Rating
Appeals to
Shoppers, families, singles, couples, anyone wanting to escape the queues and those bloody slow walking browsers.
Anyone with any sense.
Cuisine
South American/South African
In a word
Bright
South America + Manchester = ?
The Trafford Centre is known to locals as ‘The Tragic Centre’ mostly because we avoid going there at all costs. Generally those who visit are out of towners who are in need of somewhere to go for a day out. We avoid it unless we need to go for Back to School/Christmas/Birthday/Sales/Summer items.
Or if we are visiting the various food outlets that are there. And some are worth the visit.
Las Iguanas has recently undergone a bit of a refurb – as have most of the outlets in the Great Hall, because, surprise surprise, a burger outlet has appeared which is taking all the customers away – and whilst the furor of yet more burgers goes on, everyone else is taking advantage of it. Get a refurb, get some peace and quiet, because soon enough Christmas will happen and everybody will be rammed.
Of course, this doesn’t mean Las Iguanas is quiet. Far from it. There is a steady stream of customers, from family groups to couples, every age is represented, from babies in high chairs with frazzled parents, to the more mature who are in the slight daze the Trafford Centre can create.
The food is hotchpotch, in a good way. From Guyanese and Mexican to Brazilian and well, American – they do do burgers after all. But here’s where they’re clever. They hit two elements of the food audience. Clean eating is currently all the rage (understandably so) and colourful food is the name of the game. Where’s more colourful than South America? The food is clean – no faff, no processed crap, it’s fresh and it’s good.
They also catch the ‘difficult’ market – gluten free? No problem, you have a menu all of your own, as do you if you’re vegetarian or vegan. You have options. Loads of them.And in a busy environment with a few thousand people hunting for food at the same time. Smart cookies.
The Drinks
I opted for booze, whilst my date opted for non-alcoholic. Well, she was driving. I could, however, easily make up for her lack of alcohol with cocktails on 2 for 1 and did so with Pisco Sours.
My only grumble here would be that mocktails are not on 2 for 1. Which seems a bit of a shame, and that I couldn’t mix and match cocktails, I could only have two of the same cocktail.
The Food
Pretty, colourful and tasty. And did I mention huge? The standard menu alone, wait, sorry, I got as far as 55 different options including tapas and, well, that’s plenty to be going on with. It makes choosing hard.
So for starters we shared…
Gambas
Empanadas
Cha Cha Chorizo
For mains…
The Full Enchilada
Dessert!
Ahh dessert. I’m in a South American influenced restaurant, I have to. Churros it is…
The options to dunk are either chocolate or dulce de leche – with a little (lot) of indecision on my part, I’m persuaded to try both and it was worth my while.
Churros
…And eat it. All of it.
Please, don’t look at me now. I need a moment.
The Verdict
Ok, so this isn’t probably going to be choice of venue for your first date, or even where you propose. But it’s good food. It’s healthy, but not too healthy, there’s an almost silly selection and if you’re out with a group, you will find something for the fussiest of eaters.
The service is great, the staff are lovely and will offer opinions and recommendations if the 50+ items on the menu phase you.
Personally, if I had to choose between this and that burger place… I’m going here.
Novelty versus value for money.
Oh yeah, and my waistline.
