A popular Wickham food van was voted Kebab Van of the Year at a national awards ceremony and I was invited down to try it out
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00:00 Now, I'm not known to use the word 'kebab' in the cold light of day, but having spoken
00:04 a couple of times to Sammy, the owner of Boss Kebabs in Wiccan, and after seeing them announce
00:08 his 'Kebab Fan of the Year' at the British Kebab Awards, I thought it was high time I
00:12 went down and tasted it. So, Sammy invited me down for a chat and to have a taste of
00:17 the award winning kebab.
00:18 Yes, obviously a week on from getting the awards, how does it feel? Has it sunk in yet?
00:22 Yes, still I'm really delightful, very happy and lots of new people, people from Brighton,
00:30 some places in Portsmouth, most of the people driving past 15, 20 techo, they come here
00:38 to try us now. I'm trying my best to impress people with the best quality food. I believe
00:46 that I'm doing more quality food than most of the places, even the shops. We pretty much
00:52 beat all the kebab vans in the UK in 2024. I reckon because I've been in the industry
00:58 for the last 23, 24 years, I'm using my experience to try to do my best. What I like about the
01:06 food, I'm showing my customers.
01:08 So you think that's what makes it so popular?
01:10 Yes, and every single customer, people came here, I would ask every single one of them
01:16 have you been doing okay? Not only ask, take us all down there, give us food and just send
01:22 them like that. I have to ask them, are they okay? Did they have a nice day? I mean, sometimes
01:29 I'm watching from the camera, people come in here, if I'm not here, they're asking where
01:32 is Sammy? They're asking me all the time. That makes me really, really proud.
01:37 My family, every day pretty much my kids here, they eat in this van. So all my customers
01:45 know, obviously about me, if Sammy's feeding his kids from his van, they're confidently
01:51 eating at my bar.
01:53 And yeah, so looking ahead to the rest of the year, obviously the kebab van of the year,
01:58 now, is it you got any other plans for the future?
02:00 I'm trying to get next year as well. So I've just registered again. So I'm going to impress
02:06 the British Kebab Award people as well. So I'm trying to win that next year. If not,
02:11 I'm going to be, I believe myself, I'm going to be in first three in the UK again. But
02:16 I'm going to try my best again, like I did this year to win it.
02:20 And yeah, what do you think makes the food so good here?
02:23 I mean, if in any job, if you love what you're doing, that becomes a success. If you like,
02:32 if you do something, just you want to do it, people ask you, well, that's, you want to
02:37 be successful. I mean, when I started this business, I never think of the money at all,
02:42 begin with. I never think the money. I just think, how can I make people happy? How can
02:49 I appreciate them? I just focus that. And sometimes, even now, if you send a delivery,
02:57 if something didn't go, if you forget something, I'm sending all order again to them. I'm telling
03:05 my customers, keep that, I'm sending a new one. In that case, I believe I'm doing good
03:11 customer service, keeping my customers always happy. And I don't think I upset anyone else
03:16 here. I'm here last three years. I didn't upset not even one single customer, really.
03:20 I keep them happy all the time. Because what I believe in this business, we are just keep
03:27 out here, my customers are the boss, they're paying my wages. So they have to be happy.
03:45 Sammy laid out a piece of chicken and lamb shish, kofta and lamb doner. The viewer imported
03:50 homemade garlic mayonnaise and chili sauce. The meat was brilliantly spiced and tender,
03:54 while the spicy chili sauce packed a punch without being overbearing. Consider me a kebab
03:59 convert, even Sammy couldn't resist.
04:01 I cook it myself, eat it myself. I love it. This is why. Yeah, me boy.
04:12 [Laughter]
04:13 [Music]