Take a bow Sharkbite Burgers! The Cwmbran-based food business started in 2021 in the kitchen of a house on Fairwater Way and is now a finalist for the Uber Eats Restaurant of the Year Award.
Founders Mark ‘Sharkey’ Williams and Natasha Spencer-George have since moved house and now run their business from a unit on Grange Industrial Estate.
The prestigious competition attracts 1000s of entries from every corner of the country.
Sharkbite Burgers are up against 11 other businesses in the final.
I asked Mark how he felt when they were told the news that they had made the final.
He said: “It’s nuts. Basically, it was just surreal.
“It’s an incredible achievement to reach the final. There are restaurants that have been trying for years, and we’ve done it on our first go.
“We were up against the giants in Cardiff and Swansea.”
Constantly giving back
He said it was “mental” how their home business had scaled and said it was down to how they “interact every week with our customers and see what they want.”
Mark added: “We’re constantly giving back.” They held a prize draw with £1,000 of gifts and recently cooked 50 Christmas dinners for people who were alone on the special day.
He said: “It’s what’s made us keep doing what we’re doing.
“Everyone gets on board. The community sticks with us because of who we are.”
He said their monthly special keeps people guessing, and they have fun coming up with original recipes that no one expects, saying: “If everyone else was doing it, it’d be easy.”
Mark, Natasha, her brother Morgan (their chef at Sharkbite Burgers), and his partner head to London on 22 September.
Mark and Jordan will cook two signature dishes for a panel of celebrity judges that includes chef Levi Roots and food influencer Eating With Tod.
The results of the Just Eats Restaurant of the Year will be revealed on 23 September.