Review: Las Iguanas Brighton Marina

Las Iguanas Brighton Marina

You might be noticing a pattern here, if you are thinking I appear to be working my way around all of the new restaurants in Brighton Marina, well, you would be right! Today’s review is on the brand new Las Iguanas that has opened right at the end of the new development and is another addition to the selection of eateries down at the marina.

Mexican food is my very favourite cuisine, so I have to say I am quite picky when it comes to choosing the right place to eat. I’m a Wahaca girl at heart and plus I love the lovely independent Mexican restaurants in Brighton too (like La Choza and Carillto Burrito). If I’m totally honest, I’m not 100% sure if I’d choose Las Iguanas as my first choice, however  – that said, Las Iguanas are now mixing up the Latin vibe with a Brazilian section of the menu and various iconic flavours from round South America, giving us lots more choice, plus they have a full vegetarian menu and now with a restaurant on the marina, it is handy for a quick bite before a movie, there is free parking and beautiful sea views, so there are other elements in the equation worth weighing up too. With that in mind, let’s carry onto the review…

Las Iguanas Brighton Marina

Inside the restaurant, the space is large, bright and airy with large glass windows allowing for the perfect marina view. The inside is decorated with bright, colourful decor with South American music playing to set the scene. When we visited the restaurant was absolutely packed with a real buzz to it, so it’s most definitely a popular new addition to the Marina.

Las Iguanas Brighton Marina

Las Iguanas Brighton Marina

One of the things that makes Las Iguanas so popular is their famous 2-4-1 cocktail menu. I remember back in the day when we’d have nights out in Brighton, quite often we’d start the evening with cocktails at Las Iguanas, they have some great choices and happy hour meant the cocktails were a great price too. This time I was a little more sensible and had to go for a mocktail Piña Coloda (sad times) which was just as delicious but not 2-4-1 sadly, which is a shame they didn’t make the deal a little more inclusive as I’m sure mocktails must cost less to make too, but without being in happy hour – you end up spending more!

Las Iguanas Brighton Marina

Las Iguanas Brighton Marina

Las Iguanas Brighton Marina

One of the great things about Las Iguanas, is that their food menus ARE super inclusive. Impressively, they have an separate menu for vegetarians/vegans, plus a gluten free menu! Which I feel is just amazing and one of the only places I’ve been where I’ve actually been given an additional Vegetarian menu. This made choosing a meal so much easier as you can just scan the whole menu, rather than look out for the veggie symbol – there was also plenty of choice too! For our starters I went for the Nachos with black bean, which is a classic and always one of my favourite ways to start a Mexican meal and Vee tried the Empanadas (filled with Brie, Mango and sweet chilli sauce). The great thing about this kind of food is that it’s perfect for sharing, so we just put both dishes in the middle and tucked in. Of course, we played the Nacho game (if you pick up a chip attached to loads of others, it counts as one!)

Las Iguanas Brighton Marina

For my main course, I went for the Mexican Classic Burrito which came stuffed with Sweet potato, butternut squash and chickpea chilli with a generous portion of salad, soured cream & garlicky chipotle sauce on the side. I also ordered a side order of Sweet Plantain which is one of my favourites so I always order plantain if I see it on the menu!

Las Iguanas Brighton Marina

Vee went for the Halloumi Churrasco Skewers, which were a bit of a disappointment to be honest. The menu describes them as ‘Flame-grilled honey-glazed halloumi, beetroot, artichoke, red onion & pepper skewers‘ – however if you see the picture, I’m not sure they’d been near a flame! They were warm at the most, some parts (like the onion pieces) were just raw. We nearly sent them back but the restaurant was so busy in the end, we ended up just sharing my burrito and the cassava fries which came served with the skewers. This was actually plenty for us as the starters were really filling anyway! I’m not sure if this was just a mistake on the day or whether they are always cooked like this, but they weren’t our favourite to be honest, but could be better with a whizz on the grill and maybe some marinade?

Las Iguanas Brighton Marina

Lastly, stuffed from our feast we shared a pudding – we went for the Aztec Chocolate Fudge Cake, which is ‘Warm spiced chocolate orange sponge cake, with vanilla ice cream’.  This has got to be the best bit of the meal, it was SO GOOD, so rich, chocolately and just perfect. I absolutely loved the zing of orange and hint of spice, it was almost a bit Christmassy!

Overall, we really enjoyed our meal at Las Iguanas, I loved all of my food choices, I was 100% impressed with the vegetarian, vegan AND gluten free menu’s and came away feeling very full! We had a couple of niggles – the lack of mocktails in the 2-4-1 menu and the uncooked skewers, but thats about it. It wouldn’t stop us going back there.

Have you tried the new Las Iguanas in Brighton Marina? If not – give it a go! You can book a table online here.

I was offered a complimentary meal at Las Iguanas in return for this honest review – all words, opinions and photographs are my own. 

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  • It’s so good to hear about somewhere on the Marina that’s not a pizza place. We were up there last weekend and couldn’t believe how many pizza restaurants there are now, way too many for sure. Mexican sounds like a refreshing change!

  • I dont know how I havent been here before! I love this kind of food

    Georgina Does – Travel & Lifestyle Blog

  • The food looks great, having a separate vegetarian menu is a great idea. I love that.
    It’s quite puzzling about the 2-4-1 offer at cocktails, the mocktails should be included in my opinion too. My husband is the one driving and he avoids alcohol when we eat out.