dance number to "Fernando" now that would also be really cool.
bisbee at 3:37PM on 09/26/08
ABBA Cavier! Mamma Mia! That's some spicy fish eggs! Gimme!Gimme!Gimme!
FoodBully at 4:07PM on 09/26/08
Well... it's not sturgeon caviar. It's lumpfish. So the expectation would be quite different much as salmon roe is different.
synaesthesia.dc at 4:12PM on 09/26/08
If it's half as good as the meatballs, I'd give it a whirl..... wish I lived closer to an IKEA.....
Maureen at 4:50PM on 09/26/08
I just got some tiny mother of pearl caviar spoons at Pearl River and now I will try them out on this stuff! YAY!
You know, IKEA really is a phenomenal thing, so Swedish yet abundant and full of hope. Throw in ABBA and what's not to love???
Pointy at 5:15PM on 09/26/08
I made Ina Garten's Lemon Capellini with Caviar using this Ikea caviar. It was good and added a nice salty complement to the bright lemon flavor, but I wouldn't eat it alone on a cracker!
iheartcookbooks at 5:21PM on 09/26/08
The desserts at the Ikea cafe are pretty good, too. I keep meaning to get lunch there one day when I'm in the area.
beth1 at 10:00PM on 09/26/08
i cannot believe this. i held 'serious eaters' in much higher esteem than to think that ikea was acceptable for eating. i wouldn't waste one calorie on that shit - caviar or meatballs.
emoelely at 10:46PM on 09/26/08
Roe is far more common and cheaper across the world than most Americans realize. The rare stuff can indeed be expensive—but I'd wager that the Ikea stuff is worth its price. While that's not much, at least it is humble. And though I don't eat fast food and haven't eaten at IKEA, I certainly have eaten roe cheaper than the Abba brand that tasted far better than high end stuff. Sometimes humility leads to discovery, especially with culture. Food can be polarizing, but you only limit yourself when you shit on something you haven't even tried, emolely.
sarandi at 11:47PM on 09/26/08
How has no one mentioned the $0.50 hot dog!!! Its half the reason I go to Ikea. It may not be gourmet eats but it definitely hits the hunger pangs caused by a million square feet of shopping!
twoojoe at 5:03PM on 09/27/08
Ditto on the hot dog. Sometimes a good hot dog hits the spot like nothing else can. Oh crap, that really came out sounding wrong...
buffy at 7:56PM on 09/27/08
I've tried the salmon caviar and it's actually really good for the price. The lingonberry jam is also another Ikea favorite.
AppetiteforChina at 12:54PM on 09/28/08
The caviar is pretty good, really fishy smell, but I mixed it in to plain yogurt and made a dip. It was pretty good.
JSchwo7 at 8:16PM on 10/06/08