'Once they try it, they're converted': The hidden gem Filipino café tucked away in a Greater Manchester market

It’s a quiet afternoon inside Ashton Market Hall. A handful of shoppers meander around the network of stalls, picking up provisions and stopping for a chat with traders.

Briggs Family Butchers sell off the last of the day’s stock, Williams Deli is taking orders for its artisan pies and oven bottom muffins and a clutch of independent food stalls are dishing out their last lunch orders.

In the far corner of the inside market it feels like something akin to a village square has emerged. Flanked by Persian Meals on one side and Nat’s Bombay Kitchen sits Tarp’s Filipino Fusion Food, a family run restaurant that’s won Ashton’s Independent Food Award two years running.

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Beneath a canopy of colourful planters, hanging baskets and fairy lights, a simple spread of tables and chairs leads onto a small kitchen, where Tarp’s owner Carl can be seen busy preparing orders. He’s run the concession with his parents Mel and Ronnie for around five years now.

While it might be quiet in the market, there’s a gentle hum from the kitchens, including Tarp’s, as pots and pans jostle for position on the small hobs, ingredients are finely chopped and boxes brimming with piping hot food are handed over the counter.

It’s a familiar sound for Carl and his family, for whom cooking has always played a starring role in their lives.

“When I was young I would wake up to the sound of woks banging, plates and cutlery clattering, people shouting or chattering away in the kitchen,” says Carl, who has stepped away from the stall for five minutes, leaving his parents to hold down the fort.

“Food has always been present, and as I grew up I knew I wanted to do something along those lines. Before we came to the UK in around 2005 my mother worked in catering with my grandma and we’ve always been surrounded by food, so we knew that at some point we wanted to open our own business.”

Carl moved over from the Philippines to Greater Manchester when he was around 11, and says that there are around 30-40 families from the Philippines settled in the area. When it came to opening their own business some years later, for Carl and his family, it was all about celebrating their roots.

While Manchester is well served in terms of global cuisines, Filipino food is perhaps not as well known or prolific as other cuisines from Southeast Asia. “I think it’s not as popular here yet because we’re being slightly overshadowed by Chinese, Japanese and Indian cuisine which is very big here, we’re probably at the bottom of the pyramid right now,” explains Carl.

“I’ve worked in a Chinese restaurant and met people from all walks of life, but if they said what kind of restaurant they would want to open it would be Japanese, Thai, or Chinese, something like that. We really want to introduce Filipino food to Manchester and the UK more widely.”

In Manchester, there’s a small crop of outlets serving dishes inspired by the Philippines, including Adastra Pacific, a grocery store and cafe on Wellington Road in Stockport, Yes Lah in West Didsbury, and Cora’s in Ashton-under-Lyne. For Carl, it’s about spreading the word, but that doesn’t necessarily mean using social media.

“We’re very lucky to have established a loyal customer base here. We see a lot of the same people week after week. I think people may have been a bit unsure at first, but once they try it and they’re converted, and from there it’s a case of word-of-mouth.

“We don’t really use social media too much, and if I get busy or have a long day, the last thing I want to do is sit on my phone and post, but I probably should really. I just find people come off of recommendations from family and friends and that’s a bit more personal.”

Filipino cuisine is composed of cuisines of more than a hundred distinct ethnolinguistic groups found throughout the archipelago, with dishes evolving significantly over the centuries, and featuring influences from Chinese, Spanish and American food cultures.

Dishes that appear often include salted fish and rice, curries, paellas and stews made for fiestas and celebrations. For Carl and his family it’s about presenting customers with a taste of their family recipes, which in this case have been passed down from his grandmother and adapted by his mother.

“I would say the Chicken Adobo is the most popular dish we do. The chicken is marinated overnight so you get the flavours really soaking in, and that’s why it’s tender as well. That’s my mum’s recipe, so it’s herbs and spices, as well as soy sauce, vinegar and her magic touch.

Described as the ‘superstar’ of Filipino cuisine, succulent pieces of marinated chicken sit on a bed of vibrantly coloured rice, which immediately brings a smile to your face. Then there’s the Tapsilog, a portmanteau of the delicacy’s three key ingredients - beef, sinangag (garlic fried rice) and fried egg, known as itlog.

“The Tapsilog is my favourite because I am a beef lover. I probably eat it every day to be honest. We just eat everything off the menu basically.

Another standout of the menu is the Lechon Kawali, a crispy deep-fried pork which typically uses pork belly for best results. Served again with a side or rice and salad, it takes its name from a type of cooking pan used in many Filipino households.

Meanwhile, the Pork Lumpia, a type of Filipino egg roll and packed with ground pork, as well as minced onions, carrots and seasonings, are golden and crispy - the perfect afternoon snack. It’s joined on the menu by chicken stir fry noodles, a spicy and healthy ‘lava’ chicken salad doused in tangy, homemade Korean kimchi, and the pork sisig, which is made up of different cuts of pork and chicken liver before being seasoned with onions and chilli peppers.

Above all else though, Tarp’s dishes feel comforting and communal. They’ve been designed to share and to take your time offer.

“At home, it’s a feast, so there will always be groups of six to seven people eating or cooking. We have cafeterias and people would grab a chair.

“Part of our house was converted into a cafeteria as well, so that’s what I would always see and be involved in. It’s quite common that part of the house would be used for business use and then the other side is where you would sleep.”