Six years after moving to the Philippines “because of love,” Matthew John Hornsby-Bates has gotten married, fathered a son with wife Meg Tansiongco, and finally put up his own fish and chips shop.
The British-born chef opened Cargofish with his business partner Matthew Kenneth Lim on the 4th floor of Uptown Mall last April.
“Matthew and I used to be executive chefs at Early Bird Breakfast Club but we decided to strike out on our own,” Hornsby-Bates told Lifestyle.
He noticed that there were no fish and chip shops in the city like the ones he frequented when he was growing up in the UK.
Neighborhood chip shop
“Back home, there are chip shops on almost every street corner. People have their favorites where they can drop in and greet the staff who would already know their orders,” he said.
In the UK, fish and chips is a common street food one usually eats on the go after dousing their orders with a generous amount of malt vinegar.
“We wanted to do something like that—reasonably priced, legit fish and chips served in a paper cone or takeaway container,” Hornsby-Bates said.
He and Lim came up with a concept: their chip shop would have an open counter and look like it had been fashioned out of a repurposed container van like the ones uses in food parks throughout the city.
The partners thought of everything. They even designed a larger disposable chip fork labeled with the type of fish used, a spill-resistant takeaway box, and seven different sauces (including lime chili cilantro, mushy peas, roasted garlic). They even secured no-nonsense bottle openers to the wooden tables so customers could easily open their own beers.
Challenge
What they didn’t foresee was how challenging it would be to convince mall leasing personnel on the sustainability of their concept.
“We weren’t looking for an inline space (inside a mall); we wanted an al fresco dining area where customers could sit, eat and drink until late.”
It took them a while but Lim and Hornsby-Bates were able to secure an appointment with Kevin Tan, Megaworld Corporation’s senior vice president and head of Megaworld Lifestyle Malls.
“Kevin fully understood what we wanted to do and asked us to prepare food for 20 people at his office,” Hornsby-Bates said. They did just that, clinched the deal and opened Cargofish at Uptown Mall five months ago.
Customers who walk up to the counter can choose from beer-battered dory, tilapia, cobbler, cod, salmon or scampi; two sides (sweet potato chips, proper chips, onion rings, slaw or rice); and one of the seven sauces (the chip shop curry is delicious).
He has since been approached by investors wanting a franchise as well as leasing personnel from other malls.
“Cargofish is very new. It’s nice to be validated but we’re still finding our footing,” Hornsby-Bates said.
Cargofish is at 4/F Uptown Mall. Call (02) 2181086. Operating hours are 11 a.m.-3 a.m., Mondays to Wednesdays; 11 a.m.-6 a.m., Thursdays and Fridays; 11 a.m.-3 a.m. on Saturdays; and 11 a.m.-11 p.m. on Sundays.
