Cafe Iguana  

This bar has a vibrant colours in the interior – red, lime green and bright orange. Cactus drawings on the walls, solid wood tables and high chairs, comfy booth seating, all combined together to create a modern and comfortable ambience.
Cuisine: Mexican
Food rating: 4/10*
Service: 3/10
Ambiance: 4/10
Price: HK$150pax

* Food Rating: 6/10 is equivalent to 1 Michelin star, 8/10 to two Michelin stars, and 9/10 or above to three Michelin stars

Ceviche (2/10)
The prawn, scallops and papaya were marinated in lime juice, onion, and tomato. It was rather disappointing. It wasn’t authentic enough; the prawn wasn’t fresh – frozen. Beef fajitas (5/10)
Fancy presentation. The beef was perfectly season with the spices, cooked to medium. It was a very classic fajitas. However, the sauces (Salsa, guacamole) could do better.Carne con chile (2/10)
The beef stew was slow cooked, It wasn’t too spicy, beef was tender. Perhaps I prefer the minced beef better.Chorizo frito (2/10)
Nothing too special, just some pan-fried chorizo.Alambers al pastor (5/10)
It is grilled skewers chicken marinated with chilli, honey, pineapple juice and spices. The chicken was fairly tender and greatly seasoned. Love it, it was a flavour journey. This restaurant is a great place to have a lack back Sunday dinner, the fajitas and the grilled chicken are always my all time favourite at Café Igauna.

Give me a thumbs up if you like it!

ok. I felt so obliged to write a review that I created an account here just to complain about the restaurant's food.

First was the duck salad with literally one shred of duck meat at the bottom, but that was nothing compared to the main course...
I ordered an enchilada. What I got was flour tortilla with vegetables inside (maybe meat, but not that i can see inside) doused with salsa. There was a VERY little bit of cheese sprinkled on top. Honestly, how could they call that an enchilada--it looked like a microwavable meal. It's obvious that no one working in the resto has eaten an enchilada or ever google-image searched a picture of an enchilada.

Better off going to taco loco. I have to say the service is way better than at taco loco though.

The environment is alright here, BUT one thing I dislike here is that, NO air-conditioners at all, it only serves with few fans… personally I can’t stand for a restaurant without air-con during such hot and humid summer… It’s not related to the Mexican style at all (I’ve been to other Mexican restaurants at Central, they do hv air-cons…) anywayz, I had tried the Mexican Nachos here; I like them layered with melted cheese, salsa and avocados. So delicious! I saw many people had tried the Fajitas here, base on my curiosity, I’d ordered one as well. I had tried the mixed version of Fajitas, with chicken and beef. I adore the inspiring presentation of Fajitas indeed. It serves like a “treasures’ box”. Credits had been added! Grilled chicken and flank beef mixed well with four different sauces, it’s a must try cuisine here. For the drink, I had tried the Sangria selection. I ordered the ‘Sweet Rose’, it’s the combination of rose wine with some strawberries, orange, lemon and stuffs… honestly it tastes so-so...… not as good as my imagination… umm… overall dining here is alright… Hopefully next time I’d visit again during autumn/ winter time, unless they finally install the air-cons…

I honestly have not tried many Mexican places in Hong Kong, and have yet to find one that really blows my mind of. Although I ate almost a whole plate of Nachos myself (we ordered two Nachos, so there were enough Nachos for all 4 of us, hehe) because it was so addictively yummy, the overall experience was not "Asdfdsffasdhbbjds^!!@#$%^&^*" that made me crazy and speechless.

So we were 4 girls, and ordered 2 Nachos, 1 Quesadillas, 1 Salmon Salad, 1 Tex-Mex Pasta Pockets.

