What's Swedish for borscht? Whatever it is I usually eat every time I go to IKEA as the food is cheap as borscht, like 2 hot dogs and a soda for $2.

I don't think there is a swedish word for borscht.

And yet I can picture the Swedish chef from the Muppets saying it.

Yes, we're going to the one at the Brooklyn store. Probably a far cry from a real Kraeftor party--no outdoor/beach picnic, no aquavit--but at least we'll be able to get there by boat, taking the water taxi from Wall Street.

^ We make a monthly pilgrimage to pick up sill (herring), Kalles caviar and Bilar. Usually we include a stop to the restaurant as well for some meatballs too (although homemade are much, much better).

I have just eaten at the one in MSP and have eaten at others, love their Swedish pancakes. Also ate at the one outside of Helsinki, it was good also. I tried the one in Richmond, BC Canada, they don't have Swedish pancakes for breakfast but some god awful little pancakes stuffed with apple, I took it back, had to use a knife to cut it, it was disgusting to say the least, the Richmond Ikea ought to be ashamed to sell such food.

Borsjtj

Swedes don't eat pancakes for breakfast so any pancakes you see served at international IKEAs for breakfast is most likely a local addition to the menu.

I tend to believe that the food at the international IKEA establishments is more appealing adjusted to the local taste than in the Swedish stores. For example, in Spain, they had "swedish-spanish" tapas which was quite tasty.
In Sweden, it's mainly the usual factorymade meatballs and badly cooked potato. But the prices are rock-bottom.
When at IKEA, i usually go for the wiener hot dogs and a slice of "pan pizza". It's difficult for them to get that wrong, and it's only about 25 SEK in total.

You say that Swedes don't eat Swedish pancakes, that seems strange since I ate them in Sweden numerous times and not at tourists venues. Perhaps I just thought I was in Sweden and perhaps I was in a strange and distant land instead.

SA said that Swedes don't eat pancakes FOR BREAKFAST. I too have enjoyed pancakes in Sweden but never first thing in the morning. A pancake breakfast would never fuel you through a long cold Scandinavian morning...

When I was growing up, my grandmother who was from Sweden would get up early in the morning and make swedish pancakes, they were called plattar, don't think I have spelled that word correctly, she had an iron frying pan with eight round holes in it, she would grease the pan with bacon drippings, then she would pour the batter into them, she would makes stacks of them for breakfast and the left overs were then eaten cold in the afternoon with jam, or some other toppings. I am Swedish and I do Eat Swedish pancakes for breakfast, guess I am the only one then

Ah, a New World Swede. Similarly, my mother, who was from France, would thin the last of the Sunday pancake batter to make crepes. But in France I've never seen crepes served for breakfast.

Were your grandmother's pancakes flat, or puffy and eggy? What you describe sounds like Danish ebbelskiver (sp?).

Anyway BACK on topic, the IKEA crayfish party was just great. Lots of Swedes but twice as many Asian guests, all skilled and enthusiastic crayfish eaters who took full advantage of all-you-can-eat. Lining up to enter we were almost run over by a pair of very eager Swedish (by way of Bay Ridge) grannies who weren't going to let anything get in the way of their kraftor--with at least 200 lbs of crayfish (plus boiled shrimps, meatballs, etc.) that wasn't an issue. People went back for seconds, thirds, fourths...At each place there were kraftor-themed napkins, bibs, party hats, and a booklet of snapsvisor (drinking songs). Two accordionists played Swedish and American traditional music. The food was good and the atmosphere was very fun. All this for $10!

I'm looking forward to the Julbord (Christmas smorgasboard) scheduled for December 10.

They were very thin and flat, made with just enough flour to hold them together, they were very small in diameter, probably no more than 4 inches across. They were so so good. She would make stacks of them for breakfast, they were not Danish, I did not know that the Danes had a pancake, must try next time I am in Denmark

If I understand correctly (from the Williams-Sonoma catalog) ebbelskiver are small puffy, egg-rich cakes cooked in an iron pan with indentations, more like popovers or Dutch babies than pancakes. Amazing what a variety of delectable griddle cakes can be made with flour, eggs, butter, and milk...