Las Iguanas is a lovely restaurant which can be found close to Fat Cats, near Market Square but also easily reached from Upper Parliament Street. This restaurant serves a wonderful mix of Latin American cuisine and has a great atmosphere! Lively Latino music plays in the background and gets you in a festival mood while the friendly serving staff make you feel comfortable and at ease. It's the perfect place to go after a busy week at work.
Mario ordered a mojito (£6.70) which is white rum over crushed ice, mint, sugar, fresh lime juice and soda. This was a lovely, refreshing-tasting drink which didn't have an overpowering rum-taste although Mario felt as though there wasn't enough mint in the drink.
I chose to drink a glass of the white wine punch (£3.90) which was a little like a sangria. White wine and gin with passion fruit syrup, peach, and apple juice. I loved this drink and thought it tasted quite like grapefruit. I was worried that it would be too sweet so I was pleasantly surprised.
For the starter, I opted to have calamares (£5.40) which, for those of you who don't know, are whole baby squids.
These were served with a deliciously creamy aioli. These squid were amazing. Beautifully seasoned, these squid were crisp and not rubbery at all. These are not for the squeamish as there were quite a few sets of tentacles! I thought they were a little greasy but the aioli was a lovely accompaniment.
Mario had the "spectacular" fish taco (5.60).
The battered fish pieces were placed on soft tortillas and were topped with corn and sweet chilli salsa. These too were delicious. The fish wasn't too greasy, was well seasoned and didn't have too much batter on. The fish itself was flavourful and cooked to flaky perfection. The salsa added just enough spice to the taco but it wasn't too overpowering. Mario wishes that he had had this as a main as he thought it was amazing!
For my main course choice, I decided to be brave and choose the apparent "proud national dish of Brazil", named Feijoada de Puerco (£12.50).
This dish is a stew of braised beef, smoked pork chorizo, pork shoulder, red pepper and black beans in red wine. This delicious stew is served with spring onion, garlic and coriander rice, seasonal greens, orange wedges and a sprinkle of coconut. Oh my goodness, I want to marry this meal. The stew is so full of flavour and is complimented by the lightly flavoured rice. The sauce is quite rich and it became a little too much towards the end of the meal. The coconut on the stew went surprisingly well with the stew. The greens were cooked so there was still a little bite to them.
Mario chose to have the Churrasco Fiasco from the "barbacoa", which are essentially kebabs. He decided to have the steak, red onion and peppers churrasco, in a paprika and cumin marinade (£13.90) although there is an option to have chicken instead.
These kebabs are flame-grilled and served with a honey peri-peri sauce, salad and cassava fries. These kebabs are made up of rump steak which has been glazed in honey. The kebabs themselves were very tasty although Mario felt as though they were a little over-cooked. The meat was a bit dry and chewy, which took away from the tasty glaze. The salad was lightly dressed and was a very tasty side. The chips, however, were absolutely amazing and it's a shame this dish only came with a couple of them, although any more would have been too much to eat!
This meal was lovely and enjoyable. Our experienced was enhanced by the friendly and attentive staff and also by the lively, carnival-feel that the background music gave. I would definitely recommend this restaurant to anyone who enjoys food from Latin America! To book a table, call 0115 9596390 or online at http://www.iguanas.co.uk/book-now/nottingham
No comments:
Post a Comment