Cafe Iguana, Riverside Point

Aileen's fiance, Bill, has moved here to Singapore from Dubai and he wanted to treat us Saturday night dinner to celebrate his first salary and his new career here. Zach and I went to the gym first to burn some calories before our mexican feast hehe.

While waiting for Bill and Aileen to arrive, they gave us a free serving of corn chips and salsa. I'm not sure if it's homemade but it was ok. It was a bit thicker compared to regular corn chips and was perfect with the salsa.

There was a lot of people but we were lucky to have had a nice outdoor seat. The view was magnificent. It was right beside the river overlooking neighbouring Clarke Quay.

The bar was a sight to behold with all the liquor stacked up high on the walls. According to their website, they get their handcrafted beer from Brewerkz Microbrewery, a restaurant just a few shops away.

Zach ordered "Shredded Steak Soft Taco" (S$18.99) - Handmade corn tortillas, traditional shredded cabbage garnish, lime cream and pico de gallo and side dishes of beans and lime-scented cilantro rice. The presentation was nice but once you start eating it, it got a little inconvenient because you have to wrap the tacos on your own. Also, I'm not sure if this is a different variety because from my experience soft taco normally doesn't come with rice.

Aileen ordered "Ancho-dusted Fried Calamari" (S$12.99) - Tender fried squid with mole verde. The breading was very nice and crisp but it was a bit bland. Quite interesting, though, was the bed of mole verde beneath the calamari. I researched the net and found out mole verde is a spicy Mexican condiment which is a mixture of pumpkin seeds (pepitas), ground nuts and sesame seeds, tomatillos, green chile peppers (typically poblano or serrano), spices, soybean oils, bread or crackers (wheat flour and corn starch), sugar, and other seasonings.

Bill ordered "Flank Steak Fajitas" (S$23.99) - Sizzling platter served with flour tortillas, sautéed onions and peppers, sour cream and guacamole. This was my favorite out of all the dishes. I always love the idea of interactive food, where you get to assemble your own fajita as you wish. The steak was also very tasty.

I had the "Shredded Steak Burrito" (S$19.99) - Served with lime-scented cilantro rice, b0rracho beans and cheddar mozzarella cheese.

The portion for this dish was quite big, probably good enough for 2 people. There was a lot of rice and steak and it was really filling. My only problem was it tasted the same as the soft taco. Plus, it lacks that mexican kick that mexican food usually has. Not the best burrito I've ever tasted, to be honest.

The El Yucateco extra hot sauce (the one in the middle) has got to be the spiciest, chilliest, hottest chili sauce I have ever tasted in my whole entire existence, hands down!!! God it was so spicy my mouth was burning for at least 10 mins after I tasted it. Moreover, I felt my stomach rumble as soon as I swallowed it. It was that hot!! Too hot actually it ruined my taste buds for a while. Cholula tasted like tomato sauce after that goddamn yucateco.

Overall, Cafe Iguana was a bit disappointing. I didn't taste like authentic Mexican fare. Cha Cha Cha in Holland Village is so much better. Plus service was a bit slow. Though I really enjoyed the view and ambiance, it was really breath-taking. Thanks for dinner, Bill and welcome to Singapore!

Here is my rating for Cafe Iguana-
Ambiance - 5.0
Service - 2.5
Food - 2.0
Presentation - 3.0
Value for Money - 2.5
OVERALL - 3.0

30 Merchant Road
#01-03 Riverside Point
Singapore 058282
Tel: (65) 6236 1275 Sorry, we’re unable to accept reservations after 7pm. Walk-ins only.
Opening Hours
Mon - Thurs: 6pm - 1am
Fri & Eve of PH: 6pm - 3am
Sat: 12pm - 3am
Sun: 12pm - 1am

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Cha Cha Cha Mexican Restaurant, Holland Village

Mexican food is my all-time favorite. On top of Japanese & Italian. It's ironic though that since the 1.5 years that I've stayed here in Singapore, I haven't gone to a legit mexican restaurant.


So since Farida (my brother's Gf) is in town, we decided to go to Holland Village for dinner since I also haven't been there. Holland Village is quite nice actually. I like the quaint yet fun atmosphere. There was a lot of choices to eat at, including bars, shops and even a small shopping mall.

*I forgot to bring the digicam so here we go again with blurry pics from my phone cam.


There were 2 mexican restaurants that caught our eye. And they were right beside each other. So we decided to go to the one that had more people, assuming that the food was better.

For starters, they gave us a free basket of home-made nachos and salsa, then we ordered "Guacamole Dip" ($9) - described as "Mexico's indigenous fruit made with fresh ingredients, tastefully blended and served with corn tortilla chips". I loved the guacamole dip and the salsa but I found the nachos a bit too thin. Yes they were home-made but I prefer the ones at CPK or even Tostitos in a bag.

For main course, Aileen, Zach and I had the "Burritos" ($15) - Large flour tortilla served with rice and your choice of chicken, shredded or ground beef topped with melted cheese and chili con carne, served with refried beans, sour cream and guacamole. The presentation was bad, they just put the glob of refried beans, sour cream and guacamole on your plate. It would have been better if they were in small saucers or bowls.

Nevertheless, the taste was great! How I miss refried beans, ground beef, chili and sour cream, all wrapped in a yummy tortilla! The tortilla was a bit tough though. But overall, I would say the taste was above average, especially with the hot sauce.

Farida ordered "Chicken Tapa" ($9) - Chicken wrapped in flour tortilla and deep fried till golden brown served with sour cream, guacamole, salsa mexicana. Nothing special. The chicken filling was bland and the tortilla wasn't crispy enough. If not for the sauces, this would have been a disaster.

The star of the night were the hot sauces. haha. I just realized Cholula is way better than Tabasco. I find tabasco a bit sour. Cholula was more spicy and robust. Or maybe I'm just tired of Tabasco.

We were so full we had to have tea at the nextdoor hawker centre. Cha Cha Cha won't really make you get up on your toes and do the sun-dance but it was good enough to rekindle my love for mexican food.

Here is my rating for Cha Cha Cha:

Ambiance - 3.5
Service - 4 (the food came really quick)
Food - 3.5
Presentation - 2
Value for Money - 3.5
OVERALL - 3.3

32 Lorong MambongHolland Village
Singapore 277690
Tel: 6462 1650
Opening hours: 11.30 am - 11.00 pm (daily)

"Live, Love & Eat!"

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