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At Prestige Venues & Events we take great care in selecting and presenting the best local produce across all of our menus.
The team at the National Football Stadium: Windsor Park are no exception to this rule and recently hosted a VIP menu showcase for bloggers, corporate buyers, media and supporters. An invite only affair, the event centred round a bespoke menu paired with drinks from regional, artisanal suppliers: Kilmegan Cider and Echlinville Gin.
The event started with a grand tour of the ground and its facilities - including a sneak peek at the changing rooms, Press Room, Media Room, VIP boxes and event spaces - before guests took their seats for dinner in the George Best Suite overlooking the National Team’s pitch.
Guests enjoyed a variety of canapés including smoked duck & pickled turnip, Cashel cheese (a well-known Irish blue) and beetroot, as well as mushroom and truffle oil vol-au-vents. All served alongside the light and refreshing Kilmegan Elderflower Cider.
The starter featured sweet and savoury Asian-inspired flavours. Sourced locally from Lough Neagh, the largest freshwater lake in Northern Ireland, the dish included smoked eel with Armagh bramley apple, pickled carrot and wasabi dressing and was paired with the original, farmhouse Kilmegan cider. Belfast Travels commented: “We sampled the dry cider which worked very well with the rich smokiness of the eel and the sharp acidity of the Bramley Apple”.
During this course Andrew Boyd, founder of Kilmegan Cider, gave guests a potted history of his traditional, small-batch produced cider from County Down.
For the main, Head Chef Fritz Machala presented a hearty slow braised kettle brisket, mini fillet of beef with roast potato and autumn veg. The dish was complemented by Belfast Black Ale from Whitewater brewery. This was followed by a delightful dessert of Clandeboye yoghurt panna cotta with seasonal fruits: elderflower plums, blackberries, orange gel and honeycomb. The dessert was perfectly paired with Echlinville Gin with Fever Tree elderflower tonic and mint accompanied by a talk from Master Distiller at Echlinville Gin, Graeme Millar. Both dishes recived high praise from Belfast Travels: “The meat fell apart to the touch- really very tender! Finally, (for me the best dish of the night) was the dessert. The presentation was fantastic and the taste equally as good! I loved it.”
All guests thoroughly enjoyed the evening (as demonstrated on the blogosphere) and raved about how good the food and drink was, as well as how impressed they were at the venue: “Overall the food was very good, presentation was exceptional but what impressed me most was the venue - it was an incredible experience dining in a football stadium.” Belfast Food Blogger
Windsor Park recently underwent a major development of its facilities and now includes The Education and Heritage Centre, four main function suites, 10 executive boxes and press area which are all available for hire.
For further information about Windsor Park and its event spaces click here.