Review: Las Iguanas

Las Iguanas recently opened in Exeter and promises you the ability to "Drink Latin and Eat Latin".

They use fresh British produce then add carefully sourced ingredients from around the world, to conjure delicious, authentic South American food, made with passion, love and lots of Latin magic. It's no secret that I love Mexican food and have been desperate to find somewhere that offers authentic Mexican food in Exeter, so was very excited to eat here.

It is a big restaurant in the centre of Exeter that has been refurbished to a high standard, yet edgy with lots of the lights just being bulbs hanging on a wire, it looks better than it sounds!  We were greeted and shown to our table by friendly staff, and we were immediately impressed by their vast menu options. From tasters and starters to traditional Mexican fajitas and enchiladas to curries and chillies, they had everything you could ask for from a Latin feast. We went on a Sunday, meaning that it was happy hour all day so I quickly got stuck in to some Long Island Ice Tea cocktails to get the evening going.

We decided to get a selection of starters to share between us, partly because we are indecisive and also because everything sounded so appetising!  The top picture is of baby calamari, sliced & coated in crisp crumb cassava, served with creamy aioli. The squid was cooked perfectly without any chewiness in sight.  The coating was crispy Manioc root and gave a lovely crunch with the soft squid. We both really enjoyed this. The second picture is of Quesadilla tortilla, folded, char-grilled & rammed with Spicy chicken, peppers, onion & cheese served with a home made salsa. They had plenty of filling and the chicken was lovely and tender inside.  It went really well with the salsa making a really light and delicious starter. There was enough to share between 2 people, but it is a really good potion if you were just eating on your own as well. The third picture is of Patatas Bravas in Bits, which are Chunky twice-fried spicy spuds on sticks which you can Dunk ‘n’ plunge into smoky chipotle sauce & creamy aioli.  These were amazing and my personal favourite.  Such a simple dish yet full of flavour.  The potatoes were lovely and crispy with a bit of a salty kick to them, which was perfectly complemented by the smoky chipotle sauce.

Nick went for a Chimichanga, crisp tortilla parcel, delivered with home-made tomato salsa, guacamole, soured cream, spring onion, garlic & coriander rice & refried beans. Packed with Tinga (a Mexican smoked chipotle chicken). Nick had never had refried beans before, but I think he was pleasantly surprised! The chimichanga was perfectly cooked; crisp on the outside, and packed with perfectly cooked succulent mildly spiced chicken and salsa.

I chose Home-style Burritos - Tortilla packed with refried beans, Smoky shredded beef & caramelised onion & crumbly white cheesee, served up with little gem lettuce, guacamole, aji & slaw, spring onion, garlic & coriander rice, soured cream & chipotle sauce on the side. The rice was really light and fluffy and well flavoured. The burrito itself was stuffed with filling, and the beef was soft, smoky and melt in the mouth. The slaw was lovely and fresh with crunchy Shredded cabbage, carrot, onion, jalapeño & coriander. The chipotle was the same as was served for the patatas bravas, which I was very pleased about!

There was a great atmosphere, it was busy but not noisy and the service was really prompt. It is a really nice place to sit and eat, and you can also sit in the bar and just drink as well. There is really nice Latin music playing throughout, which really adds to the vibe- I loved it, and know that we will be going back again soon.


L x