I went to Red Iguana....once...
We didn't have to wait that long, but I was completely underwhelmed by the food. Completely. I had such high expectations that I was really looking forward to it.
Imagine my disappointment though, when I could only try one of their moles. I'm (mildly) allergic to peanuts so most of them were off-limits. The one I did try, seemed bland to me. See, I'm a spicy-food-loving girl. I was raised on it. Yum. These moles (my foodie friend that was with me tried all of them and agrees) had impressive lists of ingredients, but when tasted they fell flat to me. There really was no flavor layering or complexity.
Think of it this way: It was like taking 5 paints and mixing them together for brown. Instead of each color maintaining some semblance of its former self. That's what these flavors did. They blended together so much that the food tasted brown. There was no discernible remnants of where the flavors came from. It was just brown, and not beautifully layered flavors.
I know that Guy Fieri loved the moles and said they were "money." We are all entitled to our opinions.
I don't get the Red Iguana worship. I really don't. I've had much better Mexican food in my day. And you can get food that compares (extremely well) other places. I recently read a review of Red Iguana that said "The food was great, there is no doubt about that, but not so out of this world impressive that I would turn up and queue for a long period." There is probably no way I will eat there again (lactose intolerance aside, I love to eat Mexican food. But the stomach ache is not worth the Red Iguana....), unless it was for a friend and I loved that friend a good deal. She knows who she is. ;)
The food isn't bad. I'm not saying it is, I'm just saying it's unimpressive and over-hyped.
