‘More than fish and chips’: Tropical Seafood and Takeaway expanding their horizons
What started as a dream for more late night food options has turned into a reality for the owners of Tropical Seafood and Takeaway.
What started as a dream for more late night food options has turned into a reality for the owners of Tropical Seafood and Takeaway.
The takeaway store, which opened under new ownership in April, has since been working on perfecting a menu which co-owner Sarah Denham described as “homely.”
“We get a lot of people who come back for our trifles,” she said.
“When I think of a trifle I think of home, going to mum’s or grandma’s.”
“We’ve launched a lot of new things, we’ve got our roast pork, beef and lambs, and so on.”
Ms Denham said the store had recently adopted 24 hour opening times from Wednesday to Saturday, inspired by her partner’s former job as a delivery driver.
“A lot of his deliveries were done at night, and he spoke a lot to customers he was delivering to and found that people wanted something other than fast food or servo food,” she said.
“That’s where the dream started.”
Despite the name Tropical Seafood and Takeaway, Ms Denham said the shop is so much more than fish and chips, it’s about making comfort food that reminds people of home.
“For me, comfort food is a trifle or a jelly cup or something that reminds us of our childhood,” she said.
“Fish and chip shops are part of everybody’s childhood.”
Ms Denham said the team has been working to create a community environment at the store, including engaging with customers and taking suggestions.
“I want my customers to leave and feel like the atmosphere is kind, that we are one big community,” she said.
“We’re trying to accommodate everybody… we had so many people ask us for flake, and so we got flake in, we sell so much of that.”
Since opening, Ms Denham said the store has been focusing on supporting local and small businesses, especially in regional Queensland and the Northern Territory.
“We’re really about trying to support as much Australian products as we can,” she said.
Ms Denham said the shop has been constantly growing since the decision to expand hours, and encouraged locals to keep an eye on the store’s social media for future news.
“Eventually we will probably rebrand it,” she said.
Originally published as ‘More than fish and chips’: Tropical Seafood and Takeaway expanding their horizons
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