HUNTLEY Tingle knows all about the taste of success.
The owner of Sunjam Caribbean Takeaway, in Greenford Broadway, lets his customers try out new dishes and insists on their honest opinion to make sure he gives them what they want.
The 57-year-old has run the take-away with his partner Lyn, better known as Peaches, for eight years.
He said: "We're always coming up with new ideas, trying out new things while still keeping it authentic.
"It's very rewarding when people like your food. But I don't want people to say it's good if it's not. That's why we offer free tastes of our new dishes and make it clear I won't be offended if they say they don't like it."
And the tactic, combined with the couple's cooking talents, works well, with the business growing through word of mouth.
Favourites include curried goat, smoky jerk chicken and barbecue
chicken. Younger customers have
dubbed the latter 'sticky chicken'.
It is all a far cry from when Mr Tingle originally set up a business with the name Sunjam, a travel agents based at his home in Portland Crescent, Greenford.
Mr Tingle, who has lived in the borough for about 40 years, said: "I ran it for about seven years until 2001, when everything died down in travel. 9/11 took care of a lot of that."
His next move was to start Caribbean-themed nights at a range of venues, which he ran for about four years.
The food was just as popular as the entertainment, so Mr Tingle jumped at the chance to start selling it from a shop.
He proudly displays the latest five-star rating from the council, praising the shop for its hygiene standards, and adds that the future seems bright for the small takeaway.
He said: "We're getting customers from all around."