The first plate of Nachos got cleaned pretty quickly. We attacked this colourful mountain of Mexican goodness right away after it landed on the table. Nachos were crispy and the strings of melted, soft cheese were getting longer and longer as we pulled the Nachos from the mountain. I loved how they used sweetcorn to add a balanced sweetness in the dish. Really yum yum!! But they could have been a bit more generous with the Salsa and Guacamole Sauce as there simply wasn't enough sauce for the whole dish. Overall, lovely texture, lovely flavour, and less important but they got it too; lovely colour The lime-green, lemon-yellow and hot-red were so eyecatching at every table, and it also macthed the restaurant which was decorated in similar colour tones. We ordered a second round of nachos, but by the time it arrived, my girlfriends were already stuffed with the other dishes we ordered so the second Nachos was less popular except for Suzanne who addictively kept eating while the others were rubbing their stomach. So YUMMYYY!Greens are always Good for Girls. And so, the Salmon Salad we ordered. And you can't go wrong (...or become over the moon) with a salad. I look forward to being proved wrong on the latter, but no, it did not happen this time.Wrapped in soft tortilla wraps, filled with Asadero cheese and grilled chicken and roasted peppers, the Quesadillas as shown in the picture below were another example of yumminess at Cafe Iguana. The wraps were hot and soft, the melted cheese was lovely, and you would normally expect the grilled, diced chicken to be dry and hard but no, not here: They were surprisingly juicy and tender! Yum yum yum!!For full review, please visit: http://makinglovewithfood.blogspot.com/

Since waiting 16 tables for dinner at Inaniwa Udon-Nabe was not an option for my family nor myself, I thought we'd try out something out of the box - Mexican. We were seated at a really cute high booth, and we studied the menu...

First up we ordered two appetizers - an appetizer sampler ($125) and an order of nachos ($88)

The nachos which had two kinds of tortilla chips - red and yellow, with melted Asadero cheese, corn, jalapenos, guacamole, salsa and sour cream was certainly pleasing to the eye but not so on the palate. The chips were no longer crunchy, more of seasoning was needed. The cheese whilst nicely melted, was pretty bland in taste... if you're going to use a mild Mexican cheese its fine, just add some salt to compensate for the lack of flavour! More salsa / guacamole etc would've helped too.

For us this appetizer platter was pretty disastrous. On the plate were some skewers (chicken and pork), pan fried chorizo, quesadillas, seafood ceviche and fried Manchego cheese. Where/how should I start? Satays were not bad but cold. The ceviche (in the glass on the left) had semi-raw seafood, and dressed with a lime dressing with chopped tomatoes/onion etc. There were dices of scallop and shrimp, and whilst the scallops were just cooked, the shrimp was half-cooked i.e. not pink in colour, still grey and not translucent either. I should have sent it back, but I couldn't really be bothered because I was so disappointed already. As for the chorizo frito which came with a tiny piece of garlic bread...I didn't like it, at all. The sausage was unbelievably tough, hard and chewy, whilst the garlic bread was slightly stale. The deep-fried Manchego cheese sticks and the quesadillas were the only items that received an 'okay' from us.

Our mains of flank steak fajitas and prawn alambres al pastor fared slightly better.

The Steak fajitas ($152) presentation-wise was pretty good. It arrived on a pan, with a bed of onions and peppers beneath steak strips (over-cooked and slightly tough as a result), four little pots with 1/3 each full only of sour cream, salsa, guacamole and re-fried beans. A drawer was on one side which contained three tortilla breads. The steak was most disappointing as it had been way over-cooked, and they could have been more generous with the condiments. The tortillas were however, soft and fluffy and slightly thicker than one's I've had. Nonetheless I can still think of many places which would serve tastier fajitas in Hong Kong.

The prawn alambres al pastor ($147) arrived on a skewer which the waiter than proceeded to take off the meat before I could photograph it. Anyway, the prawn (or shrimp rather) was placed on the plate underneath along with a side of fried potatoes and asparagus. Some really tangy and sour lime dressing was also provided, which I didn't care for. The shrimps were good - well marinated, so it was tasty. But the asparagus was way over-cooked, and the potatoes were only so-so....

After all this bad food we were pretty full, so we skipped the churros that I wanted to order in the beginning. The bill came to about $732 including three beers and service. Not expensive for civic square restaurants, but the food could've been so much better in quality and execution, for the price they were charging. Hell, anyone could've been cooking these dishes for all I know!!

