When Mahmoud Ismail spent his youth doing “laps” of Bankstown, he never imagined he would be launching his very own product here.

The Yagoona Tik Toker and self-proclaimed “unofficial Mayor of Bankstown”, will be launching his stuffed potato product, Spudhole, at Bankstown Bites on Saturday 27 July.

Promising to be a foodie’s fantasy, the festival will see international cuisines, food tours, masterclasses and cooking demonstrations heat up Olympic Parade and Griffith Park from 10am-4pm.

As a local who attended primary school at Bankstown and spent Thursday nights hanging out at Bankstown Central, Ismail said launching his new product here is a “full circle moment”.

“I’ve driven through that same street, where I’m launching ‘Spudhole’, my whole life and I never thought I would have my own stall there,” Ismail said.

Ismail has been creating food reviews and other social media content since 2020, and has amassed a following of more than 500 thousand across Instagram and Tik Tok.

“I’ve been a food reviewer for a while and I finally get to showcase to people what I think is a great dish. A good spud is my idea of comfort food!” Ismail said.

“I got the inspiration from the UK, it’s a big food trend there, but it hasn’t taken off in Sydney yet. And I like my potatoes in all forms, it’s my favourite form of carb!”

“We’re going to have two main flavours – popcorn chicken and brisket.

“We mash the potatoes on the inside, so it becomes soft when you take it out of the oven and stuff it with a whole bunch of things... coleslaw, barbeque sauce, mayo and cheese.”

Canterbury-Bankstown Mayor Bilal El-Hayek said it’s great to have one of our City’s favourite influencers on board for Bankstown Bites.

“If you thought Bankstown Bites had it all, wait until you meet Ismail,” Mayor El-Hayek said.

“I know he calls himself the unofficial Mayor, but he’s better suited to Tik Tok and his new spuds!”

Local influencer Samantha Khater will also launch her new drink range, K-Thirst, at Bankstown Bites and will be serving up her viral chocolate on tap.

“K-Thirst is inspired from the number one Tik Tok trending drink in Malaysia,” Ms Khater said.

“We’re going to have a whole variety of different flavours; It’s like a candy shop of drinks!”

Ms Khater said she loves the diversity of food and hospitality of the shop owners in Bankstown and encouraged everyone to see it for themselves at Bankstown Bites.

“You can stay in the area but at the same time experience all these trending Tik Tok brands and experience the hype of Mahmoud launching his product!”

Also on offer at Bankstown Bites, Jacob from Thirsty Monkey, or the “king of acai”, will be serving up his viral acai with its “unbeatable texture”.

Attendees can meet Mahmoud Ismail, Samantha Khater and Jacob from Thirsty Monkey at the Bites Corner.

For more information, visit wih.city/BankstownBites