NOX – Dining in the dark

NOX – Dine in the Dark Restaurant

269 Beach Road Singapore 199546

Tel: 6298 0708

http://www.noxdineinthedark.com/

I first heard about this concept while watching one of the travel channels on Starhub cable (love Starhub cable for I learnt so much from watching my all time favourite History, National Geographic, Star World, MTV etc). My friend who was schooling in London a few years back tried dining in the dark at one of the restaurant and he has shared that it is quite an experience and I should try it when I visit him there!

I am excited when I heard about NOX – Dine in the Dark Restaurant coming to Singapore. A girlfriend of mine, Izzy, will be leaving town for good and bugged me to try this with her. Persuasion wasn’t needed as I have been thinking of giving this a go too! I searched for reviews on google and found misstamchiak interesting review with very interesting drawings! I am therefore inspired to do the same with some of my own drawings.

Picture as shown above belongs to misstamchiak. I was so excited I forgot to snap a picture of the huge sitting area where we can chill and order drinks before our guide is ready to bring us into the “dark”. The friendly manager came and chatted with us and told us to lock all our belongings including our watches as we are not allowed to bring anything in that gives out light!!!

We were each served a small but tasty serving of Ambush Bouche. This is the only picture I was allowed to snap! LOL I was excited to meet our guide for I read about the handsome young man Halimi from misstamchiak nox’s experience and to my happiness, I was introduced to Halimi too!!

We shook hands and were introduced. Halimi then told me to give him my hands and showed me the stairways infront of me in the dim lights. He then told Izzy to hold on to me and assured us that he will tell us when we have reached. And then the door was closed and it was PITCH BLACK! I was so scared but Halimi was really assuring and gave us clear directions of where to turn and told me not to sway my hands around. 

I think we walk straight, turn right, walk and turn left and then Halimi gave a pat on my chair and told me it’s the back of my chair and I was to stretch my hands to feel it and sit. I am feeling so clumsy in the dark. After that he went to help Izzy to her seat. 

Halimi went on to introduce himself again and even joked to us telling us not to wave if we need him! LOL He said we can look for his other colleague, Dean, if I remember correctly.

Halimi’s voice is really assuring and friendly, I can hear it from his chirpy voice and I begin to wonder if it’s because I am in the dark that is why my hearing senses are stronger? Halimi gave us an orientation of what’s on our table. “On your right is your fork and spoon and we have your cup in front. There is a napkin infront of you and I suggest you place it on ur laps incase you start to drop your food. This is a three course dinner consisting of appetizers, main and dessert. Each course comes with 4 small dishes. When each course is served, you can start eating from the one closest to you which is the 6pm and work your way in clockwise direction.”

Before Halimi left, he went to get us our bottle of water and told us to enjoy our dinner. I couldn’t help it and went “HUH, how to pour??  Any tips?” Halimi said to put your index finger inside your cup and stop when the water touches your finger.”

Izzy and I then had fun stretching to touch each other and I think the distance between us is about one arm’s length? We then tried to pour ourselves a cup of water and kept laughing. I was feeling a little giddy in the dark and start to close my eyes. Izzy on the other hand, felt that her eyes are getting comfy in the dark. We went on to explore our cutleries and our surroundings! The friendly lady from the table behind me said hello and I went on to ask if she wants to stretch her hand to see how far we are away from each other and she agreed! LOL I think we are about one arm away.

Izzy and I find it challenging to guess what we are eating. We were laughing a lot and correcting each other for she was insisting it was oyster while I insist it was pork knuckles! LOL

I wanted to know more about Halimi so when he served us our main dish, I took the chance to talk to him.

Me: “Halimi, how big is this room? Are there many floors here?”

Halimi: “There are about 4 rooms with a seating capacity of 60. I am incharge of 2 rooms tonight and we are pretty full tonight!”

Me: “Halimi, I read about you being an air steward for 10years at misstamchiak’s blog, so what actually happen?” (I was still worried he will be offended by my question)

Halimi: (with a happy voice) “Yes, I was flying with SIA for 10 years and after a brain tumour operation, I stayed in the hospital for 45 days. On the day that I was discharged, I asked my mum is it day time now or what? Why is it so dark? My mum was so worried and hurried me back in to let the doctors checked.”

He went on to tell us that he is pretty positive and that life goes on. He has to live a life that is even more positive and happier than before. I am full of admiration for him and you can almost see his face from that positive tone of his in this pitch black room! He was so encouraging and even shared that he met his wife not in Paris, London but at a bus-stop here in Singapore! He was secretly wishing she will take the same bus as him when he approached her to help him lookout for his bus. They took the same bus and even exchanged Facebook account!!! His daughter is 2 years old now, oh wait… or was it 3? Sorry Halimi, I really forgotten.

Izzy and I noticed that people are a little shy in calling out for Halimi and Dean. I wonder if we are too self conscious to call out someone in the dark or if we are afraid of troubling them. I was also waiting to see if I can hear them near me and I finally went “Halimi” and to my surprise, he replied “I will be with you in a minute”. Till today, I wonder how did he recognized my voice and came right to my table to guide us down!

We thanked Halimi and were led back to the lounge area where the manager will give you a form for you to fill up and guess the food you have eaten. He will then proceed to explain and show you the pictures of all the food you have eaten! I won’t be telling you what I have eaten but their menu changes monthly and I can tell you, everything tasted really delicious and we were surprised by one of the dish but nothing tasted weird nor disgusting. Izzy and I were really quite good. We managed to guess say 90% of our dishes?

I will definitely be heading back because the service was excellent, food was so delicious and in this world where everyone is relying so much on their mobile, you actually get to focus on eating and spending quality time connecting with your company. I was also very much motivated by the positive Halimi! I am so thankful when I saw the light and that I was able to see again. It makes me appreciate things a lot more. I strongly encourage everyone to go and experience this unique dining experience. Say hi to Halimi for me again. =]