How a viral shawarma restaurant fell afoul of an ice cream van mafia

It was half-past midnight on 6 June when the unmarked van pulled up outside Shawarma Hut on Walworth Road. Inside, its owner Ali Alsahlane watched as four men, all clad in black and wearing North Face jackets, jumped out of the back and gathered by the windows of the restaurant. For the next ten minutes, they stood, unmoving and unspeaking, and stared into the restaurant at Alsahlane.

Shawarma Hut isn’t just any south London restaurant. It’s hugely popular, having gone viral on social media in the last year due to its claim to be the cheapest restaurant in London (£2.49 for a full-sized falafel wrap, in case you’re wondering) and Alsahlane's energetic promise that his customers will eat “better than the rich”. It’s welcomed influencers like Eating with Tod through its doors. But even for a place used to the kind of strange experiences that come from online stardom, that night was a first — especially as it had come at the end of days of intimidation and threats of violence.

Hi, I'm Andrew, the author of today's story. There's plenty more crazy details coming up, including huge debts, crazed voice message threats and a mad journey into the world of food influencers. But I'm also here to break the news that today's piece is behind a paywall. Frankly, pieces like this take a lot of time and we can only afford to do them (and stay afloat) because of our paid supporters.

Join us for just £7.45 a month, and get all our news, features, briefings and investigations for half price. Plus, you'll be supporting the sort of reporting that actually gets out from behind a screen and into the streets.

Support local journalism in the capital

Soon, the police were called, and the mystery visitors dispersed as quickly as they had arrived. “I was scared, I really thought they would attack us,” he recalls. “I didn’t know if they were some big gang or not. I didn’t know who they were.”

Speaking to the police officers afterwards, Alsahlane was petrified that the same men might come to his house or take violent action next time. But the pair of officers gave him one piece of advice: if you don't want to get harassed by these gangs, just delete the video.

Welcome to Shawarma Hut

To try and understand the saga that led to the stand-off, I head to meet Alsahlane at Shawarma Hut. Bald, well-groomed and sporting the luxury watch and pristine suit that have become his trademark in videos, the 32 year old is animated as he tells me how the craziest month of his life came about.