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Exciting new chapter for award-winning Torquay takeout
It is difficult to find a man with more experience in the kebab industry than Halil ‘Ozzy’ Gunes who has been making kebabs in the UK far and wide for 25 years. The new owner of Torquay’s King of the Grill in Hele started his love affair with the business in Nottingham, then moved it to London before he took over the shop here two months ago.
He’s seen it all in the kebab world but now he wants more for his restaurant and the community around it. Halil said he is thinking about starting a daytime coffee shop to open up before his current hours of 4 pm – 11 pm which he hopes will act as a community meeting place.
“The local community wants this as well. I’ve got old people who come and buy food here and they always say why don’t you open a coffee shop?” Halil said, “What they want is their friends and their community to be able to meet up someplace.”
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With the nearest coffee shop being about a 10-minute walk away, Halil thinks that he might be able to be that place. He said that he would put five to 10 tables outside with umbrellas in what is now a parking area if he can get the staff to man it and sort out licensing.
Otherwise, he has all the equipment to do it and would open at about 6 or 7 am to serve commuters in search of their morning coffee, he said.
The restaurant also offers fish and chips on its menu and Halil is thinking of opening at 11 am and serving this through the day till 3 pm for lunchtime hours too.
The King of the Grill serves a lot of regulars and in the short time he has been serving them Halil said he has got to know them very well already. He said: “Sometimes people come in and before they tell me what they want we just already put it on the grill.
“I’ve got one customer, as soon as I see him there I say ‘Put on a large fish and chips and a quarter pounder burger, no cheese.’ And always he comes in and he knows the price as well – ‘That’s £16.40, here you go.’
“People are all lovely here. They’re all friendly, I love it and they all know each other as well.”
Halil has benefitted from the stellar reputation of the previous owner who had been at the shop for many years beforehand and invested a great deal of money in keeping it maintained and updated. The shop has won awards for their food for three years in a row and Halil hopes to win another this year.
He is on the right track for it too as the establishment was awarded with a five-star food hygiene rating as recently as two weeks ago, Halil said. He doesn’t want to change the basics however and assured customers that they would still get the same great taste that they got before he came to town too.
Even with this great reputation behind him, Halil said he wants to take his business to the next level and expand the shop’s menu to be more healthy. He plans to bring in vegan pizza, greek salads and grilled peri peri chicken.
And he doesn’t just have plans for updates to the menu either, the building itself is also in for a makeover. he plans to add a wheelchair ramp to the restaurant too to make it more accessible and he has thought about getting planning permission to extend the building outwards to make more space inside.
The shop’s front wall already is entirely able to open which Halil said customers love as they can sit in the fresh air as they wait for their food.
Halil spoke about his passion for his industry. He said: “I love it. I love to cook something, I love to marinate something and people love it.”
He said some people came all the way from Teignmouth a few days ago on hearing about his kebabs and made a big order for their dinner.
He spoke about his life in London and how it compared to Torquay. He said: “People are more friendly here and good people here. London is a big city and they all have their boundaries up and they keep everyone out of it. That’s the thing. They don’t help each other in London and don’t trust anyone.
“But here it’s not like that – people know each other and people want to know the other person. It’s a smaller town so if any new person comes in they think ‘Oh I’ve got to know him and go talk to him’. So yeah they just come in and talk and we have good chats.
“They love to talk and share something and that’s why it’s a good community. I love it.”
Halil has lived in Devon for 15 years though was not always doing kebabs here. He was also a taxi driver but then bought a kebab shop in Tiverton. After he sold that shop he went back to Taxiing but then jumped at the opportunity to buy the shop in Torquay.
When asked if he preferred his taxi or kebab business, he said: “Kebab. When I was working in taxis I got a big belly! Because you’re always sitting down. Especially now because all the cars are automatic so you can’t even change the gear so it makes you so lazy!”
He and his wife and two children live in Exeter and Halil commutes but they may move to Torquay if his son manages to get into Torquay Boys Grammar School.
His love for the community does not stop at just people, however. Halil also feeds a seagull which comes up to the shop every day at around 4 pm. “It’s the same one, every day and we always feed him,” Halil said.
The King of the Grill has its own website too which offers 10% off on all orders, collections or delivery, above £15. So if you’re hungry for a kebab go and claim the offer and say hello to Halil and join the community that he supports.
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