Las Iguanas

So I’ve been meaning to come to this place for like forever and when I saw they had a deal going on and I was damn let me get some of that! I’d already made plans with a friend, so I won her her over with the promise of a Mexican feast and lots of guac!
When we arrived the place, I was shocked by how big the place actually was! It massive once you go downstairs, and we got given a really nice table in the corner, plenty of space for a good convo and not to get squashed.
The food was ridiculous! So good! We both got fajitas. I was craving seafood, so I went for the prawns and she chose the chicken. Both were cooked to perfection. They were served with salsa, guac, jalapeñoes and sour cream. The salsa wasn’t my favourite, but the rest were delicious.
Drinks wise, I was feeling a cocktail, but my friend was sick so lead the way and ordered red wine, so I was tempted to join. I got a juicy Malbec, which was light and easy to drink. She opted for the Rioja, which was a bit more spicy.
All in all, so impressed by this place. I can’t wait to come back and check out more of the menu.

So… I was going about my business when my friend notified me that Las Iguanas had some kind of Tuesday Fajita deal going on. She had me at Tuesday!
We booked a table to be safe as I know that after work hours London commuters turn into hungry beasts!
Long story short we ordered the chicken and prawn fajita … BANG BANG INTO THE ROOOOOOOM! Flavourville! Both were so yummy! I was a little surprised I won’t lie. Didn’t expect the flavours to hit me so hard on a Tuesday like that!
I didn’t get to try their cocktail menu as I have a terrible cold :(but I did opt for red wine. The Merlot was surprisingly nice! A lot of surprises that night haha … Your get four fajita rolls and four other ingredients to help take the meal to even higher heights! Guac, jalapeños, sour cream and some salsa which I hated! Sad times … Over all a great evening and it was 2 for one so yay even better!

I travel to London frequently to visit family, and Las Iguanas on Royal Festival Hall is a must-​go every time I visit. Right next to the London Eye and with a fantastic view of Big Ben and Parliament, the location itself is a must for anyone who’s visiting the UK.
As a small chain, each location of Las Iguanas has this fun, beachy, 60’s inspired ambiance that makes eating there an experience. While the décor at the Spitalfield Market is my favorite, this location is cute as well.
The restaurant boasts an extensive and delicious selection of margaritas (the coconut one is my personal favorite) as well as a menu that appeals to both meat-​eaters and vegetarians. I eat meat; however, I always opt for the butternut squash enchiladas. Each dish is quite filling on its own; however, I would recommend splitting some appetizers with your dining guests (you can either select three starters for 15 pounds or five for 24 pounds). I must say that the menu has changed since I started eating at Las Iguanas. Their «Cha Cha Chorizo» was a fantastic starter, and has since been eliminated from the menu.
Overall, an affordable, aesthetically-​pleasing Mexican restaurant that will leave you satiated and satisfied.

My flatmate loves South American food and invited us to join her for a dinner at Las Iguanas. To me that sounded like an avocado and cilantro feast so I was defenitely up for it.
I passed the time with a classic Margarita until our party was complete and then craved the Cranberry & Avocado Salad. Sprinkled with candied almonds, the salad was a bit too heavy and sweet. Although there wasn’t much on the plate, I didn’t feel the need to finish it up.
My friends were happy with their Mexican comfort food and although I prefer smaller, more unique restaurants, I might come again some day.

