Ikea UAE to bring back Filipino food menu this month

Chicken menudo and bistek Tagalog will be available at the store's restaurants around the UAE

The dishes will be available at Ikea restaurants around the UAE until July 24. Photo: Ikea

Filipino food fans will want to make a beeline to Ikea this month, as the Swedish furniture store is bringing back a menu of dishes from the Philippines.

From Tuesday to to July 24, dishes including chicken menudo, Filipino-style barbecue chicken and bistek Tagalog will be on the menu.

For those with a sweet tooth, the Ikea restaurant will offer buko pandan and leche flan.

Known for serving affordable food, the Ikea Filipino menu's main dishes start at Dh25 and the desserts are from Dh9.

The special menu was first launched for three days in May. The dishes will be available at Ikea restaurants around the UAE, including Dubai Festival City Mall and Jebel Ali Festival Plaza in Dubai, and Abu Dhabi's Yas Mall.

Ikea's Swedish meatballs are undoubtedly the homeware store's most famous culinary highlight. In 2020, the global chain launched a vegan version of the dish.

The plant balls are available in stores around the UAE and are made using yellow pea protein, oats, apples, onions and potatoes.

The plant balls follow a plant-based hot dog launched by Ikea in 2018, which has become a firm favourite with shoppers around the world.

“We sell more than one billion meatballs every year. If we were to convert about 20 per cent of our meatball sales to plant balls, that would mean around an eight per cent reduction of our climate footprint for the food business at Ikea,” said Sharla Halvorson, health and sustainability manager for Ikea's global food business.

“In the development phase of the plant ball, our key objective has been to recreate the meat-like taste and texture, only using plant-based ingredients," said Alexander Magnusson, chef and project leader at Ikea food. "We have tried and tested different ingredients and methods and we are very pleased with the final results.”

Have a look inside Ikea stores in the UAE: