Festive cheer at Las Iguanas with Bookatable

It’s official. Christmas is coming, and is there a better way to celebrate than with good food and great friends? With November in full swing and December fast approaching, restaurants all around the country are putting up their festive Christmas menus and you can easily find one near you and book a table online with Bookatable’s festive offerings. This is a great opportunity to try something special that the restaurant doesn’t usually offer. To celebrate the coming season, my husband and I got together with two friends and headed to Mermaid Quay at Cardiff Bay, one of my favourite places to eat in Cardiff, to celebrate Christmas with a Latin America flair at Las Iguanas.

Rather than traditional Christmas offerings, you’ll get a lot of spice and flavour at Las Iguanas as you celebrate their festive menu with a tropical feast. It won’t break the bank either at just £24.95 for three courses any day of the week, not to mention the 2 for 1 cocktails all day every day.

Enough waffle, let’s see what we ate!

Starters

We started with two servings of Nachos Navidad (Corn Tortilla chips topped with cheese, jalapenos, tomato salsa, sour cream & guacamole), a serving of Cha Cha Chorizo (smoky pork and garlic chorizo in a red wine, tomato & chipotle sauce) and the Beetroot & Smoked Salmon Tiradito, topped with candied seeds.

Everyone loved their starters. They were excellent portion sizes and bursting with flavour.

Mains

I ordered the 10oz Sirloin Steak, served with smoky herb chimichurri, baby fire-roasted tomatoes and fries. The steak was cooked perfectly (medium) and the sauce was full of flavour.

My husband ordered the Lechon Cuban Pork Belly, slow cooked with an orange, garlic and oregano sauce and served on a sweet potato and kale mash. He said it was tender and juicy and the sauce was absolutely amazing. He had some patatas served with chipotle and aioli on the side which were a big hit with everyone.

Our two friends twinned up and both went for the Chicken Breast Fajitas, which were served sizzling hot and smelled divine. They were served in a mix of spices, onions and peppers, with tortillas, guacamole, cheese, sour cream, jalapenos and salsa to build yourself. The only time I want to assemble my own food is with tortillas.

The mains were polished off and we were all feeling unbelievably stuffed, but still managed to bravely soldier on and squeeze in some dessert.

Desserts

I and one of our friends had the Banana Sticky Toffee Pudding. Unfortunately neither of us liked the toffee sauce that came with it – but I did love the vanilla mascarpone that it was topped with.

My husband had a Winter Berry Cheesecake which was a huge size for a dessert. He loved the cheesecake itself but said the winter berries on top were still partly frozen, which is a bit unfortunate.

Our final dessert was the Chocolate Coconut Tart, which was apparently amazing, so at least that one hit the spot!

Dessert may have been a bit of hit and miss but the mains and starters were all amazing and we all felt it was excellent value.

Las Iguanas had a great party atmosphere and the serving staff were perfect – attentive, friendly and fast (and very skilled at carrying lots of sizzling dishes!) This is a restaurant that I would be happy to go to for any sort of celebration and there are plenty of vegetarian, vegan and gluten free options on the menu as well, which is always great to see.

We got to add to the festivities with a glass of Mango Mimosa to start (just £3.95 when ordering the Christmas menu) and had Latin American paper crowns to wear for fun. We had a fantastic evening – three hours of good food and great company. Christmas is all about friends and family and eating out is a great way to meet up, relax and have awesome food, without having a ton of cooking and washing up to do. So whether you decide to celebrate Christmas with a traditional meal and head out for turkey and all the trimmings, or if you want to add some spice and go for the exotic Latin American style, or everything in between, you can book tables online for restaurants in your Cardiff – or your local area – today.

Note: This is a review post. I was asked by Bookatable to try a local festive menu and share my thoughts, which remain my own.