Safe to say, won't be returning any time soon for food.

More photos + original post: http://gastronomerr.blogspot.com/2010/08/cafe-iguana-truly-disappointing.html

There weren't a lot of choices that included Rice and Beans, and sadly I ordered the wrong one. I ordered a chicken with rice and black beans and something about chocolate and chili sauce. When it came, it looked quite good, but when I started to eat it, my appetite went south for the winter. The chicken, I don't know how to describe its taste, but at least it was better than the rice and the beans. Turns out, the beans were cooked with the chocolate sauce, and when I ate a tiny bit, I felt like I was going to be sick, even though food with chocolate sauce was a tradional food in Mexico. The rice was sprinkled/cooked with this green herbs I don't know what it is though, but when I ate it, it was cold and tasted like dishwashing soap, as if it was going to help you wash your teeth and mouth.

The tacos with ground beef, salsa sauce and guacamole was okay. Too bad they don't have hard tacos shell, only soft tacos shell. The chicken soup wasn't really that good too. Taste like canned chicken stock dilute with water.

At last, I ate the churros and chocolate mousse, and that was pretty much the best thing I ate on the dinner.

If I go again, I will repeat my tacos order, try the fajitas and will definitely go back for churros

Staff seems not too familiar with their a la carte menu. Maybe they are more familiar with their wine and alcohol menu, afterall it's a bar instead of a restaurant.

Very suprised to see what I reckon must have been the best offer in town !!

$350 for a semi-buffet service style menu, starter and desserts buffet stlye with a la minute main courses !! Yep $350 on New Years Eve !!

I have commented before on their great set lunch offers but this impressed me with so many others charging a lot more just because of the date on the calender !!

Some friends joined me later and then another suprise - they where offering a four hour open bar package for $450, 10pm - 2am. With entertainment outside in the square and some great service inside I am very happy to have chosen Cafe Iguana to count the bells down !! Happy New Year to the team there and I wish them a greaT 2010 !!

I read that some found that the cod was a bit salty - if you where having fun like me it was probably the salt from the great margaritas !! I had the beef tacos which where splendid and a nice touch with the chocolate fountain - you don't usually see them outside of hotels.

I had a dinner there last night to celebrate a friend's b'day and count down, however when we ate till 10pm dish, the waiter suddenly brought the bday cake out without any notice nor we have told them (the bday cake suppose to be surprised!!) The reason why they sent the bday cake out was because they want us to return the table to them by 1030pm but which we were not informed we have to return the table at a specific time when we make booking. All of us were expecting to do count down there and the manager was so bloody rude to us. And he said if you want to stay for count down, you've to joined the drink package that start from 10:30p to 2am. Be honest, we wouldn't mind to join but not with his manner.

Also, foods were so so last night. The cod fish was salty to death!! No way you could eat it and the manager said it is salty cod fish so it is salty. O well...does it has to be that SALTY?

All our friends will definitely NOT going back.

Always misses the food from LA...Especially the Mexican food. Have been attempting to locate Mexican restaurants in Hong Kong, but since it is not as common as in the States, its realli hard to find Mexican Restaurants in town...

This is the second time to Cafe Iguana. Last time was a business lunch with my client, also from the States, we both loved the food, and this time, with my dear for dinner...

Lets recall what we have had tonight:
Ceviche: Starter with Tortilla Chips and seafood salsa. That was indeed a pretty fresh starter, with lime juice and fresh salsa mixing into prawns and scallops. I wasnt that hungry before eating this starter, however, right after that, I knew that I am ready to have more.....

Nachos: Better than last time's Nachos. Last time's Nachos was pretty soft, but this time, just great. Crispy tortilla chips, mixed with avocado, fresh salsa, cheese and chilli..I wished there were more chilli,,,,,

Fajita: Wasnt as good as last time. The first time I had the steak Fajitas at Cafe Iguana, the taste was much stronger, and it was really hot last time ( I love hot food...), but this time, I was a little disappointed as the taste was much milder.

