He made London’s #1 restaurant… without serving a single dish.

18 Jan 2026 · 1 min

Watch on YouTube

1:00

A short YouTube monologue by Dan Novaes (UBK) telling the 2017 story of UBA Butler, who fabricated a top-ranked London restaurant called The Shed at Dulwich by creating fake photos, a website, burner-phone reservations and thousands of five-star TripAdvisor reviews—raising the fake listing from roughly 18,000th to #1 in London. He later staged a blindfolded one-night pop-up (ten guests) with actors and microwaved ready meals; the episode is used to illustrate that the internet often rewards perception over reality. The clip ends with a promotional CTA to follow UBK for more entrepreneur stories.

Questions this video answers

2017.

UBA Butler.

The Shed at Dulwich.

From about 18,000th place to number one in London.

Ten guests, who were blindfolded.

Chapters

In 2017, a man created the number one restaurant in London without serving a single dish. His name was UBA Butler, and at the time he was getting paid to write fake TripAdvisor reviews for restaurants he'd never visited. Then he had a dangerous if I can fake reviews, what if I fake an entire restaurant? So he created a completely fictional spot called the Shed at Dulwich. It wasn't a restaurant, it was literally the Shed in his backyard. He bought a burner phone, built a website and posted photos of fake food made with shaving cream and dishwasher tablets. In one picture, the stake was his own foot. He got friends to leave five star reviews. And somehow it worked. The shed climbed from 18,000th place to number one in London. Brands, influencers and journalists begged for reservations at a restaurant that didn't exist. Eventually, he cracked and hosted a one night pop up. Ten guests blindfolded, actors providing restaurant noise, a DJ looping ambiance, and the food microwaved ready meals. People loved it. They left glowing reviews because the Internet didn't reward reality, it rewarded perception. He never sold food. He sold belief. And for a moment, that belief made A backyard Shed the best restaurant in London. For. For more entrepreneur stories and information like this, follow UBK.