Cathy 2 and I posted our opinions of the event over in the event section. I think that the thread should be merged.

I would say that the ethnic breakdown was about 50% Asian at the earlier seating.

I would also say that there were a lot of people at the earlier event who lacked manners. I thought that one women was going to grab the entire steamtable pan of crawfish to her table.

jlawrence01 wrote:Cathy 2 and I posted our opinions of the event over in the event section. I think that the thread should be merged.

Done.

=R=
for the Moderators

HI,

I was at their Midsummer dinner in June, it was the same reasonably pleasant crowd. Friday night might be the new reality or an anomaly.

Absent this time was the funny hats, decorations and sing-along booklets. I figured it was an economy. I now suspect the staff was overwhelmed and decided to forgo it.

I wonder what the Julebord will be like on December 13th. They were already selling tickets the other night.

Regards,

imsscott wrote: When I went back with my dirty plate in hand to get more crayfish, the bins were empty and several people were standing around waiting for more. When they were brought out I took about six and they were ice cold and flavorless, apparently from having been partially thawed out under running water. The fat in the body was frozen.
.

kind of wondered where they were getting their crayfish this time of year.... Frozen bugs(nasty) and no beer, doesn't sound worth it at all.

I went to the Swedish Crayfish Party at IKEA Woodbridge in Virginia and it was well organized.

The staff there did a few nice things differently than what have been done in Schaumburg such as:
- no self-served crawfish. That would speed up people moving thru the line and ensure that everyone had a relatively fair share.
- different color of wrist bands were assigned to different seating times to help staff identify people who stayed longer than their assigned seating time slot.

jimswside wrote:kind of wondered where they were getting their crayfish this time of year.... Frozen bugs(nasty) and no beer, doesn't sound worth it at all.

Hi,

My seatmates were not too thrilled with the dill tasting crayfish. They planned to return next year with their own hot sauce, seasonings and tools to more fully eat their crayfish.

People eat previously frozen lobster tail all the time without any quibbling. These crayfish were not served hot, though I, too, had a few from one batch still frozen. That was an outlier, because all those crayfish selected previously and afterwards were fine.

I did go home with a two-gallon ziploc bag of crayfish carcasses, which was later made into bisque.

I'm glad there are ideas to be emulated from Virginia's IKEA.

Regards,

jimswside wrote:kind of wondered where they were getting their crayfish this time of year.... Frozen bugs(nasty) and no beer, doesn't sound worth it at all.

is your qualm with eating frozen bugs or bugs in general? if it's the latter, i'm gonna go ahead and say that crawfish festival is not for you.

bugs being synonymous with shellfish here.

dudefella wrote:

jimswside wrote:kind of wondered where they were getting their crayfish this time of year.... Frozen bugs(nasty) and no beer, doesn't sound worth it at all.

is your qualm with eating frozen bugs or bugs in general? if it's the latter, i'm gonna go ahead and say that crawfish festival is not for you.

bugs being synonymous with shellfish here.

jimswide is a renowned bug connoisseur. The red waterloving kind But, I'm guessing he was inferring that, like some of us who grew up with the fresh stuff, the shipped-frozen-fresh-from China critters don't hold much appeal for him!!

We got maybe one bib/hat combo for the table (which my younger daughter snagged). No song books, no live music/dancing. We got to the Bolingbrook location around 6, and there was already a massive line. For what it's worth, many of the Asians in line seemed to be part of a few large groups, to the extent we wondered if there had been a hired bus; lots of mingling, place holding, cutting in queue en mass. The kitchen didn't seem to be lacking food, even though we did indeed see people greedily piling multiple plates full of crayfish at a time. A few times the line seemed to stall (after we were sitting) while they waited for more crayfish to come up, but never for long.

There was a lot of pushiness at this location, too. But the staff (per IKEA standard) was surprisingly affable and helpful, and, most importantly, organized.

Personally, I thought the crayfish were inedible, both literally and figuratively. Minus any sort of cracker, I just couldn't get into the shell without risking slicing open a finger. But since they tasted like dill brine and little else, we didn't feel like we missed out, and in fact were happy sticking with the salmon. I'm not sure I saw anything served that you can't simply pick up in the cafeteria most days or frozen in the market by the check-out, possibly including the crayfish but definitely the shrimp and salmon. My daughter was mostly disappointed at the lack of Swedish fish on the menu.

Basically, we're happy to have done this weird thing once, but are happier to never do it again. It was like Disney World with worse food and no rides.

I think some of you need a crawfish eating tutorial As sung by the Radiators, it's "suck the heads, squeeze the tips". No shell piercing or cracking needed. You tear off the tail, suck the juice out of the head, then pinch the base of the tail to pop it into your mouth. I wouldn't want to attempt any of this with a half frozen, dill-flavored crawdad but that's just me...

boudreaulicious wrote:I think some of you need a crawfish eating tutorial As sung by the Radiators, it's "suck the heads, squeeze the tips". No shell piercing or cracking needed. You tear off the tail, suck the juice out of the head, then pinch the base of the tail to pop it into your mouth. I wouldn't want to attempt any of this with a half frozen, dill-flavored crawdad but that's just me...

