Couple turn around a fishy business

MARK TAYLOR/Waikato Times

KEEPING IT IN THE FAMILY: Andrew and Sonia Gadsby with daughter Brodie, 6, outside their new takeaway shop.

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Having spent days scrubbing away years of grease and dirt off the floor, walls and fryers of their Deanwell takeaways shop, new owners Andrew and Sonia Gadsby are not surprised when confronted by customers' horror stories.

"Some people have said they bought fish and chips here and threw them out when they got home because they smelt so bad," Mrs Gadsby said.

But the couple, who took over the shop on the corner of Prisk St and Priscilla Cres about two months ago, said the days of old fish cooked in rancid oil were gone for good.

They hope that those burnt by inedible takeaways in the past will give the shop, re-named Flounder Inn, another chance.

Mrs Gadsby said some had already become regulars, with word of mouth bringing people from across the city, "some as far way as Chartwell".

Their aim now was to provide "good old-fashioned Kiwi fish and chips".

Ingredients are bought fresh, and the shop has vegetarian and gluten-free burger options. Mr Gadsby recommends trying his deep fried flounder for a treat. A range of takeaway hot dinners served with fresh salads were proving popular.

Flounder Inn is a family business with eldest daughter Jessica, 14, helping out after school; Brodie, 6, taste-tests the hot dogs.

The couple met 25 years ago at a takeaway owned by Mr Gadsby in Morrinsville – Mrs Gadsby got a job there to save for an OE to Canada.

"It was Andrew's fish and chip shop and it was very successful too," Mrs Gadsby said.

They met up again after her return, and eventually got married.

In the meantime, Mr Gadsby had sold the shop and started a career in hotel management.

But when the opportunity to take over the Prisk St shop came up they decided to take on the challenge.

"We had been thinking about it [opening a fish and chip shop] for a while and this place was fairly run down so we decided to come in and clean it up," Mr Gadsby said.

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