Ikea internationally

[lisianthus]

We went to Ikea in Perth recently and I was struck by some of the differences to the one we used to go to (Lakeside, in Essex). In particular, I hadn't realised that the cafe would be so different. There was sushi, which seems to now be a child's menu staple here, and a lot more salads, as well as a lot more people to help throughout the store (which was great, actually).

It got me wondering- what is your local Ikea like? Do German ones serve noodles and dumplings and the French ones have a huge list of cakes for example?

You may laugh TAE, but some of them probably would !!!!!

Sweet FA on the Ikea front here, shame..

I love the idea of the Chinese Ikea being full of sleeping children

Or cats, like the advert....

The Singapore one also has curry puffs and there is a choice of ketchup, mustard or chilli sauce for your hot dog. They also have a new 'animal' soft toy for Chinese New Year (although that may be the same elsewhere) so the DCs now have a snake each. No horse in the meatballs here apparently .DH used to hate the Croydon one with a passion - he doesn't mind the one here for some reason.

So cute that the Chinese ones have children sleeping on the beds!

In France, they serve only at lunch ti e and you can have a proper five course meal. There are starters like smoked salmon, a variety of mains, choice of salads, cheeses, desserts and of course, wine.

I read an article about IKEA in China having a huge problem of people making IKEA a day trip - bringing picnics and eating at the displays, napping etc. That has to be frustrating for the staff.

The Cairo one is about 2 years behind in their opening. I cannot wait for them to open.

Most of the IKEA's I have been in have been the same.

But they do sell toilets don't they?

The ones in the bathroom in our Ikea (France) are all taped up so people won't use them!

I love it! A friend of mine told me she turned he back on her DS for a second and found him pooing in a demo loo in B&Q much to the amusement of the other shoppers!

Ha ha Savoy cabbage. I wlas in the Melbourne one too and aghast at the cost of things compared to UK.

The Amsterdam one had problems with people leaving kids in Smoland all day. Poor kids. Re the language - can't speak for all the Dutch ones but for Haarlem and Amsterdam - speaking to customers seems to be against the rules so I can imagine they don't require Dutch as an employee skill.

Having said that - the baby changing room in the Haarlem IKEA is lovely, and they have kid sized loos too, so well done there!

We used to visit the ikea in Riyadh just to have a coffee without having to sit behind a curtain!
It was a day out!
All the stuff was the same in the shop, and the cafe sold Arabic breakfast items I think, obviously the bacon was beef though.

By the way moving to KL later this year so will certainly be visiting ikea to pick up some things for our new home, especially kids stuff.

I'm feeling very homesick at the moment and love the fact that Ikea is the one place where i can go that i can almost fool myself into thinking that i'm home (as long as i don't look too hard at the contents of the beds and trolleys of course )

Teddymummy, go during the day or on a weekday evening. AVOID school holidays and weekends like the plague.
My mild mannered DH almost came to blows with someone a couple of weeks ago.

Wait. The meatballs have horse in them? I've been all smug about near here being unaffected. But there's a bag of those in the freezer...

*meat here not near here

Not the ones in KL. There was a 20 sen a ball promotion last week to celebrate (around 4p)

Strangely, IKEA here in Stockholm now has massive Swedish food market. It just used to sell Italien food.

The cafe is always heaving. You see all sorts in there, business meetings, workmen, lots of families, plenty of dads on pappaledig ( paternity leave).

Can't really remember what the UK ones are like to compare.

The Swiss ones do serve exra Swiss meals from time to time.

In our local Basel one:

We have a salad bar for side salad or salad bowls. There are also pre-made salads and sandwiches and soups.

The main course still consists of the meatball with chips or mash combo (not boiled potatoes like Croydon).
You can buy a full plate of chips on it's own. (Which many families share)
Other meals I have seen are:
Egli fillets (fish) and chips
Spagetti bolognese
Spagetti neopolitan
Schnitzel with a mushroom sauce
Spargel which is like a Holy food in the Germanic countries
Couscous and veg

For the cakes they have the usual Daim, princess cake, apple pie things but they have added some German tastes - Bieneschnitte (spelt wrong), Berliner, and sometimes some Swiss sweet breads - Scnecker and Hase shaped.

Alcohol of course.

And the 1chf hotdog on the way out next to the donut lady (4 berliners for 2chf)(teeny)

Thanks ripishere, will try to do that. Should pick your brains really about lots of things with our impending move...August time.

Do teddymummy. Can't promise to kniw evrything, but I do know some knowledge.

Hi ripishere, my husband is coming over to check out the housing in June. Looking at desa park city, what do you think of the areas there, do you know which parts are good for families. I have 3dc aged between 7 + 10. Thanks x