HI,

This type of meal is a summer ritual in Sweden. I heard about this event from the couple who own Tre Kronor. They described a lovely time, which I tracked down and attended based on their advice.

As for the Swedish style vs Cajun, it's really not a contest. Regional variances are something I like to experience.

There were extreme circumstances on Friday unlike any the staff experienced before for these dinners. Hopefully they learned from this event and will make whatever corrections necessary.

Regards,

Actually, the first batch of crayfish I got were very flavorful. They were also the largest crayfish I've ever had. I've never seen Chinese crayfish that large. I don't know why anyone is assuming that these were Chinese. And they did have beer and wine.

To eat these, you twist off the tail being sure to take as much of the body meat with it as possible. Then pinching the end of the tail with one hand and pulling the exposed meat with the other to extract the tailmeat in one piece. However, with many of these tails, I had to crack the tail shell with my fingers or teeth because the meat wouldn't come out easily and the tail shells were pretty hard. Not one of the tails could be popped out as Boudreaulicious directed. After sucking the juice from the head, I separate the top of the shell from the bottom and scoop out the fat near the head with my finger. If you don't get that fat you're missing out.

While I like cajun style best, I like the Swedish prep too. After all I'm Swedish. I used to love the way my sister made the crayfish we would catch in northern Wisconsin 50 years ago too. She would just boil them in salted water and we would dip the tails in melted butter.

imsscott wrote:Actually, the first batch of crayfish I got were very flavorful. They were also the largest crayfish I've ever had. I've never seen Chinese crayfish that large. I don't know why anyone is assuming that these were Chinese. And they did have beer and wine.

Actually, no one was complaining about the quality of the crawfish. In fact, I thought that they were larger than any I have ever had AND better tasting that about 80% of the crawfish that I have had - all of which have been consumed in Louisiana.

As of the source, I would expect that they were more likely European sourced as is most of their seafood products.

I believe they are from SE Asia, last time I picked up a bag they were from Thailand I think. Even in Sweden it's hard to find crawfish that aren't from Asia.

Hilariously my father's family is from LA but I was a picky eater growing up and wouldn't touch things like crawfish. So I learned how to eat them in Sweden, which causes much consternation in LA.

The Swedish Chamber of Commerce also does a kraftskrivain Winnetka. I haven't been, but it seems very authentic.

Hi- The kraftskiva that was just posted that is taking place in Wilmette on 9/16, is unfortunately sold out. You can be put on a waiting list. The tickets are only $15, and the party takes place at a yacht club in Wilmette. It sounds like a really good deal. It includes a buffet including crayfish, beer, wine and entertainment.

NFriday wrote:Hi- The kraftskiva that was just posted that is taking place in Wilmette on 9/16, is unfortunately sold out. You can be put on a waiting list. The tickets are only $15, and the party takes place at a yacht club in Wilmette. It sounds like a really good deal. It includes a buffet including crayfish, beer, wine and entertainment.

Nancy,

I am on their e-mail list, it is more like $75 for members or $85 for nonmembers ... precise price gone because I deleted the e-mails. The cost of $15 is related to a bus from downtown to Winnetka and back.

Regards,

Hi- I thought that sounded too cheap for a dinner at a yacht club in Wilmette. Now I see it is just for the bus. Thanks, Nancy

Hi,

After a hiatus of a few years, I went to IKEA's crayfish dinner on Friday night. It is now a mid-September event rather mid-August. To avoid the issues from my last visit, I went for the 4:30 pm seating. It was quiet, seating was easily available and there was lots of good food for $14.99 per person. New to me was their cheese pie, which effectively was an individual quiche.

Friends had been to the Swedish Museum's dinner at Tre Kronor the evening before. Swedes were inquiring with each other when the IKEA crayfish event might be. They were expecting an e-mail or other notification. A few weeks earlier, a family member in the area popped in to check on it for me. I learned of IKEA's crayfish dinner from Tre Kronor's owners when planning the LTH holiday party years ago.

I went with two friends who never went before. They really liked the crayfish, one noting it was refreshing not to taste Old Bay's seasoning. Without any seasoning, their meat is sweet and the heads filled with tamale, just like a lobster. It was a very congenial dinner slowly making our way through those crayfish.

By the time we left at 6:30 pm, there was a line waiting to get in. The 4:30 pm guests were pretty much gone due to tactful reminders the buffet was closing. My last visit the early seated guests never left, which created quite a logjam for the second seating.

I will be back.

Regards,
Cathy

Swedish Crayfish Party
Due to unforeseen circumstances, the Swedish Crayfish Party scheduled on Friday, September 14, 2018 is cancelled. The supply of Swedish style crayfish is unavailable in the US for this festivity.

If you have already purchased tickets, please see a co-worker in the Exchanges & Returns department in store for a full refund. We apologize for any inconveniences.