Someone made their backyard shed into the No. 1 restaurant in London on TripAdvisor

For a brief moment in time, London's top-rated restaurant on TripAdvisor was a fake restaurant in a backyard shed. Oobah Butler used to make money writing fake reviews for restaurant owners who wanted to give their business a shot in the arm, which gave him the idea to see if he could create a TripAdvisor page for a fake restaurant. Somehow, Butler's fake food-slinger was not only approved on TripAdvisor — it became one of the most sought-after restaurants in all of London.

Writing for Vice, Butler explains how after buying a burner phone and building a website for his fake restaurant, The Shed At Dulwich, he staged some mouth-watering food photos — except the plates were actually concocted with shaving cream, discs of bleach, hot chocolate tablets, and paint. He then skirted TripAdvisor's fact-checkers by listing only the road as the address and marking the restaurant as appointment-only.

Butler began the ruse in April and his listing was approved by TripAdvisor in May. By the end of August, he wrote, The Shed At Dulwich was ranked the 156th-best restaurant of the more than 18,000 listed in London; by November, Butler's fake restaurant was No. 1, built on the backs of creative photography, fake fully-booked nights, and many avoided reservation requests.

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

The Shed At Dulwich's ascent to the top prompted TripAdvisor to reach out with an information request, ending the six-month charade. But Butler kept getting inquiries from hungry customers, prompting him to actually open the restaurant for a night. Read the entire bizarre saga of The Shed at Dulwich — and see the beautiful photos of Butler's fake food — at Vice.