Hundreds of food lovers and influencers who queued for hours to try the “unique” food from a five-star ramen noodle restaurant soon discovered it was all fake.
YouTuber Stanley Chen, 23, from Sydney, started the experiment after a bad experience he had using social media for a restaurant that claimed its food was fresh but had actually been prepared a week earlier.
Mr Chen told Daily Mail Australia that when he asked to film the chef preparing the dishes, he was told the meals costing between $30 and $40 were not even prepared on site.
“I understand, if it was a place like Maccas, you get what you pay for,” he said.
‘But when it costs $30 or $40 a plate, it’s practically a rip-off.
‘I wanted to see if I could replicate that and make it sound classy, sophisticated and sophisticated.
“And make it clear that this is ridiculous.”
Mr Chen said that while a similar experiment had been attempted before, he wanted to put his own spin on it with instant ramen noodles.
Sydney YouTuber Stanley Chen, 23 (pictured), said he wanted to make it clear to people that restaurants can trick them into thinking they are eating fresh food with clever marketing and “slick” social media posts.
The YouTuber decided to promote a fake ramen noodle restaurant and had seven days to make it a reality. The fake restaurant had people queuing around the block (pictured)
The YouTuber gave himself just seven days to create the restaurant from scratch in a man’s living room in Surry Hills, Sydney.
Mr. Chen created high-quality photographs of instant noodles in his backyard before creating a website and naming the noodle restaurant Nise Janagaru Ramen.
He noted that “Nise” is the Japanese word for fake and Janagaru is a well-known restaurant in Japan.
The YouTuber then sent emails to influencers inviting them to the restaurant to try the dishes for free.
“I just sent a bunch of emails to food influencers telling them we’re this really cool, edgy restaurant that obviously no one’s ever heard of,” she said in the video about the experiment.
‘We’re about to find out if food influencers will post about a restaurant that doesn’t exist.’
But once Chen made TikTok videos about the exclusive restaurant’s food, influencers began contacting him to make reservations.
“I have 500,000 followers, is that enough?” said one influencer.
On the opening day, the YouTuber rushed to set up the fake restaurant and confirmed that 10 influencers would be dining.
Foodies and influencers were told that the “homemade” food they were served was based on their aura, but diners were given the exact same instant ramen noodles (pictured is the brand and flavor of ramen that people were served)
Many ‘customers’ had been waiting hours before the restaurant opened, and the line stretched to the corner.
“There were about 100 people, the line went all the way to the corner and we had 30 people inside,” Chen said.
The YouTuber told excited foodies that the restaurant was “seven years old” and “actually owned by my grandfather” before serving the noodles in white pots.
The YouTuber’s friends took on the roles of waiters and chefs, and he explained to them in the video what to say to the guests.
“We are an experimental and bold ramen restaurant and we don’t serve a traditional menu,” Chen said.
“It’s all omakase and we determine what you eat based on your aura.”
One of his friends asked: Does everyone eat the same thing?
Mr. Chen replied, “Yes, they all eat the same thing,” causing his “staff” to burst into laughter.
“We were trying to find an excuse and find ways to explain why we didn’t have a menu,” he said.
The YouTuber (pictured, right) said the fake restaurant had a “cool vibe” after setting it up in a friend’s living room in Surry Hills, Sydney.
‘We were going to judge people based on Japanese gods, but it became too difficult to remember.’
After someone came up with the idea of ’spicy and earthy auras’, the fake restaurant committed to it.
“Almost everyone we told about the auras (that dictated their food) thought it was pretty serious,” she said.
‘There was a group of three or four guys in the back laughing, so I think they were a little suspicious of the whole thing, but they played along.
“Everyone else bought it.”
Mr. Chen told one man that his earrings “gave us the Italian feel,” making his dish creamier.
But one of the waiters decided to be even more daring.
“Two in the back, bad atmosphere. So I make one serving, two bowls,” he said.
Aside from a mishap when one guest was allergic to eggs and couldn’t eat the noodles, the team managed to successfully perform their stunt.
“There was a great atmosphere. People were saying, ‘Wow, this is so classy,’ and ‘What a cool experience,'” she said.
‘There were people having dinner on a sofa and it was all very relaxed. A DJ was playing nature sounds, so there were birds singing and we projected nature scenes.
Food lovers and influencers (pictured) appeared to have been fooled by the fake restaurant serving instant noodles in gardening pots. Waiters told diners that their dish would be based on their aura.
“It was a very funny experience”.
Some of the diners interviewed after the meal praised the dish.
“The chef needs to prepare another dish for me,” said one.
“He said mine was a little creamier and works well, like Japanese Italian,” said another.
“It has a different taste. You can tell this is unique,” said one man before adding that he reportedly paid between $70 and $80 for the dish.
Mr Chen explained that diners never paid a cent for a very good reason.
‘I paid a couple thousand dollars, but it was free, so when people found out it wasn’t real, they didn’t feel cheated.’
Online responses applauded Mr Chen for his hilarious “social experiment”.
“This teaches everyone a valuable lesson: marketing,” wrote one.
And one of the foodies who was there that night admitted to being fooled: ‘I appear in the video and when I was told it’s based on our ‘aura’, I laughed at the waiter, even though I didn’t realise it was instant ramen.’