‘I tried ‘the UK’s cheapest’ meal for 99p - it was cheaper than eating at home’
IKEA, the Swedish furniture and homeware chain, went viral last year for its 99p cooked breakfasts, although many shoppers are unaware of the other cheap meal options available all day. Our reporter Sophie Mei Lan stumbled on other 99p meals after arriving too late for breakfast, which finishes at 11 am.
Dates when you’re married involve doing errands together, and if you’re eating out, you’re looking for meal deals or voucher codes.
I’d waited for a day off with my husband so we could finally have such a ‘date day’ at IKEA. We needed some furniture, and I wanted the cheap breakfast I'd seen online.
We’d dropped the kids at school and nursery before heading to IKEA in Birstall near West Yorkshire.
As the restaurant is in the middle section, by the time we had umm-ed and ahh-ed over potential storage solutions, we didn’t reach the restaurant until after 11.
Nonetheless, while wandering around the store, I’d already found online the 99p lunch options available all day, which aren’t advertised in the restaurant itself.
With an IKEA family card, you can get eight falafel balls with cous cous, aioli, and a slice of lemon for 99p, or sausage, mash, and gravy for 99p, with either vegetarian or meat sausages.
Kids meals are also 99p with an IKEA card, such as pasta and tomato sauce.
We queued up with our trays stacked on a trolley while we perused the options on the counter. My husband grabbed a Daim cake, for dessert, from the chilled section for £2.75.
I hadn’t realised how long we’d be queuing for. When we eventually got to the hot food counter, there was a range of meatballs, fish and chips, pasta, hot dogs, and falafel.
My husband had his heart set on meatballs with mashed potatoes, lingonberry sauce, and gravy, which was priced at the standard £6.75.
I was determined to try a 99p deal, which would normally be just under £3. I had the falafel and all the trimmings.
It was a large plateful, and I was sure they would charge me more at checkout.
To my surprise, with our IKEA card we also got free coffee and tap water — my entire meal, including an americano, cost 99p.
It was cheaper than eating at home, plus no washing up.
For the price, the dish was as you would expect from a chain pub, albeit a lot cheaper than anywhere I’ve been.
Obviously, it’s no comparison with fresh falafel, but it tasted as good as it does from the supermarket’s chilled aisles.
A cheap meal deal nowadays is around £3.50 in shops to grab-and-go, but here you get a large portion served warm on a plate.
The only downside to the IKEA restaurant is the long queues; otherwise, I’d be here all the time.