Ikea Restaurant - I got your swedish meatballs right here, baby.

On a recent trip to everyone's favorite Swedish build-it-yourself furniture store, Sir Forksalot proposed that we sit down to a fancy dinner... at the Ikea cafeteria. Sir Forksalot holds the Ikea cafeteria in high esteem, having been won over years ago when he discovered their breakfast deal: Two eggs, two bacon strips, home fries for $.99.

We each grabbed a tray and went through the cafeteria selecting our dinners. We each got our own entree, shared a bowl of soup and drink, and I had dessert.




Sir Forksalot selected Chicken Marsala over rice with mixed veges. Surprisingly, ordering an Italian dish from a Swedish furniture store doesn't inspire much confidence. However the Chicken Marsala was surprisingly good by my take, better than some I've had at actual Italian establishments. The veges were cooked within an inch of their existence, however. Sir Forksalot proclaimed it not spectacular, but the chicken was tender and tasty. The final word was that it "couldn't be beaten for the price", which sums up this dish. Incidentally, the price was $4.29+tax.

The soup was a hearty vege-lentil mix that I thought was very good, but Sir Forksalot proclaimed it "blah". This recollection is odd, seeing as how I remember him finishing the soup quickly. However, it's my blog not his, so I give it a thumbs up. Soup $1.79 + dinner roll $.35 = Damn fine dinner for roughly $2.




I went with the quintessential Ikea dish, Swedish Meatballs with gravy and mashed potatoes. This is a hearty, stick to your ribs meal that filled me up easily (and then some) with the "small" portion that consists of 10 meatballs. $4.29, and served with a dabbing of their lingonberry sauce. Now while I enjoy lingonberries,at least I do while I'm at Ikea, I have no idea what the hell these things actually are. Are they even an actual berry? Did the Swedes just make this up to screw with us?

For dessert I had the Apple cake, which is absolutely delish. I wish I'd had asked to have it heated, but even cold it was well worth $2.29. I'd actually put this above any of the samplings I've had at the Pinky Rose Pastry shop. The apples still have a bit of crunch to them, and they resist over sweetening them. Instead, they're heavily dosed with cinnamon and a vanilla sauce tops the cake providing much of the sweetness.

Together, we shared a lingonberry/sprite drink at $1.29

All together, including tax, our meal came to about $15.30 for both of us. So although Ikea might not be the world's most memorable dining experience, it is a great place for some good cheap eats.

Ikea Restaurant, giving you fuel for assembling your new entertainment system.

The Factured Prune - Shut your fried cake hole!

During the annual Beach Week (this year hosted by ChopStixx) I got the opportunity to sample several eateries. For the record, The Frogg Pond IS a gay bar, the service there is slower than molasses in winter, and their crabcakes are the salty bits of shit. Claws has the best dinner special in Rehoboth (I'll be reviewing them in a later blog).


There is one place in Rehoboth that I've passed wanted to try for several years now, but always managed to either forget or catch them when they were closed. Just past the turn off for Rehoboth Ave, painted a horrid purple&green and surrounded by flags is the visual assault known as: The Fractured Prune.


Photo Courtesy of Richard Kaszeta, and his food and travel blog Offbeat Eats


If the jarring neon green and grape jelly building doesn't get your attention, the name certainly will. The full story behind the name can be found here, but the summerized version is this: The doughnut shop is named for a Prunella Shriek, a woman who lived in Ocean City, MD during the late 1800's. She competed in dangerous athletic competitions such as skiing and ice skating raced alongside men well into her 70's, often resulting in injuries. As a result, she was dubbed "Fractured Prunella". The Fractured Prune takes it's name from this apt nickname.

I found myself there one morning on my way to soak up the sun. After all, what makes you more ready to slip into your monokini than eating a deep fried circle of dough? Once I made it past the nausea inspiring decor, I saddled up to the counter and found myself viewing a wide variety of glaze and topping options. Unbeknown to me, the Fractured Prune prides itself not only in hot hand dipped doughnuts, but they are also custom made for you with your choice of glazes and toppings. You can also order from a list of specialty doughnuts such as the Blueberry Hill (blueberry glaze, powder sugar) or Chocolate Covered Cherry (cherry glaze, mini chocolate chips).

The clerk greeted me politely and asked if it was my first time. I wasn't quite ready to be on that personal a level with the clerk, but blabbered out "Yes" anyway. A shout of "FIRST TIMER!" cut through the air, and the crew in the kitchen area launched into action. I was more than a bit embarrassed, my Fractured Prune virginity being announced to everyone, but it was made worthwhile when I realized that as a "First Timer" I was entitled to a free doughnut of the day. I knew saving myself for a meaningful fried-dough relationship would pay off.

The sample doughnut I received happened to be one of the doughnuts I was considering ordering, the "Ocean City Sand". It's a cakey doughnut covered with a honey glaze, cinnamon and sugar. They live up to their promise of hot, hand dipped donuts as the O.C. Sand was served warm, the glaze sweet and gooey. It took me several minutes to decide on what to order, but I settled on the French Toast:


Photo Courtesy of the Fractured Prune website.

The clerk took my order and handed me a playing card, the four of diamonds, and told me my card would be called when my order was up. This is kitschy, and we all know I love kitsch. I will take a few moments to bitch though, the location I went to didn't have skim milk, and these donuts are far to heavy to eat with 2%. I settled down and waited for my doughnuts. Blurry photo to follow:



*sigh* I seriously need to keep my digital on me at all times.

The OC Sand was warm and goey, sweet enough to give you diabetes, and heavy as lead. I was only two bites in before my card was called, and my French Toast doughnuts were up.




The French Toast is served with a maple glaze, cinnamon and sugar. It tasted like French Toast, gone naughty. The doughnut was moist and warm, very cake like. The maple glaze was perfect, making me visualize big breakfasts with syrup soaked pancakes. They were a true delight. As I enjoyed the doughnuts, I looked around the interior and discovered that they also offer a treat called "Hole in One". It's a doughnut of your design, topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and served on a Fractured Prune logo frisbee. Freakin' awesome!

The Fractured Prune: Diabetes tested, Fox approved.