Archive for 'Swedish'

You Can Get Midtown Lunch at the Church of Sweden

Church of Sweden midtown
The Norwegian Seaman’s Church’s annual fair isn’t the only Scandinavian Christmas action happening in midtown this week. The Church of Sweden on 48th street kicks off their holiday bazaar today, too. Read more »

Will AQ Kafe Spell the End for FIKA Swedish Espresso Bar?

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Zagat Buzz has more intel on the second outpost of AQ Cafe, on Broadway between 58th St. and Columbus Circle. “The sign outside spells the restaurant’s name as “Kafé” (rather than original’s “cafe”), and the otherwise similar menu presents one glaring omission: the popular Nordic Cuban sandwich.” The glaring omission we noticed on the menu? The prices. Does not bode well, considering the original AQ Cafe on Park Ave. btw. 37+38th is already teetering on the edge of being outside the Midtown Lunch price range.

We’re also wondering what this will mean for FIKA Swedish Espresso bar, our current Scandinavian fave in the northern reaches of Midtown. It doesn’t get mentioned too often on the site, and is a little pricey, but they deserve credit for serving swedish meatballs in sandwich form (an item also on the AQ Kafe menu.) Walked by today and they were pretty packed, but it will be interesting to see how they fare once the M. Samuelsson train rolls north.

It’s No Ikea, But F&B Gudtfood Will Have to Do

I still hold out hope that one day Manhattan will get an IKEA.  It’s probably futile, but a guy can dream, right?  The funny thing is, I don’t even care about the furniture.  I just want an IKEA Cafe!  In my eyes, the cheap furniture shopping world is divided into two seperate groups.  Those who have gotten over the fear at eating in an Ikea, and those who haven’t. 

There are a few stages that every Ikea shopper goes through.  First, denial.  You see the signs for the food and laugh.  “Who the hell would eat at Ikea?  That food looks gross!”.  Then, after a few times of going to Ikea (you never get everything done in one trip), the curiosity starts to seep in.  “Well, it is pretty cheap.  It can’t be that bad, right?  It’s just so damn cheap!”  Finally, you submit.  It helps if you forget to eat before going shopping- in which case you end up being starving after navigating through the gigantic store, with no other food options.

I went through all these stages, and when I came out on the other end, I had discovered a new weakness… swedish meatballs.  Covered in gravy and topped with lingonberries, they are perfect for anybody who loves the sweet and salty combo.  And at around $4 for ten meatballs, it couldn’t be any cheaper.  Awhile back I wrote about a fancy Swedish meatball sandwich at FIKA Swedish Espresso bar.  Super delicious (but expensive), I lamented that there was no equivalent to Ikea in Midtown.

After writing that, a tipster recommended that I check out F&B Gudtfood, a “European Street Food” chain on 52nd btw. Lex+3rd.  Founded by one guy from Germany and one from England, they wanted to start a place where you could get all the street food they enjoyed in their travels around Europe  Fancy hot dogs, fish and chips, frites with different dipping sauces, and of course- Swedish meatballs.

I finally made it over to F&B to see if I had found an Ikea replacement.  What they’ve got, pictures and a +/- after the jump Read more »

FIKA Swedish Espresso Bar

How great is IKEA?  Greatest place ever, right?  Well, I love IKEA too- but not for the reason most people love it.  Sure, the cheap furniture is nice, and building our IKEA entertainment center was probably the greatest “building” accomplishment of my life- but the real reason I love it is for the food.  Seriously… the food at IKEA is awesome- and dirt cheap.  (Picture of IKEA meatballs to the left is courtesy of eggrollboy on flickr )

Of course I was skeptical at first.  Those signs as you walk in, encouraging you to eat Swedish meatballs in the IKEA cafe…  for $3.99?  I’m not eating that crap.  Who eats at IKEA?  Well, I will tell you who… people who spend the entire morning moving into their new apartment- but still want to take advantage of the van that is due back at U-Haul that night.   So you drive out to Elizabeth NJ, and are so hungry that the IKEA Restaurant is your only option.  That was the first time I ate at IKEA.  The next time- our “shopping” excursion to IKEA, was just an excuse for lunch.  If you’ve never tried the Swedish meatballs with gravy and lingonberries- you don’t know what your missing.  And if you don’t like it- you’ve wasted $4.  Not that big a gamble…

With that in mind, you can imagine my excitement when I read about the new FIKA Swedish Espresso Bar on RestaurantGirl.com… Even though they are called an espresso bar- they also have sandwiches, salads, and Swedish meatballs.  How can you go wrong???  More pictures, and the +/- after the jump…

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