Nox - Dining in the Dark

What happens when your sense of sight is taken away from you? Your other senses are heightened.
So logically when you can't see, your sense of taste, smell and touch improves. So when I found out about Nox, and their interesting concept of dining in pitch darkness, I definitely had to go and check it out.

We picked the absolutely worst time to go there - it was F1 weekend and the roads were super duper jammed, arrived late, and was behind a huge group of 25 people. So of course we had to wait. And of course I was starving (since it was about 730pm by the time we got there).

You'll be asked to keep your valuables in a locker, and then you will be introduced to your waiter for the evening. Our waiter was Rahamat (sp?), who has a super cool DJ-worthy voice.

We were then ushered up a flight of stairs, where it got progressively darker, and through 2 blackout cutrains, to a pitch dark room. Of course, I was super scared that I would trip and fall flat on my face, and then get trodden on by someone else. We were then lead to our table - and seated (must feel around in the dark for your chair), and told where our cutlery was positioned (there's even a coaster for the glass of water). It felt really strange at first, since the whole place is pitch black (except for some red dots, which are CCTVs - incase an accident occurs) so it felt slightly claustrophobic at first.

Rahamat very kindly helped us pour our first glass of water - it's a great feat especially since I cant see - and the subsequent glass of water I poured for myself was about a quarter full only cos I kept thinking it was going to overflow :/ There's no free tap water - perhaps if they gave out free flow tap water, the waiters would have even more work on their hands - having to rush around and top up water.

Pretty soon afterwards, the first dish arrived. It's a three course mordern-European dinner, and each course is made up of 4 small dishes. The 4 dishes are arranged in a cross, and each dish comes in a square bowl for easier eating. I would strongly suggest to not wear a white shirt/dress on that day (spilt the dessert on myself - luckily I had a napkin on my lap or not I'll be sticky).

I won't reveal what the dishes are, cos it'll ruin the experience, but it's 4 different dishes with different textures and taste. It seemed like very little at first, but then the the amount adds up and I was really stuffed after dinner. One tip that I have for the dining experience is to just use either the fork or the spoon to eat, and to hold up the dish nearer to yourself to prevent spills. The chef at Nox is the ex-Private Affairs chef, so the food is pretty good. Though I found that I was hopeless at guessing the dishes (especially the meats).  During the booking, you'll have to tell them what your dietary restrictions are (mine is complicated but it goes along the lines of no beef and no citrus).

I think it's fantastic that the 6 waiters manage to go about serving all the dishes without colliding into each other. I think I would have most probably cause a chain collision and a massive pileup if I was left to walk around by myself. One good thing about keeping the restaurant dark is that the patrons won't get up and wander about by themselves, or bump into the waiters (who may be carrying a few trays at one time).

I won't mind coming back in the future with another group of friends? I think it would be a good experience. Plus the waiters on the 2nd floor are either partially or completely blind - so it's an interesting experience to have the roles reversed - you'll be completely dependent on your waiter to bring you around. Rahamat tells me that he only took one week to learn the layout and the waitering skills! Impressed +++

I think it's a great experience for small groups of friends (perhaps a max of 6?) or a company event (can have a competition to guess what food you eat), plus it's not everyday that you can get such an interesting dining experience.

Btw you can check out the good reviews on Trip Advisor here.

Nox - Dining in the Dark
269 Beach Road
Tel 62980708
Tues to Sunday 6pm to 12mn