Hi guys! Here's a very very informal post talking about my first-hand and first experience at Nox - Dine in the Dark.
If you want more information on Nox, please visit their website: www.noxdineinthedark.com. This is not an advertorial/editorial, it's on my own personal basis that I'm writing this.
Ken brought me to Nox because I heard about it from my friends and wanted to try it.
I had such a fun time!!!!
Ok maybe you're thinking what's so fun about eating in the dark but it's really an experience!!! I never thought it's possible to eat in the dark (like what if spill this or how y'know where to scoop food into your mouth) but APPARENTLY IT IS POSSIBLE & FUN!
(I apologise for the excessive use of exclamation marks; this was written when my experience was still fresh in my mind. Also, it appeared on my personal Dayre first, where I don't bother checking grammar/vocab/spelling much. It's also a platform where I portray a candid personality more like myself when I interact with people in real life. Not that my blog here is not myself; it still consists of my genuine opinions, just a tad more formal and perhaps professional.)
Into the Dark
The restaurant staff upstairs are all visually impaired, so the darkness don't bother them and they 'see' so well. We were led upstairs by a friendly staff called Hafiz. We were in a choo-choo train like I was holding onto Ken's shoulders/waist from the back and Ken was holding onto Hafiz's shoulders. It was PITCH BLACK. Open or close eyes no difference!!! Throughout the whole dinner, sometimes I don't even know if my eyes are open or closed!!!
Then we were led to our seats and Hafiz assured Ken that he can take bigger steps HAHA Ken says he feel so insecure to take bigger steps cause we really CANNOT SEE ANYTHING it's amazing how they do that actually!! No source of light at all. After we were led to our seats, we were told that utensils were on the right along with our glasses of wine. Then Hafiz left to get us our appetizers!
It was like finding treasure when we finally found each other's glasses to cheers and drink the wine hahaha! Just anyhow hold the glass and put infront of my face asking Ken where is his glass.
Food
There were three courses: appetizers, mains and desserts. Each course comes in 4 small bowls of different food. We were advised to eat clockwise, from 6 o'clock to 9 to 12 and such. But I just felt like eating the other way don't know why hahaha.
So how did we go about eating??
Well actually the bowl was small enough to feel entirely. I could feel the four mini bowls on the plate/tray on the table. So I just picked up one with my left hand, then right hand took a fork and anyhow poke poke inside. Then just put the bowl near my mouth and shove food in HAHA. Of course Ken and I were discussing what is it we were eating and all. I knew one of the appetizers had egg!! I love eggs. It was the runny uncooked kind which I love too!!
Space and Ambience
We were seated at a corner, with the table against the wall. I liked it cause it meant I know where the edge of the table is and it was actually a just-nice size: not too big table that I can't find the edge and not too small that there's no space for the cutlery. I feel so proud of myself that I can pick up and put down my wine glass easily in total darkness without being afraid of it spilling or whatnot!!!!
It was actually a very nice experience in a comfortable ambience, after getting hang of the space around myself physically, along with the visualizations in my head. Fork & spoon on the right, wine glass there, food here and which bowls I've eaten at where and such.
Holding hands and talking in the dark, occasionally eavesdropping on conversations nearby. I enjoyed dessert the most because well I love dessert haha! After that we just held hands in silence, made some small sweet talk, feeling satisfied and contented.
Time Taken
The whole process felt like half an hour only. Because we were just eating and chatting and food came pretty fast, mains right after appetizers and dessert right after mains. I think it was about a 5 minutes wait only. And it felt like we finished each course super fast as well cause each bowl was pretty small.
Ken ate so fast I kept asking him to wait for me so we can taste a new dish tgt and guess what is it haha. Then when we came back down to light, it was already 10pm!
We entered around 8.40pm! So our dinner date (blind date literally haha) took about an hour plus!! Wow. That one hour really flew by super super fast like one of the the fastest one hour in my life hahaha. I guess it's also because we couldn't check the time and practically had no sense of time because we were focusing on deciphering what we were eating.
After Dining
When we came back down we were asked to fill up a questionnaire asking what we ate. I couldn't remember much (so much for loving food haha) only remembered tasting egg in appetizer, some beef in mains and a refreshing lime in dessert.
Then when they showed us what we ate, we got 90% of the food wrong HAHAHA so funny we cannot be food tasters for sure. Foie gras was expected, and we found out we had ox tongue omg!!!!
After Thoughts and Price
Respect for the visually impaired staffs because their service was awesome and perfect, and they walk around the place so well!! They remembered our names and addressed us so well, also not forgetting to check if we were comfortable.
I was pretty full after, but Ken thought the food portions could be a little bit bigger. I think it's just nice, because if too much then customers may feel stuffed before they even reach the end of the course haha. There are a lot of different food to try, very interesting! They change their menu around 6-8 weeks so if got money to spare and want the experience again can go back lah haha. $176++ for both our dinner and we had two glasses of red wine as well. Which went really well with the food! Our total bill came up to $250.
I was pretty full after, but Ken thought the food portions could be a little bit bigger. I think it's just nice, because if too much then customers may feel stuffed before they even reach the end of the course haha. There are a lot of different food to try, very interesting! They change their menu around 6-8 weeks so if got money to spare and want the experience again can go back lah haha. $176++ for both our dinner and we had two glasses of red wine as well. Which went really well with the food! Our total bill came up to $250.
My verdict
Definitely a unique experience dining in total darkness, and making sense of your surroundings and space. However, the price is a little bit steep (even though you will be served quality food) and I might not go back again until maybe a year later? Yep.
That's all I hope you've enjoyed reading about my experience! Any questions leave a comment below or email me chengkaiting@gmail.com. Till next time. Bye!
xoxo, kaitinghearts
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