Alambres AL Pastor with Prawns: That was great. Just as good as last time. The Prawns are just rightly made,not too tender. And the sauce makes the shrimp tastes excellent. The beans at the side are fresh, nicely baked with garlic. Loved that so much. However, was a little shocked by the potatoe as it taste sour...I can feel that the sour taste comes from somthing like vinegar, but it just doesnt taste right for me...

The Perfect Patron Margarita: I didnt like this drink too much. However, my other half did enjoy that. Its a very typical "men's drink" with a strong alcohol taste.

Saucy Senorita: That was recommended by the waitress while I told her that I didnt like the strong alcohol taste of The Perfect Patron Magarita. It was not bad, with a very strong rapsberry taste. However, I forgot to tell her that I am not that into Rapsberry taste before her recommendation.....my fault...lol...

There is one really good thing about this restaurant. The staffs are really nice, willing to chit chat with customers a little, and recommend food and drinks to you per request with very clear explanation on each and every item listed on the menu if you are interested. A very friendly and warm environment, with great service. Love this place and will definately come back for the third time.........

Always misses the food from LA...Especially the Mexican food. Have been attempting to locate Mexican restaurants in Hong Kong, but since it is not as common as in the States, its realli hard to find Mexican Restaurants in town...

This is the second time to Cafe Iguana. Last time was a business lunch with my client, also from the States, we both loved the food, and this time, with my dear for dinner...

Lets recall what we have had tonight:
Ceviche: Starter with Tortilla Chips and seafood salsa. That was indeed a pretty fresh starter, with lime juice and fresh salsa mixing into prawns and scallops. I wasnt that hungry before eating this starter, however, right after that, I knew that I am ready to have more.....

Nachos: Better than last time's Nachos. Last time's Nachos was pretty soft, but this time, just great. Crispy tortilla chips, mixed with avocado, fresh salsa, cheese and chilli..I wished there were more chilli,,,,,

Fajita: Wasnt as good as last time. The first time I had the steak Fajitas at Cafe Iguana, the taste was much stronger, and it was really hot last time ( I love hot food...), but this time, I was a little disappointed as the taste was much milder.

Alambres AL Pastor with Prawns: That was great. Just as good as last time. The Prawns are just rightly made,not too tender. And the sauce makes the shrimp tastes excellent. The beans at the side are fresh, nicely baked with garlic. Loved that so much. However, was a little shocked by the potatoe as it taste sour...I can feel that the sour taste comes from somthing like vinegar, but it just doesnt taste right for me...

The Perfect Patron Margarita: I didnt like this drink too much. However, my other half did enjoy that. Its a very typical "men's drink" with a strong alcohol taste.

Saucy Senorita: That was recommended by the waitress while I told her that I didnt like the strong alcohol taste of The Perfect Patron Magarita. It was not bad, with a very strong rapsberry taste. However, I forgot to tell her that I am not that into Rapsberry taste before her recommendation.....my fault...lol...

There is one really good thing about this restaurant. The staffs are really nice, willing to chit chat with customers a little, and recommend food and drinks to you per request with very clear explanation on each and every item listed on the menu if you are interested. A very friendly and warm environment, with great service. Love this place and will definately come back for the third time.........

Because of Jin's comment (http://jason-bonvivant.blogspot.com/2009/10/main-st-deli.html) on finger food, I have been thinking about it for the whole week! When talking about finger food, the first thing that came me was Mexican Nacho with plenty of cheese! O yes, and also honey garlic chicken wings! My serious craving for Mexican food led me back to Cafe Iguana for the Nth time. With a slight breeze in the air, it was indeed a nice place to enjoy a relaxing lunch under the sun on a lazy Saturday afternoon. I was not a big fan of the sun a few years but as time passes, I find myself more and more fond of it, wishing to spend time under the naked sun, to be embraced by the gentle touch of its warmth. How I come about having such big change towards sunshine is beyond me!

