The ECHO went along to Sunday’s test event to sample some of the food on offer
One of the best things about going to a football match is enjoying stadium food as you watch the game. In less than six months from now, Everton will be gearing up to welcome more than 50,000 fans for the first official game at Bramley-Moore Dock. That represents a lot of mouths to feed.
This afternoon, the ECHO went along to the test event at the new Everton stadium to try some of the food on offer inside the stadium. While we were there, we spoke to Adam Bateman, culinary director at the stadium, designed the menu for the test event.
Adam has many years of culinary experience under his belt, including an apprenticeship under Delia Smith at Norwich City. After leaving Norwich, he started his own Michelin listed restaurant and worked for Richard Branson before joining Everton.
Adam told the ECHO he is excited about the food on offer at the new stadium. He said: “We see this as an area where this arena can become the best in the north of England.”
He gave us a taster of the food on offer at Bramley-Moore Dock, and it didn’t disappoint. First of all, we tried the ‘hero dish’: salt and pepper fried chicken and fries. For £12, you get three chicken tenders and a portion of chips covered in garlic mayo, Korean BBQ sauce, chillies and spring onions.
Although the portion was on the small side, we think it was decent value for a delicious snack. The chicken was crispy and tender and the sauce was tangy and generously applied. There were a few slices of chilli to give the dish a good kick, but it wasn’t too spicy. I would gladly eat this again and again.
Adam said: “Salt and pepper is synonymous with Merseyside. Everybody loves it here and we wanted to use it to honour the heritage of Liverpool, and to the trade routes going to China. It’s something you don’t see anywhere else but Liverpool.”
We also sampled the chunky steak pie, which again was excellent. This might be fighting talk, but the pie compares very favourably with the pies on offer at Anfield. The one we tried today had light flaky pastry and large tender chunks of beef in a tasty gravy. A chunky steak pie will cost you £6.20. Chicken and mushroom and cheese and onion pies are also available for the same price.
Adam said: “Our pies are locally sourced. We call it the 30-mile pie. We use flour from a local provider, we’re using meat from the Lake District. We’re using cheese from Lancashire and mushrooms from Preston, so we’re really trying to keep sustainability a priority. Pies are always the biggest selling item in any stadium, so we’ve decided to make that our statement item and make it local.”
For dessert, we tried the (in)famous Toffee Doughnut. This is a doughnut covered in blue icing, thick cream and little chunks of toffee. It costs £3.50 to buy and I dread to think how many calories I consumed in a single bite.
This was my least favourite part of the tasting session, as it was just a little bit too sickly for my liking. The lads around me enjoyed it though. Paul Nugent and his son Thomas, 14, thought it was “great”. Thomas gave the doughnut 9.5 out of 10 and wolfed it down.
In addition to the offerings inside the stadium building, there is a hub’ featuring a variety of street food vendors opposite the new stadium where you can buy pizza and fish and chips.
