Ocean Fast Food owner Peter Crofskey keeps banter coming in Palmerston North

Ocean Fast Food co-owner Peter Crofskey adds fun to the fish and cheek to the chips with his humour. Photo / Judith Lacy

When you order fish and chips from Peter Crofskey you'll also get a side of banter.

Crofskey and his partner Barbara Kim have owned Ocean Fast Food in Roslyn for five and a half years.

When you ask Crofskey for a fish he will ask if you want a silverfish or a chocolate fish. And as for salt, you need to specify if it's chicken, bath or insults you are after.

"The most important thing we do qualify when they order food is whether they want it cooked or not."

At 77, Crofskey works seven days a week, 12 to 13 hours a day, and still finds the energy for late-night games of poker.

"I just enjoy life, I live every day to the utmost max."

Asked where he gets his energy from, he replies: "I don't know, I just have to keep going."

When asked how he learned to cook fast food, Kim quips: "I forced him to do it." She says she didn't want him sitting in front of the TV all day.

The couple moved to Palmerston North when Kim's daughter Jina came here to study veterinary science at Massey University. Jina has since graduated and moved back to Auckland.

Kim taught special-needs children in Auckland, while Crofskey spent 29 years in the car business.

Crofskey says customers expect his cheek now and older people appreciate having a chat.

"We give people the time of day, make them feel they are wanted."

Comments on nz.oceaniabiz.com attest to Crofskey's character: "owner has got good sense of humour", "the owners are also very lovely people", "people were super friendly".

Customers bring him and Kim everything from goat curries to home-made baking and fresh trout.

Crofskey says he loves to see people smile. "We treat people nicely so they treat us nicely."

Crofskey says Kim, who is from South Korea, "is the most fantastic cook, she can cook anything".

Born in Opunake, Crofskey had two brothers and eight sisters. He also lived on farms in Ōtorohanga, Matamata and Karaka, and from an early age worked hard. He used to be a keen rugby league and squash player.

His father wanted him to be a Catholic priest. As an altar boy he would "taste test" the communion wine, but he got sprung when he shared some with another boy and was asked to leave the role.