Las Iguanas Restaurant
Home > London > Vegetarian | Restaurants | Food and Wine | Escape the City | Dinner
Published September 24th 2012
Lovely Latin American Cuisine
Las Iguanas is a chain of Latin American restaurants dotted around the UK. I had the pleasure of visiting the one in Reading recently and I'm glad that I have finally been introduced to them.
Never having been to one of the restaurants before I wasn't entirely sure what to expect, but I was pleasantly surprised and am now totally hooked.
The interior was beautifully decorated, colourful and had a 'warm' and 'friendly' feel to it which contributed nicely to the atmosphere and overall ambiance of the restaurant.
The bar has a whole selection of different drinks. The Cocktails and mocktails are a fun alternative to the usual Diet Coke.
For drinks, we decided on the Raspberry Coolers (Raspberry and Elderflower) which were in the 'Happy Hour' menu at just £3 each and were in a 2-4-1 deal so ended up only being £1.50! Not a bad price at all.
Later on in the evening, I also decided to order the Citrus Cooler (Crushed Lime, Lemon, Ice and Lemonade) - this turned out to be my favourite out of the non-alcoholic 'mocktails', as it was so refreshing. I also used the rest of the lemon and lime in my tap water after dinner to give it some more flavour.
My choice of main was The Enchilada which was stunning. The enchilada, for anyone who hasn't been to Las Iguanas yet, is a hand-rolled tortilla smothered in smoked chilli & tomato sauce and melted cheese accompanied with garlic & coriander rice and frijoles refritos.
It is filled with either roast butternut squash, spinach, cheese and chickpeas (£7.90) or spicy chicken, peppers, onion and cheese (£9.90).
I chose the vegetarian version and expected the chilli sauce to be a tad too spicy, but instead I found that it added just enough flavour to the the meal without overpowering it or making it impossible to eat.
The price is very fair when considering the big portion you receive and the fact that the food tastes so so good. The restaurant also has a 'Lunch' and 'Early Bird' special menu where certain main meals are reduced in price if ordered before 6.30pm. It just so happened that my enchilada was in the menu for a mere £5!
For dessert I decided on the Creamy Caramel Cake which was also very good. The cake consists of layers of soaked sponge and caramelised cream, drizzled with dulce de leche. This was then topped with even more caramelised cream and a scattering of blueberries (£4.90).
I would have liked the cake to be a bit bigger but I don't feel it was a stingy portion, I just know I could have eaten more as it was delicious.
For me it was a little on the pricier side, considering my main meal was only £5, but all of the desserts were around the same price so I decided to just splurge and I'm really glad I did. It is very good and definitely a dessert I'll be ordering on my next visit.
The meal was delicious and the staff extremely friendly. It was fairly busy at the time we decided to have dinner so I expected to have to wait longer for service or share our waiter between lots of other tables. Luckily this did not happen and we were able to enjoy a relaxed evening and felt thoroughly looked after. Our waiter recommended main courses and drinks as well as desserts, which added a more personal and friendly touch to our visit.
Never having been to one of the restaurants before I wasn't entirely sure what to expect, but I was pleasantly surprised and am now totally hooked.
The interior was beautifully decorated, colourful and had a 'warm' and 'friendly' feel to it which contributed nicely to the atmosphere and overall ambiance of the restaurant.
For drinks, we decided on the Raspberry Coolers (Raspberry and Elderflower) which were in the 'Happy Hour' menu at just £3 each and were in a 2-4-1 deal so ended up only being £1.50! Not a bad price at all.
Later on in the evening, I also decided to order the Citrus Cooler (Crushed Lime, Lemon, Ice and Lemonade) - this turned out to be my favourite out of the non-alcoholic 'mocktails', as it was so refreshing. I also used the rest of the lemon and lime in my tap water after dinner to give it some more flavour.
My choice of main was The Enchilada which was stunning. The enchilada, for anyone who hasn't been to Las Iguanas yet, is a hand-rolled tortilla smothered in smoked chilli & tomato sauce and melted cheese accompanied with garlic & coriander rice and frijoles refritos.
It is filled with either roast butternut squash, spinach, cheese and chickpeas (£7.90) or spicy chicken, peppers, onion and cheese (£9.90).
I chose the vegetarian version and expected the chilli sauce to be a tad too spicy, but instead I found that it added just enough flavour to the the meal without overpowering it or making it impossible to eat.
The price is very fair when considering the big portion you receive and the fact that the food tastes so so good. The restaurant also has a 'Lunch' and 'Early Bird' special menu where certain main meals are reduced in price if ordered before 6.30pm. It just so happened that my enchilada was in the menu for a mere £5!
For dessert I decided on the Creamy Caramel Cake which was also very good. The cake consists of layers of soaked sponge and caramelised cream, drizzled with dulce de leche. This was then topped with even more caramelised cream and a scattering of blueberries (£4.90).
I would have liked the cake to be a bit bigger but I don't feel it was a stingy portion, I just know I could have eaten more as it was delicious.
For me it was a little on the pricier side, considering my main meal was only £5, but all of the desserts were around the same price so I decided to just splurge and I'm really glad I did. It is very good and definitely a dessert I'll be ordering on my next visit.
The meal was delicious and the staff extremely friendly. It was fairly busy at the time we decided to have dinner so I expected to have to wait longer for service or share our waiter between lots of other tables. Luckily this did not happen and we were able to enjoy a relaxed evening and felt thoroughly looked after. Our waiter recommended main courses and drinks as well as desserts, which added a more personal and friendly touch to our visit.
Why? Good Food
When: Various - Usually open til late
Website: www.lasiguanas.co.uk
Where: Riverside, The Oracle Shopping Centre, Reading RG1 2AG, United Kingdom
Cost: Various
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