Las Iguanas, Royal Festival Hall, London

So we found ourselves at Las Iguanas restaurant at the Royal Festival Hall in London last week, one of thirty Las Iguanas restaurants across the UK.

Serving up dishes packed full of Latin America flavours, Las Iguanas has something you don’t often see in South American restaurants: a gluten free menu.

Now, if you’re looking forward to munching down on gluten free enchiladas, gluten free burritos, or gluten free fajitas you may be a little disappointed as they’re not on the menu. (Perhaps the guys at Las Iguanas can think about addressing this?).

What they have done though is gather together all the gluten free dishes they have on the main menu to create a standalone gluten free menu. And this is a good idea actually. Because the main menu is huge and, let’s be honest, it’s a pain in the backside searching the menu for dishes with the little GF beside them.

So what’s on our own special gluten free menu? As it turns out: lots. And how nice is it to know you can eat EVERYTHING on it.

Lechuga Rellenos at Las Iguanas

So what did I have? I started with Lechuga Rellenos, (little gem lettuce leaves) with oven dried tomatoes, feta and herb chimichurri, an Argentinian sauce. Delicious and spicy, it was a good choice as a starter as it was nice and light.

Bahia Moqueca at Las Iguanas

I followed this up with Bahia Moqueca, a creamy coconut curry-like soup with squash, palm hearts and spinach that was served with rice. Now, I love Thai green curry so this was right up my street. It was so tangy and tasty I used my spoon to fish the last bit of the soup out of the wooden bowl, which was kept warm over a candle.

So the food is great. And Thursday night is two-for-one mojitos. Also great. The waiting staff also deserve a special mention too because they were all very friendly, helpful and energetic, which was amazing considering the restaurant was heaving the night we were there and the temperature outside was tropical.

It doesn’t look like all the Las Iguanas restaurants do the gluten free menu. So check yours does before you go. But if they do, it’s worth giving them a visit.

The Las Iguanas restaurant we went to was at the Royal Festival Hall, Festival Terrace, Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road, London SE1 8XX. But they have locations throughout the UK.

1 Comment | Posted in Gluten Free Eating Out and tagged Las Iguanas, restaurants