150 Club Villa Park
DREAM TICKET
Uniting three of the big loves in my life—good company, Aston Villa and great food—I was beyond chuffed to be invited to the launch of Michelin-starred Brad Carter’s season-long, home matchday residency at Villa Park.
Villa Park
Not only does it bring Brad back to Brum, it also brings quality dining to the football fan experience, showcasing dishes from his Chicken Club, One Star Döner Bar concepts and fine dining from CBC’s Signature Tasting Menu. It’s also my first hospitality experience, in the polished surroundings of the 150 Club at Villa Park and it comes with ‘best seats’ in the house to watch the match. What a time to be alive!
Tpnight’s menu
Pre-match, we’re easing ourselves in with some Brad Carter devised cocktails. The Villa Vice is the perfect aperitivo, stoking the appetite with a prodigious mix of bold flavours from spiced rum, Aperol and Cocchi Americano vermouth.
150 Club
It’s got the the feel of being in first class on a luxury cruise ship; the corridor goes on for a far as the eye can see; there’s an army of uniformed bar staff and waiters pandering to our needs; and there’s a general sense of excitement of what’s next, whilst we kick back and enjoy the journey.
CC Fried chicken & Exmoor caviar / Villa Vice
First up is ‘fried chicken’ par excellence; a juicy, boneless chicken thigh, encased in a crunchy pork scratching like sarcophagus, topped with a bump of Exmoor caviar.
OSDB Lamb kebab
Next up is a divine spin on surf and turf, with a concertina layered, smoke kissed ‘lamb kebab’ drizzled in a ‘wish I could lick the plate’ gravy. It’s served alongside my favourite dish of the night; a savoury-cruffin style, generously loaded lobster and prawn toast with a wonderful, almost ethereal crunch.
CBC Lobster & prawn toast
For the main, it’s dialled back to ‘elevated casual dining’, but it’s a full on, finger-lickingly, succulent rotisserie Devon White chicken, served with lightly roasted chicken fat potatoes and noodle salad with crunch from chicken skin. You add your own heat with Brad’s own buffalo style sauce, served in a cute take away bottle.
CC Devon White Chicken
But dammit, dammit, dammit. I left it behind, but I’m blaming that on the pinot noir; one of the bottomless wines they serve by the glass.
CBC Cherry & Woodruff Smiley
We finished with a Cherry & Woodruff Smiley, like a proper posh teacake, with biscuit bottom and spot of jam, topped with a dome-like mousse, under a claret dusting.
The Holte Ender
Fortunately, there was just enough time for further research on the cocktails and I’m happy to report The Holte End is a triumph; vodka, cherry, woodruff, chocolate bitters, topped Irish coffee style with double cream.
Brad Carter at the 150 Club
It would have been a perfect enough finale, but we’re also given two Lion Bar cookies, packaged to take home, although I ate mine. Then, begged for an extra packet to take home. I also ate those before leaving. The service has been first class and staff are so accommodating… I’m sure they’d have given me another one, if I’d asked.
It's a 'dream come true' for Brad, an avid-Villa fan since he was 6 (infected early, like me). It’s also a kind of dream come true for me, having been a big fan of his food, from his Carter’s in Moseley days and enjoying his One Star Doner Bar takeaways that were a lifeline of sorts during lockdown. Then to have this at the Villa… fantastic!
Just a shame about the result, but the experience is the perfect remedy for defeat... What game? Exactly!
That said, I think you'd get by perfectly with just a passing interest in soccerball, although, it won’t be for the second-tier Blue Noses from across the city.
Top tier football and fine dining; five stars. UTV!
AD / Paid For / Thank you to The Relationship for the invite
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED (if you’ve got the money!)
Aston Villa, Villa Park, Birmingham B6 6HE
