Pre-theatre dining with kids at Las Iguanas, Newcastle

Whenever a family show comes to the Theatre Royal in Newcastle, I will always be asked for recommendations for pre-theatre dining with children. I always have three answers:-

1- The Botanist (if you can get a table)
2- The Fat Hippo Underground
3 - Las Iguanas

I have reviewed both The Botanist and The Fat Hippo Underground (see here for The Fat Hippo with kids) but despite dining at Las Iguanas fairly regularly for some reason I have never blogged the occasion. We were in Newcastle last week after school and decided to pop in for a treat-tea. Here's what we thought:-

Las Iguanas is located on Grey Street just a hop, skip and a jump away from Newcastle's theatre royal. If you are planning on visiting before a performance make sure you reserve a table as it does get busy. It is also worth knowing that their bar area is very welcoming to children as we found out when we went to see the Nutcracker with my friend Mandy from Mammy Flynn Fun Times. Their 2-4-1 happy hour is available in both the bar and restaurant (check here for times) and very poplular. I couldn't resist ordering myself a pina colada.

The children's menu is a very reasonable £5.90 for a main course, dessert and drink (including refillable squash) or children can choose half portions from the main menu for half the price. I love how there is a mix of favourites alongside a few Mexican options such as wacky tacos and crazy quesadilla meaning that all tastes (and levels of fussiness) are catered for. 

We were sat in a lovely booth in the corner of the modern and bright restaurant and our children enjoyed their colouring and activity sheet.

Children's burger and fries

All of the children's meals are served with a salad bowl on the side which is a nice touch (even if my children refused to touch it) and are brought out as soon as they are cooked meaning there is minimal hanging around waiting which gets the thumbs up from me!

The lunch menu at Las Iguanas is served until 6:30pm daily making it an ideal choice for pre-theatre. There is a good selection of starters to choose from and they are priced at only £1.90 or £2.90. Bargain! Main courses are priced between £6 and £7.90. On this occasion hubby decided to order the Chilli Con Carne which is made with slow cooked braised beef, minced beef, black beans and spicy tomatoes on a bed of garlic rice. Steve will always say nothing comes close to his homemade chilli however this version from Las Iguanas was almost as good, flavoursome and not too spicy.

I decided to order the open steak sandwich which I must say was a bit of a gamble as I do find steak tends to be over cooked when it is cut into strips and served in a ciabatta. I need not have worried though. My steak was medium-rare and melt in the mouth. I'm not so sure about the combination of pink pickled onions and cheese though?? The portion was a good size for what I paid with plenty of fries and I would order this dish again.

Our children ended their meal with ice creams all round (which Heidi declared was the best ice cream she's ever had as it didn't give her brain freeze). Service had been attentive and prompt - we were in the restaurant for about 45 minutes in total which is perfect when you have a show to catch after school or work.

Our bill was £41 for the five of us. Considering the children had two courses and unlimited drinks and I had two cocktails and steak I think Las Iguanas offers fantastic value for money.

What do you think? Where would you recommend in Newcastle for pre-theatre dining?