Taste Cheshire @ Las Iguanas Chester Opening #Blog

Hannah Lucy
7th October 2015

Taste Cheshire was very kindly invited to the opening of the new Latin American influenced Las Iguanas restaurant in Chester last Wednesday. We sent General Manager Hannah Lucy and Event Manager, Kym Moreton along to give us their verdict.

As we arrived we couldn’t help but notice the grand structure of the Las Iguanas building with its colonnade style and huge glass walls. This area of Chester has been completely redeveloped as a “Restaurant Quarter” after the collapse of Habitat and the furniture store that always looked interesting but no-one ever went in to – you know where I mean. Anyway, they have spent a fortune on it and Las Iguanas is just one of three large eateries now inhabiting this area (like the term Hannah -Ed)

On entering we were swiftly greeted and shown to our table. First impressions of inside the restaurant was that it had great mood lighting, busy, warm, air with an inviting atmosphere. The space was utilised very well even though the restaurant seemed big I think this was the effect of the huge glass windows overlooking the city streets of Chester, which we thought were great, as there is nothing better than having natural light flowing in and of course being able to people watch. (We like that)

We decided to order three courses and a couple of cocktails, is there any other way to enjoy the full experience of a new restaurant? For starters I chose the Brie and Mango Empanadas (Crispy filled pasties) with a corn & sweet chilli salsa, whilst Kym chose the Pato Taquito (Rich shreds of roast duck & caramelised onion rolled in a flour tortilla & char-grilled, with a spicy cranberry salsa). The empanadas were light, fluffy but crispy pastry parcels filled with lots of flavour and textures and when dipped into the salsa was met with a sweet kick. A good sized but light starter with some delicate flavours and textures.

For our main courses I ordered the Xinxim (Chicken & crayfish in a creamy lime & peanut sauce with spring onion rice, fine green beans, coconut farofa & sweet plantain) and Kym ordered the Honey Chilli Chicken, red onion & pepper Churassco Skewers. ‘Wow’ basically sums up my main meal, but I’ll try and break it down for you. Where to start? Well the ‘Xinxim dish was full of all these different components and flavours that just wowed the senses. As you can see from the picture the presentation was well put together with everything in its own place and with the saucy chicken served separately and heated with a candle, as so it didn’t go cold, it also didn’t over power the other delicate flavours on the dish. The chicken and crayfish in sauce reminded me of a Thai curry, very light, perfumed and of course full of flavour. The green beans were cooked perfectly for me, ‘al dente’ and had a slight kick to them as they had been glazed with a garlic and chilli butter, divine! The fried plantain was so light and soft in texture, tasted sweet and had this beautiful slightly blackened mustard colour to it. The coconut farofa was something I had never tried before it added crunch to the dish and the coconut complimented the rest of the rather tropical dish. This is something I’d order again for sure!

We were definitely full when it came to ordering dessert but we had a little room left. I ordered the Berry Mexican Mess and Kym ordered the Passion Fruit Pave. You can probably guess that the Berry Mexican Mess was very similar to that of an Eton Mess and you’d be correct but with the use of yogurt as well which was very apparent plus the hibiscus syrup too which really sweetened things up. This was a light, sweet, fruity and creamy dessert, perfect to have when you want a dessert that’s not too filling and a good portion too.

The servers seemed to be very knowledgeable about the menu and were very accommodating. It was a little slower then would be expected however I believe they had trouble using their electronic notepads that they were still getting accustomed to and to be honest it was good to have longer breaks in between each course. Both the General Manager Carolina and the Assistant Manager Jess introduced themselves; they seemed to be very passionate and excited about the restaurant and were a delight to talk to. The negative I’d say was that it was warm in the restaurant even though you could feel the air-con was on, I don’t know what it was but something was making both our eyes dry and a little sore, perhaps it was the use of chilli in the kitchen. We were pleasantly surprised as to how good the evening was, from the service & general atmosphere to the great food and its presentation. Each dish felt that it was made for the individual using good quality ingredients. It’s definitely worth a try for all the family.

Thanks again to the Team at Las Iguanas and we at Taste Cheshire wish you loads of luck. Its a great start. Well done.