Ahmed’s Bar B-Q has been shortlisted for Kebab Van of the Year in the British Kebab Awards 2020.
Located on Oxford High Street outside Old Bank Hotel, Ahmed’s is a staple of Oxford’s night dining.
The kebab van is defending its title from last year, when it won the category of Kebab Van of the Year. There is nearby competition from Atalay’s Kebab Van in Thame, which has won twice in the past eight years of the award.
Hassan’s Street Kitchen on Broad Street has not been nominated, despite having been shortlisted in 2018 and 2019.
Ahmed Semali, who has been running the kebab van since 1987, told Cherwell that he is excited about the event and is confident of his prospects: “We won last year. And from last year to now, the service has got a lot better and more people are coming.”
This annual event will be held on Tuesday 3rd March, hosted by Chris Stark and Scott Mills, British radio presenters.
This year’s judges include Ash Sarkar, senior editor at Novara Media, Joanne McCartney, Deputy Mayor of London, and 5 MPs.
They shortlisted possible winners from nearly 4000 nominations from members of the public, “taking into account reputation, hygiene rating, online scores and nominations from local politicians, with only one or two moments of controversy.”
To decide on the winners, “each judge has been assigned a category and issued with a coveted BKA ID to begin visits, assessing potential winners on criteria from food quality and ambience to vegetarian/ vegan friendliness.”
The awards have become “a popular event on the Westminster calendar.” The 2019 Awards were attended by Jeremy Corbyn, the teetotal vegetarian Labour leader, who professed his love for falafel in a speech at the event.
It also received support from Theresa May, Michael Gove, and Sajid Javid last year, and was attended by Conservatives Shaun Bailey and Bob Seely, and Labour’s Angela Rayner.
Mikey Smith, from the Daily Mirror, describes the event as his “favourite political piss-up of the year.”
The Telegraph has described the event as “a proxy battle between Labour and the Tories”. The Somewhere describes the event as one which politicians can prove their credentials as “a man-of-the-people”. A Standard Seat is £216, a premium seat in £276.
Kebab fans can now vote for the awards on the Kebab Awards website.