This is a great spot for a Birthday treat, even better if you signed up for their mailing list!
I was taken here the other week and treated by my girlfriend for my Birthday. We were looking for a place close to Southbank that would eb a bit exotic. Las Iguanas fit that criteria perfectly.
I am a fan of Mexican food, but never had the opportunity to sample Brazillian food so I was excited for this.
There didn’t seem to be any reservations but we left my phone number and they called within 15 minutes saying a table was held for us. We are led into the ever expanding interior that is so much larger than outside appearances.
We start the evening with a cocktail jug (purple zombie or something similar sounding). We share Pato Taquito and Chicken Wings as starters which are small but increibly powerful in taste. This was followed by Camarao a la Criolla (Prawns in) for my girlfriend and I chose the Cordero (boneless lamb in sweet orange and tamarind glaze).
This meal was incredible.
Portion size was reasonable but not what would be considered enormous. But what they lacked in size was instead replaced by overall tastes and aromas. The conbinations of flavours on the lamb was amazing. I do not usually choose lamb, but they were cooked perfectly, soft, and very juicy.
To top off the night, I remembered that I have been to Las Iguanas for lunch last year and joined their email newsletter. I had received an email for my Birthday wishing me a Happy Birthday and a free main meal! So with that significnat discount to the total meal we leave feeling like we have incredible value for money and a very pleasant experience.
In terms of atmosphere, the restaurant on the Southbank is obviously very busy and this created a great lively mood for a Thursday evening.
To conclude, we were treated to great cocktails, great starts, even better Brazilian main courses and a free main course for my Birthday!
I enjoyed the meal so much, I have started my fitness campaign to join the GB Olympic squad so I get a free trip to Rio in 2016!

Las iguanas is one of those chains that I visit, like and then don’t go again for ages, simply because there’s so many other places to go to. However I was quite happy to get the chance to go again, as I mentioned it to my colleagues and they agreed (they know by now that my obsession with Unilocal is here to stay).
Anyway, we went in, got seated and ordered our drinks. I do have to mention that one of my colleagues got a dirty (kinda mouldy) cup that we returned. The staff apologised about it and mentioned that it happens some times. It has not happened to me before but ok… Nevertheless, we ordered our food and it came shortly after.
I had the chicken burrito from the lunch menu and the mushroom starter. The mushrooms were great but the chicken in the burrito was a bit dry. I did feel quite full afterwards and only paid about £9 for the food so it is quite good value for money, even if the quality has room for improvement. My colleagues who had the half chicken said its not as good as Nando’s and the really spicy one was not as spicy as they thought but still good value for money in terms of portion sizes.
Since I personally have had a good experience with the venue in the past I would like to think that the few mishaps of this visit were an exception and I would go back again, but in general I think wagamama is a better alternative.
If you are in the area I would recommend their cocktail happy hour but there are some better places to go for food.

I love Las Iguanas for its ever happy happy hour! Plus the new drinks on there are so luscious! The Coco Manzana was surprisingly delish with a good kick ;) Food is great for a chain restaurant — I am a fan of the tapas and the new lamb meatballs are just yum and as always the champignones are always ordered:) will be back soon!

Got dragged here last night by our cousins for ‘dinner and drinks’. I think the two for one cocktails may have been the main attraction. The experience itself wasn’t too bad, our waitress was really super nice and they gave free cake and sung happy birthday to birthday cuz. The hostess who greeted us wasn’t great. First she told us there were no tables available for 45 minutes. When she ‘found’ us a table, which she led us through a half empty dining room to get to, she ‘double checked’ that we were eating, and said we’d have to vacate the table in two hours. Not great service. The food and drink are awful. The menu is a kind of mash up of Cuban, Brazilian and Mexican-​inspired food, but there’s always something a bit weird about each dish. Like fish tacos with sweet chilli sauce rather than lime and coriander. The cocktails were weak and tasted of washing up liquid, making the two for one deal slightly less enticing. The food was really expensive for the quality. £15 for chicken fajitas and you have to pay extra for cheese. I just had a salad as the least offensive thing on the menu. It was £10 and was mainly just leaves. I wouldn’t go here again.

I’ve been to Las Iguanas before and although the food isn’t amazing you can’t go wrong with a burrito or fajitas! Also their cocktail menu is good although all are very sweet!
Recently went for dinner with 3 friends and was quite impressed with the menu. There had been a lot of change and lots of tasty looking things. My friends both had chilli; one beef and one pumpkin. Both enjoyed however I don’t think it is anything to shout about. I had a roasted butternut squash, cheese and spinach enchiladas which was really nice. Came with refried beans (wahacas are better) and quite bland rice. We also shared cassava fries. Ok but would go for sweet potato fries or plantain next time!
Overall a nice evening — we sat outside on a Friday evening so nice ambience. The service was quite slow however we were in no rush so it was fine.
Would return with a group of friends if craving Mexican however there are other restaurants in London I would pick over this!

