It’s been a while since I last wrote a foodie blog, so I thought I’d write about my experience of TikTok sensation Spudman! Spudman, aka Ben Newman, has been serving jacket potatoes for over 20 years in Tamworth but recently he has taken the internet by storm with videos of serving customers, giving away freebies and trips to Bookers to buy everything he needs. I had seen Spudman in Tamworth before but I hadn’t thought to try one of his jacket potatoes. His recent success online made me curious to see what all the hype is about.
It was towards the end of January when I started seeing Spudman appear on my Facebook news feed, mostly videos of him giving away free jacket potatoes to unsuspecting customers. Over the past weeks the hype peaked with two hour long queues of people travelling from afar to try a jacket potato. There have been people travelling all the way from Canada and Malaysia! It seems I picked the right day and time to go; I went on Saturday and joined the queue just after 11am. I wouldn’t normally have lunch this early in the day, but I only queued for 10 minutes rather than a few hours!
After much debate from looking at the menu, I decided to try Spudman’s homemade chilli con carne with cheese and crispy onions. I asked Spudman if it was spicy and he said it as mild, which I was glad about it as I don’t like chilli that’s too hot. It didn’t take long for the jacket potato to be prepared and I had a picture taken with Spudman.
I decided to eat my jacket potato in the castle grounds which was a short walk from Spudman’s van. When I unwrapped the foil and opened the box, the smell was heavenly – a concoction of melted butter and cheese with the comforting smell of the chilli. In his videos, Spudman demonstrates what he calls a cheese pull, where he uses a fork to scoop up some food with cheese with its stringy texture when it’s melted. I did the same in the photo below when I tried my first bite.
The chilli was delicious, especially with the melted cheese and crispy onions. The jacket potato was soft and fluffy and I saved the skin (my favourite part) until last. The portion size was definitely generous, especially for the price. It cost my £6 for the jacket potato with everything I had; there were no extra charges for the cheese and the crispy onions. I only knew about the crispy onions from watching Spudman’s videos.
Personally I wouldn’t have queued two hours, but it was a delicious lunch and I will definitely go back for another spud in the future. I’m not sure why the hype started, but Spudman’s popularity is definitely benefitting Tamworth as it’s a town which is run down and needs investment. I imagine local businesses are thrilled with the number of people visiting; there’s a traditional sweet shop a short walk from Spudman which has particularly been doing well. Food certainly has a way of encouraging people to travel from afar!
Happy reading and blogging!
Clare Bear 🙂 xx