IKEA Philippines: The Swedish Furniture (and Meatballs) Giant is Finally Here!

Whenever I’m in another country, I try to visit the local IKEA, the Swedish company known for their affordable furniture and home accessories, as well as their meatballs. I have two reasons: First, I figured I can get nice yet cheap products for pasalubong (souvenir) there. And secondly, their meatballs of course!

But I don’t have to go abroad anymore because IKEA finally opened in the Philippines last year, the biggest one yet. It came at the perfect time as I got married last August. My wife and I can now improve our home with affordable furniture and home accessories. And the best thing? We can eat Swedish meatballs at the end of our shopping!

We went there earlier this year. Let me share our experience with you!

Like in any IKEA store, there are lockers that customers can use for free. This makes shopping more convenient:

Of course, the IKEA “maze” has to start with showrooms. I like this one with Filipino-inspired interior:

Of all showrooms, this one if my favorite:

I hope I can have this kind of man cave in the future

There’s a section called Juan & Pilar. I believe it features locally-made or locally-inspired products. (Comment down below if I got it wrong.)

IKEA has a collab with Lego. I almost bought it since I love collabs. So we marked ourselves safe from this.

Or maybe I should buy in our next visit! LOL.

We also survived this test (LOL):

After hours of walking, this is our budol*:

In true IKEA fashion, there’s a station where you can wrap fragile items:

The Swedish Bistro is just across the counters. It’s the perfect stop after all the walking and shopping. Snack on some Chicken Wings, which are plump, juicy, and nicely seasoned (I think there’s five spice in it).

Chicken Wings (2 pcs.: P119; 4 pcs.: P229; 6 pcs.: P299)

Or get some Soy-Based Ice Cream for just P10, and experience a machine prepare it for you:

But no IKEA visit would be complete without a visit to their Swedish Restaurant:

Gotta love their cafeteria-style counter

Of course, we got their Swedish Meatballs, which are delicious and made better with their savory gravy and sweet Lingonberry Jam. Trust me, it works really well!

Swedish Meatballs (12 pcs.: P199; 16 pcs.: P239; 20 pcs.: P275)

We also got their Baked Salmon Fillet, which tasted fishy. It’s also supposed to come with vegetables medallions but they ran out of it. I’m kind of disappointed with this dish.

And we also had their Half Pork Knuckles. I believe this is a Philippine exclusive and IKEA’s take on the classic Filipino dish, Crispy Pata (deep-fried pork knuckles). It’s not the best I had but you can never go wrong with deep-fried pata.

Unfortunately, it was almost closing time when we finished our shopping. So we didn’t get to try their desserts at the Swedish Restaurant, nor the items at the Swedish Cafe. Now we have another reason to go back.

Overall, our IKEA experience was pleasant. It’s just like we’re shopping in an IKEA abroad. We will definitely be back to shop for home improvements, as well as for more Swedish meatballs and other IKEA food. Plan your IKEA visit soon!

*The word “budol” is derived from “budol-budol”, which has something to do with being conned. Nowadays, it’s used to refer to someone’s stash of items bought impulsively.