I usually love Las Iguanas as a chain, but the reason I am not checking in here, in keeping with the theme of the restaurant my phone also had no service.
Firstly our booking was mixed up and so they gave away our table. When I proved that we had a booking for 11 at 18.30 not 18.00 they found us a table for 10 and then we had one person standing for 20 mons until they found us another seat.
We waited 45 mins for our cocktails which was probably because we were a large order and in the happy hour, but when they arrived they had mixed up the order. Our starters arrived before our drinks and the starters were good, but spicy and the tap water we ordered for the table didnt arrive until after our mains.
We had to send three mains back, not inculding the veggy burger they assumed we had ordered, because they had mixed up the style of burger or over-​cooked the steak to beyond edible. The staff didn’t come to check on us until they finally delivered our water.
All in all this is the worst Las Iguanas experience I have ever had. I won’t be returning again, but as it is situated in a tourist trap I doubt that would matter. If you are a tourist and thinking of coming here, don’t there are more interesting and better places nearby.

I’ve been there two days ago and received the worse service ever. When we sat down, no one came to serve us for like 30min. After we’ve been served, we had to wait more than 25min just to get our drinks on the table that were already done (just no one bother to bring) so we had to ask for them. It wasn’t even that busy.
The food was great tho. Rather than that, waiting for nearly an hour to get something really exhausted us. Not comming back

We ended up in Las Iguanas when we were looking for food on the Southbank. We were told the wait for a table for two would be half an hour so we grabbed a couple of cocktails at the bar. It always seems busy in Las Iguanas but especially as we went on a Friday night. Cocktails were ok (my friend had a mojito and I had a strawberry dacquiri) but I’ve had much better for the same price elsewhere. The dacquiri was a little bit sharp for me even though I happily eat slices of lemon!
The wait for a table ended up being near to 45mins so we wish we’d ordered nachos to start to eat in the bar first, which a couple next to us had done.
When our number came up we were shown to a table and I have to say that I was impressed with the staff. They were friendly and calm despite it being so busy. So often in chain restaurants I find the staff aren’t always like this so I really noticed it.
We had nachos to start then I had pollo con chorizo and my friend had a burrito. The nachos could have done with a bit more cheese but the guacamole was good and the tortilla crisps were really tasty. My chicken and chorizo was delicious and flavoursome but I would have liked more meat in it and less rice on the side (although I shouldn’t really complain about being given too much!). The portion sizes were good and it was reasonable value. My friend enjoyed get burrito but didn’t manage to finish it as it was pretty big.
I’ve had tapas here before, but it’s better in groups so you can get more variety of dishes.
Overall a good chain restaurant. I’ve not been to South America so can’t compare the food for authenticity but it tasted good to me.

I’ve only been here for drinks. I’ve tried to come here for dinner on a Friday night once and it was a 2 hour wait! (Thanks, but no thanks.)
The inside has a Latin theme, but the décor reminds me of a big chain restaurant so to be honest it didn’t appeal to me. There is also a large seating area outside that I’m sure would be lovely in the summertime.
Anyway their USP for me is happy hour. 2 for 1. Honestly I can’t complain about 2 for 1, so I would definitely return!

I visited Las Iguanas with two friends to celebrate my birthday and had a disappointing experience. The kitchen had lost its gas supply so a limited menu was on offer — however I won’t hold this against the restaurant as they did warn us beforehand and were still able to offer a good range of dishes.
Unfortunately when we received our food (I had the vegetarian burrito), it was both dry and bland — a far cry from the wholesome, tasty comfort food we were looking for at Las Iguanas. In addition the service was poor — our drinks did not arrive for a long time, and when we asked the serving staff for our cocktails, we were told our order had been lost.
Overall not a great experience, and I’ll probably choose an alternative chain next time I’m looking for Mexican /​Brazilian comfort food.

