IKEA PH to offer dishes ‘with a Filipino twist,' apart from its iconic meatballs, in its hotly anticipated 850-seat restaurant

IKEA Philippines is set to open by the second half of the year at the SM Mall of Asia Complex. Aside from their incredible home finds, another thing Filipinos are looking forward to is, of course, their famous in-house restaurant.

Any IKEA branch wouldn’t be complete without one, and upon studying the Philippine market, the team found out that it could be a potential hit among Filipinos, too, with their unrelenting love for food.

“Food, socializing, and malling seem to be a part of the Filipino culture,” Georg Platzer, its development manager in Southeast Asia, told PhilSTAR L!FE.

“The restaurant is a very important part of our operations because this is the place where we’ll give people time to rest, sit down, relax, and enjoy food,” he continued. 

Since Filipinos value togetherness, they made sure it would be spacious enough to host 850 guests in the food spot alone. It doesn’t come as a surprise, though—the IKEA branch in the country is expected to be the largest in the world, occupying about 65,000 square meters (and mind you, that’s as huge as 150 basketball courts!). 

Will they offer IKEA’s iconic meatballs in the PH branch? “Yes, just for you!” Platzer said with a laugh. But the best part is their restaurant team is working hard to create a good menu for Filipino consumers, featuring a delectable mix of Swedish meals and local dishes. “We are preparing to serve the best quality food for the lowest possible price,” he noted. 

While the local offerings on the menu have yet to be finalized, Platzer let slip the food items they currently have in mind. “We’re looking into adobo and sisig—really traditional local Filipino dishes,” he revealed. “You have your way of spicing up dishes. You do it differently than the rest of Southeast Asia and that should be reflected in this offer.” 

“For now, here’s one thing I can promise: there’s definitely dishes you know from your childhood,” Platzer teased.