I was surprised to find that offered lunch sets on a Saturday. It was a pleasant surprise and the items being offered seem interesting enough to give them a try. While waiting for the orders, I ordered a Mexican beer named Carta Blanca, recommended by the staff. It was very smooth as informed but the taste / flavor was rather light to my liking. Was it too early to have beer? Not at all; but it would be too early if I am to have Chili Infused Tequila!

(1) Salad (Grilled Pear, cherry tomato, musclun with honey mustard vinaigrette and toasted peanut)
The use of ingredients was interesting enough and it was indeed very refreshing as I expected it because of the use of pear / fruit. It wasn't the taste or flavors of the salad that "shine," it was the combination of contrasting textures that I enjoyed the most. The softness of the pear against the crispiness of the toasted peanuts made a good combination indeed.

(2) Sea Bass Taco in Achiote, oregano and garlic spicy mango salsa
The vibrant colors captured my undivided attention. It certainly reminded me of a happy spring / summer time. The skin of the sea bass was thin and crisp (lightly seasoned), together with the tender fish meat and soft taco wrap, it was very nice indeed. Only traces of sauce can be found which helped the true taste of the sea bass to be tasted on every bite. Aside from the "lady-on-diet" portion of the two soft tacos being served, it was a thumbs up dish!

(3) Chicken in chocolate and chili sauce topped with toasted peanut and zucchini black beans and rice. (2 soft taco wraps)
Although chocolate was used in preparation of the sauce, not much of such flavor was present. I doubt it was the intention to have strong chocolate flavor in this dish, but the adding of the chocolate would make the sauce more creamy for sure. I guess it was a love it a hate it kind of thing; but for me, I loved it. The combination of chocolate and chili is not new and I found a few varying recipes online related to this. One called the sauce a Cincinnati Chili sauce and the other Chocolate Chili.

(4) Pie de Limon (Key lime tequila pie)
On first sight, I thought the top was a meringue layer but it turned out to be pure whipped cream which was slightly torched! The flavors of the pie was alright but the crust was too soft and there were too much whipped cream on top!

Likes:

* Environment + Great Service
* Sea Bass Taco - colorful presentation wonderfully done; but more like a Tapas than a main dish.
* Salad (Grilled Pear) - very refreshing to start start with. The contrasting texture was great.

Dislikes:

* Pie de Limon - too much whipped cream!

Avg Spending: HKD 100 - 200 per person

Original Blog with More Pictures: http://jason-bonvivant.blogspot.com/2009/10/cafe-iguana-elements-revisted-ii.html

After our Happy Hour session at SOHO No. 8, we headed over to Elements for some Mexican food because my friend who worked late wanted some Fajitas and what a great idea it was! Chili infused Tequila, here I come!! Compared with the last time I was here about a few weeks ago (First Visit), tonight the place was fully packed! I guess they did some very successful promotion. Fortunately, we did not have to wait long and we got the bench seat as well.

(1) Nachos
Lovely dish indeed! Not only does it look nice, it tasted very good. It was surprisingly good actually especially with the addition of corns. That is not a common ingredient you find ion Nachos (at least from my experiences) but the sweetness of it added a very good and refreshing flavors to it. Wonderfully prepared.

(2) Quesadillas
Another wonderful dish. The diced chicken tasted less dry than many other places so I asked the staff. Apparently chicken thighs were were instead of breast so the diced chicken remained relatively tender and juicy even after being grilled. The supply for various condiments was a nice touch too.

(3) Fajitas (steak)
We ordered this last time as well and we loved it. This time though, the sliced steak seemed smaller and a bit overcooked compared to last time. (check here for my last visit) Actually there was more onions this time. Humm ... Anyhow, we enjoyed it and had to order more tortillas.


(4) Chili Infused Tequila
How can I come here without having this Chili Infused Tequila. This time it was served in a special rack with both the tequilas and the chaser. Try to drink down the tequila first and wait for a while before going for the chaser to allow the chili flavors to come out and rest in your mouth & throats. It was a great sensation indeed.