I’m surprised by people’s enthusiasm for this place if I’m honest. My sum up would be: mediocre food at tourist prices, and weird cocktails. This is the second time I’ve been here and failed to be impressed.
Nothing was terrible and the service was friendly. But the food didn’t live up to the fantastic sounding descriptions in the menu — I had a brazilian chicken number which sounded incredible, but turned up looking like a canteen curry and sounded like something i could probably throw together given a can of coconut milk. It was tasty, but I was expecting more — although the pink pickled onions were lovely. My friend had a similar experience. At £13 each those dishes weren’t cheap either.
The fajitas which went past us looked to be nice and substantial but with Wahaca just down the street and i’d walk the extra few metres: Las Iguanas is mex-​lite, I think.
We only tried one cocktail, the coconut margarita, and it was just plain odd. Like 2 different drinks in one. The drinks prices, to be fair, are quite reasonable but the bar space is cramped as the wait for tables can be long.
Convenient and by no means terrible but I’d recommend a wander around the South Bank before you commit…

This was one of my favorite meals while traveling in London. The food was delicious and fresh, and the service was great. I had the mushroom fajitas and a dark and stormy to drink.

A spontaneous night on the Southbank landed us in Las Iguanas. I was sceptical because I think it would be a chain with mediocre-​y food but I was proven to be wrong. We had to wait a loooooong time, much longer than advised, but I was impressed that the management recognised this by giving us happy hour all night. And true to form, it was happy all night, as the food was actually really good. The tacos were fantastic and so were the enchiladas. We left merry and drunk for a very reasonable price. Four stars.

Las Iguanas. My favourite. Where to begin? This was one of the highlights of my birthday, food and drinks at this fabulous restaurant with the Englishman. The wait was ridiculously long and we ended up waiting much longer than we were advised. Usually that’s fine as you wait around the bar. However, it was a serious wait to get drinks as it was so packed and congested around the bar.
The Englishman raised the issue with the staff who were very courteous and seeing how it was my birthday and we had to wait for soooooooo long, they very kindly offered us happy hour all night. Amazing! 2 for 1 on drinks all night. The drinks at Las Iguanas are delicious! My favourite is the raspberry caiprinhas, what a dream.
The food is delicious! Las Iguanas is definitely worth checking out if not for the drinks alone.
Tip: Check out other locations away from tourist traps for less of a wait to get in. I took a star off because of the wait, but the staff didn’t let it ruin our night out and the dining area is a bit too dark for eating.

The first drink my friend and I had was a passion fruit champagne drink. It was okay. I could taste more mango than passion fruit. It was a 2 for 1 at like 9pm lol. Then we both wanted to try the passion fruit caipirinha. The bartender was very passionate about it according to my friend. Telling him the story behind it. The drink reminds me of a margarita. Not a fan of margaritas. Too limey. The drink was impossible to drink due to the passion fruit getting stuck in the straw lol. It was very different. I would love to come back though.

I had a meeting which turned into a drinking meeting. This was her favourite local spot so off we went.
Las Iguanas is divided into two section. There is a whole seating upfront just for people who only want drinks, and then the rest of the restaurant in the back. We stayed up front for the drinks. (There is also outside seating that I’m sure is very nice in the summer. Little too cold for right now though.)
This is one of those places that always seems like it’s semi-​packed to seriously packed, so nothing moves fast here. It took us a long time to grab a drink but they were good in the end. The drinks have a South American feel to them, so you can chose from drinks from Mexico, Cuba, Brazil, or Chilie and Peru. Lots of them are sweet but you can order the classic darker cocktails as well.
They also have a nice happy hour menu with two for one.
It’s not my go-​to, but I would be happy to go again if in the neighbourhood and wanting a taste of South America. Next time, I try the food.