Here's an experience like no other.
The name of the restaurant says it all. A gastronomic adventure that aims to give each diner a new sensory experience. Yup, i rose to the challenge (or ridiculousness to some) to pay to have a full course dinner in complete darkness. Let's just say i'm curious to experience how the blind eats. Plus i love eating. o.O
A tad of spoilers ahead, so stop reading further if you really want to go into the unknown without knowing.
Dining in the Dark is located right smack in the most happening section of Changkat Bukit Bintang (somewhere opposite El Cerdo). Can't exactly say it's this posh place though as it is located above a pub. It is advisable to make early reservations to avoid disappointment. First, we were brought to this mini lounge which was sort of a 'waiting area' while waiting for our table to be set.
We opted for the Classic Menu which was priced at RM 98++/pax, consisting of a 4-course dinner, starting off with a welcome drink (your choice of alcoholic/ non).
The food here is a 'surprise', and i love surprises! As long as they don't make me eat bugs or worms in the dark. So basically, this is what the menu would look like. The only requests you get to make is to tell them the types of food you avoid eating or that you're allergic to.
While waiting, they'll encourage that you play a mini game of finding as many paper clips as you can in a heap of rice, while you're blind-folded. Let's just say as compared to my partner, i passed with flying colours! hehe...
Shortly after, our handphones were taken away from us (gasp!), along with other gadgets which could emit light (like watches, lighters, etc..). Then our assigned waiter (who happened to be half blind) came, and ala hands-on-shoulder style, led us into a room with really small slow steps.
The room looked amazingly..................... BLACK.
Obviously i can't be showing you what i ate and drank in there. It just felt like i was made to stare into a really really black screen for the next one and a half hours. I tried my best to eat every single item on my plate (coz it ain't cheap k), hence the long dining time as i couldn't see what i was eating! Thankfully, i liked most of the food served to me - even if i didn't, there was nothing i could do as the food was already in my mouth! lol.
Our waiter was alert and vigilant, to avoid us toppling over our drinks or accidentally pouring food over our head. haha. He knew when to clear our plates for the next course, simply by listening to the sound of our cutlery.
Achluophobics (people who are afraid of the dark), stay away. I too needed a few minutes to adjust to being in a room so dark. Sure, some horror films did come to mind, but hey it's all psychological. My advice when you're dining here one day, loosen up and just be yourself. Sure you'll tend to be wary of your surrounding and keep mum (coz it's so freaking dark!) but it helps to start conversations and act normal. That includes not picking your nose or making silly faces, juzzzzz in case you're being recorded using some infra-red security camera.
Loved the meals they put out for us as it was thoughtfully designed to encompass different tastes and textures you find in food. Part of the fun was definitely guessing the right ingredients used to put together the chef's creation. Just like an episode from Hell's Kitchen. Turned out my palate was quite an impressive one. eh-hem.
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| how they made the room so blardy dark?! |
Fast forward about 2 hours later, and voila!, dinner was over.
I actually didn't want it to end so soon, haha, especially since i enjoyed the dessert the most!
We said our goodbyes to our waiter and the crew there, then headed downstairs to this pub for a complimentary hot drink.
Aaaah, a much needed brew of hot tea to bring our senses back to reality.
The reality of realising how important sight is to us...
That's right, check out their discounted offer on this truly unique dining experience, here..
That's it. Free advertising from yours truly. ^^
