Alchemy in the Dark

Disclaimer: No picture has been taken because we have been enjoying the French 4-​course meal in the dark! lol
It has been my hubby birthday and I wanna surprise him with something new. Heard about the concept of dining in the dark for a while and to my suprise, it is not only in NYC /​Paris but also in HK now. Nice~saved me a lot of time planning and searching
So what has happened? First an instructor briefed us with the rules. As he was very energetic, we were more excited too. He then guided us to the dark chamber, then down to a super dark cellar. Introducing Kevin to us, who was our server for the night. Kevin is a very nice guy. Since he is blind, he is able to serve swiftly. It took us a while to figure out where the cutlery and cups are. We later found that fork and knife are less reliable than our hands. haha… it’s very funny having french meal with hands, but guess this is totally acceptable when no one is looking anyway…
As for the food, we have ordered a 4-​course meal and a cocktail each. The French dishes include 2 appetizer, a main and a dessert. All the food are arranged in bite size to make it more convenient in the dark. The food is actually good, although I’m not sure what I’m eating. The first appetizer has 5 pieces, a mix of a variety of flavours and texture, including a glass of cold soup in the middle. Guess it is designed such to challenge your senses. (Later I’m being told that there are deep fried risotto etc… better not to spill the beans here) The 2^nd dish has 3 pieces, more elaborated and bigger pieces of art (as I guessed). The mean dish got somthing like beef (which I was told later on as deer), fish filet etc. The dessert is delicious too. Obviously I can tell there is apple crumble tart, tiramisu, ice cream etc. And there are 5 different items which is very fulfilling and yummy~ The instructor showed us the picture of the dishes after the meal, which is interesting to know that how far our imagination is from the reality… haha
A few percent of the restaurant’s income will be donated to a charity for the blinds. Nice!

Although not an entirely novel concept, it’s always good to see new ideas come to Hong Kong. For those who have never been to a similar restaurant, the idea is simple, you will be dining in a pitch black environment where phones and other light-​emitting devices are forbidden.
The venue is divided into two areas. The ground floor is a gastro-​lounge where the basement is the pitch dark dining area. You choose between a 3 to 5 course dinner (where the menu is changed every week) with/​without wine/​cocktail pairing and then you are led to the basement. After you leave your phone and other belongings in a locker, the waiter leads you to your table. The waiters are visually-​impaired, so please, no rude blind jokes.
Each course consists of 4 – 5 bite-​sized items on your plate, so that you can avoid the awkwardness of cutting. Using your utensil prove to be a much larger challenge than you would imagine; I discovered my lack of motor coordination and barbaric instincts immediately, as I ditched my utensils for my trustworthy hands right away after a few short attempts with my fork and knife. For those self-​professed to be civilized and cultured, I challenge you to enjoy the entire dinner without resorting to your bare hands. During the dinner, you will become quite curious about what your companions are doing… does he have his foot on his chair, is she licking her plate right now, I think she is scratching her toes… definitely a good ice breaker for those who are going with new friends. For those going with closer friends, you will grow a tendency to be able to locate your friends; as our waiter pointed out to us «I don’t know why, but people attempt to slap each other during dinner…»
The food was good (the Chef hails from Watermark, Central Harbour front), the ambiance was quite enjoyable (you tend to listen and pay more attention to your surroundings in the dark), and the décor was that of a suave contemporary industrialist library (the ground floor of course, not the dark basement silly). Most of all, the dining experience will be quite different from your usual one; from time to time, you will recognize the flavors and textures of certain food but fail to recall what it is.
After the dinner, the waiter will take you back upstairs and you will be given a recap of the food that you ate during dinner. And hopefully, the experience will elevate your appreciation of food and remind you to be thankful for healthy vision.