Las Iguanas - Cardiff - Mermaid Quay — Restaurant in Butetown

I was visiting Cardiff from Leeds and was with my Family with 2 kids (8 & 10 year old) and parents who were visiting the UK from India. My plan was to continue my hop on hop off bus ride after a quick meal at Las Iguanas as I have been to its Leeds branch in the past. We entered just around 14:00 hours and was greeted by the manager. We were offered a six/seven seater table and were handed over the menus along with the kids menus. We were told about the Meal deal (£ Lunch meal plus a drink) and offer of the day (By one and get another one free if ordered from fajitas and enchiladas (And few more items). From the Meal deal we placed two orders expecting the meal deals will be quicker ones and would save us time. The items were Bahamian Katsu Curry and Chicken Salad with a couple of Drinks. From Buy one get one free we ordered a mushroom Fajita and a chicken enchilada (One of them being free), plus two cocktails. For Kids I ordered from the Kids menu (each item was 7.5) and ordered three tapas (2 x Chilli prawns and 1 calamari).

As we placed the ordered we saw a couple of more parties joined other tables and placed their orders. The restaurant was fairly quiet though. After 15 minutes of wait we were served with the drinks and then after 15-20 minutes (After 30-35 minutes) we were served with the starters. it was around 15:00 (Almost 1 hour after having sat at the table), kids were getting hungry and impatient and at that point we asked one of the servers' to at least get the kids meal (By that time I had checked in your app that we were eligible for free kids meal) and highlighted that we were eligible for free kids meal. Around 5 past 3 they got us the kids' meals and after 5 minutes of meal for my parents' followed, but instead of a fajita and enchilada, they got 2 enchiladas and when we told them what we ordered, they took one enchilada back and after 5 minutes.

Me and my wife had been waiting for a long time and eventually at 15:30 we decided to take a call to speak to the manager as we were planning to continue our tour of Cardiff. When we spoke to the guy at the reception and ask for the manager, he introduced himself as the manager and I asked for his full name which was (Lets call him D). We expressed our frustration with the entire situation and highlighted that the two parties which visited them after us had already finished their meal and left the restaurant. At that stage this guy D who had been loitering around felt the need to inform us that something had gone wrong in the kitchen and they could no longer serve us the meal which we ordered for - I mean really (That’s when I felt that he was deliberately trying to frustrate us)!!!! What was stopping him to inform us earlier and proactively and why did he feel it was right for him to waste our time? This was not only ignorant behaviour but humiliating as well and the other customers were wondering what was happening. I asked D that better we pay them the bill for what we were served. He charged us for the Starters and Fajita plus service charge, before I could say anything I think D could sense the amusement on my face after I saw the service charge. He waived 4.67 off. I paid £46.70 for this experience after which me and my wife returned back hungry (I was expecting him to tell us that he couldn’t serve us so won’t charge us). On top of that we couldn't continue our hop on hop off journey as we had missed the 3:25pm bus and the last bus was at 4:25, which means no more hop off.

I wrote this feedback to Las Iguana’s Official email address as well, but it’s been more than two weeks and I haven’t heard anything from them. The main outcome I was expecting is some assurance that some strict and tangible action will be taken against the accountable peoples for this kind of behaviour in a...

Edit 20th SEPTEMBER 2025- STILL TERRIBLE pre-booked table days in advance but upon arrival nothing was reserved and we has to stand and wait and watch a table be cleaned. Was not busy at 8pm to justify this mess. Floor. Couple tables messy and dirty plates left and floor was sticky. Had to flag staff down again to order drinks to which 20 minutes passed and no single bar person was behind that bar making the cocktails. 2 guests had chance to leave and walk to another venue and check for available seats AND visit the Tesco express in time for the 4 cocktails to which they were very weak so incompetence staff with wrong measurements. Couldn't wait to leave and went to desk to pay whilst almost tripping from being stuck to the floor. This Las Iguanas is situated at a prime location in the heart of Cardiff and the incompetent staff are an embarrassement to the business name.

Visited yesterday (Sunday approx 5pm) for 241 cocktail and food. Was seated and then had a browse through drinks menu. Usually someone comes over after certain time after being seated to give us chance to look at drinks, which didn't happen after 20 minutes so we waved down waitress to take our drink order. Same happened when ordering our mains and never had anyone during our time there clean up the empty drinks or ask if we wanted to order more. We waved down someone to take our main meal order and that took approx just under an hour. When it was brought to us it had a skin on the sauces where it was left on the pass under the light for longer than necessary. No-one checked if our food was okay or acknowledged the empty glasses to remove them or to ask if we wanted more drinks (which would've been noticeable) the chefs beard hair was lovely and curled on the curly fries too (ironically). Whicj extra was paid for the curly fries too. when we finished our food, the empty plates were left on the table along with the empty cocktail glasses for the entire duration we were there. We were there for a total of approx 2 half, 3 hours (possibly longer?) We were given the option to sit outside and order on the app for table service or indoor for table service 🤔. Usual routine is asking for the bill when the plates and the mess was collected which never took place so we had to go to the till and ask for the bill and pay!

Will amend this review if I ever have to visit again and if it had improved my opinion.

Will also amend/edit the timeframes I've given if you want to check cctv of us to validate this review as I feel I have been accurate with information...

What a shambles! Table booked for the family who had travelled down to Cardiff to spend the weekend with me for a special occasion. The nine of us arrived on time to be told the table wasn’t ready and asked to wait outside whilst they sorted out our table (previous guests were still at the table). The restaurant was really busy, but we stood outside in the rain and waited.

Ten minutes later, we were taken to our table, which was only half set, and in a bit of a state. We sat ourselves down, the staff disappeared with no real introduction and we waited…and waited! The place was crammed with tables, everyone on top of each other - staff buzzing around and looking highly stressed.

We hadn’t been given any menus so we took one from an empty table beside us and between the nine of us tried to figure out what we wanted to order…someone finally took our drinks order and 45 mins after arriving at the restaurant our drinks were served.

Drinks were cocktails from their 2-4-1 menu and served in glasses half the size of typical cocktails, so might as well have been full price.

Food ordered. Family ordered a load of tapas dishes and I ordered a ‘flaming bird’ chicken, which was served dry as sticks with a handful of cold chips, and without a garnish - which I didn’t realise it was supposed to be served with until I saw the same dish served to neighbouring tables. It cost me £16.50 for the main, £13 for the (very small) cocktails.

I didn’t want to create more of a scene by complaining in front of my family who I hadn’t seen in some time and were here to celebrate a milestone birthday…on top of that, I got the impression that the staff were pushed to their absolute limit, and paired with the hellish environment of the overcrowded restaurant, I felt so uncomfortable that I just wanted to pay up and leave.

I have eaten at this restaurant many before and I’ve not had reason to complain, so not sure if the overcrowding of tables and poor staffing is a problem with the management of this particular restaurant, or a reflection of the whole Las Iguanas chain. It felt like profit was being placed before quality or service - very short sighted as I won’t...