Halal Snack Pack Appreciation Society makes pilgrimage to snack pack ‘Mecca’, King Kebab House
AS many as 1500 members of the Halal Snack Pack Appreciation Society could make a pilgrimage to western Sydney’s ‘Mecca’ - King Kebab House - to sample and rate the snack packs tonight.
UP to 1500 people — some who have come from New Zealand — are expected to make the pilgrimage from Liverpool to the Mecca of halal snack packs in Campbelltown tonight.
So far, 900 pilgrims — all members of the Halal Snack Pack Appreciation Society (HSPAS) — have confirmed they will attend with the pilgrimage starting at Liverpool Krispy Kreme before making the 22km journey to King Kebab House in Queen St.
The society — which boasts 52,000 members on Facebook — travels everywhere and anywhere, eating and rating snack packs sold in kebab shops.
But there’s nothing “snack” about the monstrous plates of meat, chips and sauce the Campbelltown kebab house which will set you back $11.
The Queen St store isn’t able to cater for the 900 expected to take the journey, so lots of 20 cars at a time will head there with a 15 minute gap between the next group.
The choices are, beef, lamb or chicken with chips and then sauce to douse.
The store owner Mevlana Cifci said they sell so many snack packs because he puts effort into the kebab meat and making it his own with season and flavouring.
“It’s more expensive for me to have my own flavour, but it’s worth it,” the owner said.
“People come because it’s good quality and the $11 price is better than anywhere else.
“I see lots of shops sell them for $15 or $16, but not as cheap as mine.”
One review of King Kebab House gave it a 10/10 for signage, 11/10 for service, 9.5 for the “garlic and BBQ sauce” sauce, a 10 for the meat, 10 for the crispy chips and 10 for value. He paid $13 to get extra cheese on his masterpiece.
“It was a perfect first experience and one that I shall come back for over and over again,” he said.
The mastermind behind the pilgrimage, Hashim Ahmed from Mt Druitt, said he was just an avid snack pack eater and wanted to congregate with other like-minded people.
He said the difficult task was finding a time that suited the majority of people.
“Then last week I said ‘let’s do it and see what happens’,” the 23-year-old said.
“It has got bigger than we thought it’d be. More than 900 have confirmed they’re attending on our Facebook event and 1500 are a maybe.”
Mr Ahmed said while the appreciation society was a bit of fun, the idea behind it was to be open, so everyone could join in.
“Especially today, where racial slurs are common — this group is for people from all cultures to come together and have some fun.
“We’re not just doing this for something to do, we’re raising some money for the Australian Relief Organisation, to help in orphanages with water supplies and cataract surgery for people who can’t afford it.”
The store owner has confirmed he too will chip in, with 50 cents from every drink sale tonight to the charity.
And when asked how a snack pack was best served, Mr Ahmed said meat, garlic sauce, chilli sauce and cheese on top.
“It’s the best combination. The garlic really mellows the chilli sauce down.”
Looking to the future, the appreciation society plans to hold small monthly pilgrimages to stores that sell snack packs and co-ordinate a larger-scale event each quarter.
“This is the first of many,” he said.
SNACK PACK ATTACK
■ The Halal Snack Pack Appreciation Society has more than 52,000 members on Facebook
■ They post reviews about different snack packs all over Australia
■ King Kebab House, Campbelltown has been deemed ‘Mecca’ and as such, a pilgrimage has been planned from 7.30pm
■ Tonight at the store, for every drink sold, 50 cents will go to the Australian Relief Organisation
■ Check out the group’s Facebook page HERE
Vaccine rollout: The number of people jabbed in your suburb
617k jabs issued this week: How many people are vaccinated; where you can get jabbed and how many cases are in your community. Here’s everything you need to know about Covid.
‘Dress up for your test’: New Covid craze in NSW
‘Fancy dress for your test’ is gaining momentum as more and more people take up the new Covid craze to put smiles on the faces of health workers as they get the jab.