F O O D A D V E R T I S I N G F E AT U R E
MR VILLA’S – A RESTAURANT FOR LOVERS OF GOOD FOOD Dishing up everything from fish and chips to Sunday roasts, new restaurant MR VILLA’S in Barry promises the finest and freshest local produce, simply cooked
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reat ingredients, simply cooked – that’s the food philosophy which has kept Christine and Beppe Villa at the top of the culinary league in South Wales for a long time. Now they’ve applied that philosophy to their newest venture, Mr Villa’s fish and chip restaurant and oyster bar. “We buy our fish (always fresh!) from Ashtons and Snowdens in Cardiff, and our meat from Vic Hopkins and Marshalls of Barry,” says Beppe. “We believe in using the finest fresh local produce we can lay our hands on.”
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Dishes include scallops roasted in their shells, Dover sole, hake in a beurre blanc sauce, mussels and vongole, king prawns in garlic butter, roasted mixed shellfish and the perennially popular cod and chips – with smashed fresh peas – which patrons travel for miles to eat. Christine and Beppe love to visit Langland Bay on Gower to gather laverbread for their cockles, bacon and homemade laverbread, too. There are always at least four meat dishes on the menu. A gorgeous Sunday roast, or pan-fried free range chicken in lemon and rosemary, steaks, homemade beef burgers or Mrs Villa’s famous steak and kidney pie.
Wines are from the Oxford Wine company and Fine Wines Direct of Cardiff. And children are also well looked after, with freshly-made fish lollipops, spaghetti, sausages and mash, mini beefburgers and chips on offer. The restaurant is in a delightful parade of small shops and cafés, within a stone’s throw of the beach and the boating lake at The Knap in Barry. It’s just a mile from the famous beach and funfair, but its peaceful setting could be a world away. For Christine, it’s a welcome return home to Barry, the town she left for Brighton, in order to pursue her passion for cooking.