This island bar and 'La Bodeguita del Tequila' ('little tequila warehouse') that makes a big statement of the nearly 100 types of tequila that are displayed here. The large planks of wood for the countertop, as are the ones for the dining tables, came from trees that were being chopped down in a construction site in Bali. Thanks to Poole's vigilant contacts there, they were put to good use here. Fitting the end wall near the bar prfectly are wood from the packing crate material that the furniture was delivered in! Bamboo is a very coveted material in Mexico, so all the chairs and bar stools have bamboo seats and backs, to allude to the fact.

Obviously, Café Iguana is not your typical theme restaurant. Right at the beginning when Ed Poole sat down to discuss with the management of Brewerkz Singapore [which owns Café Iguana] on the design concept, they asked, 'What is typical about Mexico? So we wrote down: sombreros, ponchos, broken colorful tiles...and came up with a list of about 10 items.' Poole then took a pen - and crossed everything out. 'We'll have none of that,' he said.

What they got is a place that 'even the guys from the Mexican embassy just love' because 'it hasn't got all that usual silly stuff...' In place of kitschy Mexicana is a Luis Barragan-inspired interior based on strong geometric lines and the vivacity of Mexican colors derived from nature: vibrant fuchsia, scarlet and lime green. Fuchsia pink is in fact very common in Mexico; it is the color of the tarpaulins all over the street markets there.