Iguana Bar and Grill — Restaurant in Budapest

An awkward restaurant to be avoided where the hunger for money meets the cruelty of communism

Well, I have to point out that I have been to a couple of various places all over Europe including some dirty burger joints in front of a main station and Ramsey’s fine-dining restaurants as well. What I have (not) seen here, is the very bottom of everything that I have seen so far. Acknowledging the reviews provided here, we have been planning to visit this restaurant for a while with a couple of former colleagues. Therefore, I threw them a call with the purpose of making a reservation for 9 people. Even though the young lady at the end of the line was quite friendly, she told us that such a “big” (well, Miss, you are kindly invited to my Business Statistics courses to get an idea about what a big group means) group is OBLIGATED to spend at least 10 thousand Forints per person. What a hell!? Am I, as a guest, OBLIGATED to do anything in a restaurant? And what if the dishes do not taste good? What if somebody follows a diet and not allowed to eat that much? What if I do not want or rink at all more expensive alcoholic drinks for whatever reasons? No guys, that is certainly not the way in which a restaurant is expected to threat its customers, you are still not the Ramsey with a couple of Michelin stars whose waiting lists are soooo long that such an idea is acceptable. Such a “rule” merely suggests that there is an unappeasable hunger for money from the owners’ point of view without caring about their guests. Your money is welcomed. But even the last gyros counter in a dirty underpass provides more friendliness towards its customers than this “restaurant”. It seems that the owners still live in the communist era and think that they have the power resulting from the monopolism of some public service providers as a result of which they are in the position of dictating the rules. Such an idea is entirely unacceptable from my point of view, especially for a “restaurant” located in a crowded pedestrian area, where, if someone having a reservation does not turn up, walk-in guests will grant the revenue needed to run the business. Well, guys, I will spend my money elsewhere, there are a couple of places offering great food and not threatening their guests. The good news is that there are 5 lecturers among us, who teach marketing and quality management. Well, we have a celebrated example of how not to behave towards your customers. So, avoid this restaurant which is merely interested in taking away your money. I have never thought, that my worst experience would stem from a restaurant, that I actually...

Myself and my wife visited last week, we hadn’t made a table reservation and there were no table’s available but thankfully the staff were very accommodating and we were offered seats at the bar where we could order drinks and food.

The decor was quirky and enjoyable and the atmosphere of the place was great. The service was quick and friendly from start to finish.

I ordered a margarita on the rocks and a Budvar and my wife ordered a strawberry daiquiri. The margarita was extremely fresh, flavoursome and I’d highly recommend. You could really taste the fresh strawberries in my wife’s daiquiri and she was a big fan of the consistency and flavours.

We ordered the original nachos to share for the starter. I’m very glad that we got them to share because it more than ample portion for us to share. The cheese coverage was very generous and covered the whole plate of nachos as opposed to just a central area like you tend to get elsewhere, which was greatly appreciated. They didn’t skimp on the fresh tomatoes, guacamole, sour cream and jalapeños which really helped add to the plate of nacho goodness.

The menu is extensive and should have something for everybody but that made for some very tough choices because we both could’ve easily ordered 5/6 different mains. I ordered the chicken chimichanga which was packed full of tender, flavoursome chicken and surrounded by a nice and crispy deep fried wrap. The rice and sauces came separately on the side which I was very happy with as I’m more of a salsa fan than guacamole and sour cream, so it let me add what I wanted to the chimichanga as opposed to just assuming how much of each I wanted in. The salsa had a nice freshness and kick to it. My wife got the chicken tacos which were served in soft shells and she hasn’t stopped raving about them since, so I can only assume they were fantastic. In her defence, they did look delectable.

My only regret is that I was too full for dessert as I would’ve loved some churros but the starters and main were so good that I had to finish everything and the margaritas just round things off perfectly.

Great staff, atmosphere and food. I’d strongly recommend visiting Iguana if you want some great Mexican food...

Sigh… I never expected “Mexican” food this far from home (Texas), but, there were issues outside of authenticity . Basic ones. Now in defense of all “slammed” restaurants ,(meaning busy), this place was “slammed” when my wife and I arrived. So, we had drinks and ordered chips and salsa to begin. In my experience, if the salsa and chips hold up, the rest will be good. Not so here, due to the stale bag chips and salsa as cold as the fridge it just came from , the appetizer was tough to eat. We added queso (melted cheese) and it was like that cheap movie theatre nacho cheese wizz stuff (downer). We kept up hope for the entrees (another downer but edible). The steak fajitas were cut along the meat grain (chewy) , the fajita onions were not fully grilled, the refried beans came out ice cold, and an order of roasted corn was full of water from being boiled and then placed on a hot surface to simulate a char appearance. The entree came quite a while after a third of the tables cleared. Thus , someone just gave up and tossed us leftovers. Then, when I was asked if “it was good”, the waitress said “if you’re from Texas why don’t you try Hungarian food?” Well , that sums up the philosophy there. Quality food and service does not have to be regionally accurate ;but it needs to be properly prepared fundamentally with warm fresh ingredients, and no insulting condensation when the customer drops 100 euros. The Manager never came but dropped the 50 cent corn from the bill. Thank you...