Now, this was a big step for me...dining with complete strangers. I don't do well with the unknown. And here's a situation where I'm going to have to make conversation with strangers and not be able to see/know what I'm eating. Yeah...what the hell was I thinking?! Of course, I know that my husband has never met a stranger - and that if I was not feeling the love - he'd carry me through.
We arrived a little early - so we grabbed a drink next door at The Whiskey Bar. Mainly, I did this so we could case out the people heading upstairs into Dining In The Dark. I figured if they didn't look like a fun group we could just bail and hit the pork restaurant across the street. (I'm kidding...sort of.)
Whiskey Bar
We only saw a few people heading upstairs...and they all looked harmless enough - so we headed that way.
We were the last to arrive and met by 8 other folks from the AAM. (8?? That's it?! Where was everyone? Okay...time for another cocktail...this could be a long night.) You received a small white Russian when you arrived...which was quite tasty! (And, we were fortunate enough to meet Hub, whose southern accent made him Blaine's new friend!)
So Dining In The Dark is just that...you eat your meal in complete darkness. You are not told the menu and you have to try and decipher what you're eating using your other senses. To get you ready for this...the restaurant has you put on a blindfold and try to find several paper clips which are in a container containing all sorts of different grains. This is much harder than it appears...
Me attempting to find the paper clips
After a few minutes it was time to enter the restaurant. All cell phones are turned off and anything that emits light is locked away or put in pockets. Then you walk into the restaurant being led by your waiter who seats you at a table...and it is dark. You can not see your hand in front of your face...think black hole dark. Once your party is seated your waiter instructs you as to where you can find your drink and your utensils.
The first course was soon brought out...4 different appetizers. Now, I am going to share what we have, but know that the menu changes every 30 days - so if you're going this month - STOP READING! If not, continue on. There was an egg custard that had a horrible mouth feel to it. The taste wasn't bad, but I could not get over the texture. Then there was a salad, followed by fried polenta and a ceviche. Overall, not a bad start to the meal. We were able to figure out many of the dishes we were eating.
Next came two soups - one hot and one cold. I was pretty sure it was a broccoli soup and a gazpacho. I found out after it was cauliflower and gazpacho...close enough.
Main course soon followed. Three different main courses...a penne pasta with carrots and zucchini, turkey dinner with all the trimmings and then a beef dish with a gravy that was almost like a stew. (We found out after the meal that the beef was venison.)
Finally, dessert! Five different desserts...a Christmas ice cream, lemon panna cotta, a cream puff, a very interesting dessert with phyllo dough that we thought was a baklava only to find out it had been filled with sweet potatoes and eggplant and finally a mini pavlova.
I'll come back to the food in a few minutes...let's dish about the dining experience. There were a few really funny people in our group...and yes, they were a bit loud at times, but nothing outrageous. Well, one of the members of our group actually shushed these people - not once, but several times. I'm sorry - these are not your children. These are adults who paid for a night out and really weren't doing anything wrong. When that happened, I have to admit I was a bit miffed...more than a bit. If she had been doing it to me...I would've asked to leave. (Not sure how I would've gotten out of the pitch black room - but, I would have left somehow.)
After the meal was finished, a woman who had dined here previously asked our waiter, Thaong, how much site he had. (Come to find out - the wait staff are blind.) He stated that in bright sunlight he can see a few shadows, but that's about it. Remarkable. He told us a little bit about service - how they listen to hear when our forks stop hitting the dishes and how they let other servers know where they are with a series of finger snaps or short whispers.
When we left we were shown the complete menu for the evening.
After the meal, we joined our group for a drink at Movida. Carlsberg Towers!
It didn't take too long to polish off a couple of these and then we were headed home. We gave Hub a ride home - since he lives here in Mont' Kiara. We plan to get together with him and his wife once they return from Christmas holidays.
I will say this would've been a GREAT experience with a group of friends - just fun! I can hear all the inappropriate jokes in my head right now! And while the food was completely average - not great, but not bad - you need to know you're going there for the experience. It was fun! Definitely unique! Hoping we can get a group of friends to go early in 2014!
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