Likes:
* Nachos - especially the addition of corns
* Quesadillas - the use of chicken thighs is a good idea
* Fajitas (steak) - still good but slightly disappointing compare with last time

Dislikes:
* Lack of air conditioning once again.

original Blog: http://jason-bonvivant.blogspot.com/2009/08/cafe-iguana-elements-revisted.html

I have passed by this new Mexican restaurant many times over the past two weeks and finally I got the chance to give it a try. Apparently it belongs to the Igor's Group. Anyways, the first thing you would notice when you arrive is its limited amount of 'proper' seating for dinners. Only a few bench seats arrangement but many bar tables. Don't get me wrong, I am fine with both arrangements but I doubt many people in Hong Kong would prefer the bar tables located outdoors. Oh yes, another thing is that because of the layout of the restaurant with a huge opening area facing the podium, there tends to be a lack of air conditioning for most seats. However, think about it, isn't this perfect for Mexican food? I am perfectly happy with it.

(1) Strawberries and Cranberries Sangria
We started off with a Strawberry and Cranberry Sangria which was a perfect choice under this climate. However, the jar of Sangria seemed smaller than we expected. It was very refreshing but I personally prefer the so-called tradition style with various kinds of fruits. In addition to the Strawberries and Cranberries Sangria, it also offers Sangria with Rose and one with White wine. Interesting indeed and maybe worth a try next time. One thing I like to mention is their great services. Staff were very friendly and tentative and would come by once in a while to check to see how we are doing. They would also chit chat with us and explain in details the various drinks and dishes on their menu. As a result of the lovely chit chat, we order the following shots.

(2) Chili Infused Tequila (with Chaser)
Wow ! The chili infused tequila was lovely but it was the chaser, the so-called bloody Mary chili flavored chaser that elevated the sense of spiciness to the next level. It woke up instantly! We asked them to show us the bottle of the infused tequila and o my, look at the number of chili in that bottle ! By the way, the chaser was only of mild spiciness according to the staff, just imagine it with normal spiciness. Thumbs Up and definitely worth a try !!

(3) Tostada de Salpicon
Basically this dish consisted of shredded beef salad on crispy corn tortilla. A very refreshing dish indeed. Not only does it look nice, it tasted very good as well. The slightly marinated beef went well with the tomato and avocado. The dressing was very light but strong enough to give a touch of citrus flavor which made it a prefect dish to start with. Thumbs Up !

(4) Gorditas
Corn masa boats filled with pawns in citrus-chipotle adobo. I loved the presentation of this dish. The sauce was slightly sweet but with a nice chili taste to it. (or was it from the chili infused tequila? ... hum) Again, the diced tomatoes and onion gave the dish a very refreshing sensation. Each "boat" has two large prawns but I think they can have a new dish without the prawns.

(5) Fajitas (steak)
How can we not order fajitas in a Mexican restaurant! Just look at the presentation of the dish, the all-on-one set with a little drawer to hold the tortillas. The whole set was very impressive. Apparently it was tailored made to their specifications. Thumbs up on the design! As for the food, another Thumbs Up! The steak was medium cooked and with the various condiments like baked beans, sour cream, diced tomatoes and avocado paste. Very good! My friend and I really missed Mexican food and so far we were very satisfied with the food, service and atmosphere here.

(6) Alambres AL Pastor
Everything was great until this dish. Not that it was bad or anything, but relatively disappointing compared with the dishes we had before. The presentation was great again but the chicken, while still tender and juicy in the inside, the outer layer seemed a bit over-cooked / over-grilled; same with the potato wedges. I would definitely order it again next time looking for improvement since I already reflected my opinion on this dish to the staff.

Likes:

* Great Services and atmosphere
* Chili Infused Tequila (with the Chaser) - a must try !
* Fajitas (steak) - wonderful !

Dislikes:

* Alambres AL Pastor (grilled Chicken Skews, a bit over cooked)
* Lack of air conditioning

Original Blog: http://jason-bonvivant.blogspot.com/2009/07/cafe-iguana-elements.html