Are you afraid of dining in the dark?

The waiter, Gao had each customer put his or her hand on the shoulder of the person in front of you in a way that looked like the Congo line dance. After moving through two thick black curtains, blacknes met our eyes and not even a glimpse of light was seen. Gao referred to each customer by his or her name and carefully pulled the chair out for you to sit. To fully experience the element of wonder in this dark room, ordering from the surprise menu is the way to go. Gao arrived shortly with a bottle of water that was to be poured on your own. His advice was to “put your finger inside the bottle so the water does not spill on the table,” and within a matter of seconds, despite his advice, water began trickling off the table.

Dining in the pitch black is an unforgettable experience for customers eating at Dans Le Noir in the Clerkenwell area. In the waiting room, there is a lit up bar where people can order “mysterious cocktails” for nine pounds a piece. Before entering the restaurant, customers must put all their belongings in a locker before entering the mystery room accompanied by mystery food. I decided to be part of this bizarre experience with two of my friends who shared my curiosity of eating who knows what, inside who knows where?

Gao then approached the table with the starters and called each customer by name to reach for the plates. A couple next to us, who had been laughing about this odd dining situation, had their first experience eating at Dans Le Noir as well. Donna Nardi, 40 years old and working in real estate said, “This whole thing just makes me laugh but I do not like that I have no idea what I’m eating right now. I’m glad I came for the experience, but I wouldn’t spend the money a second time.”

A few minutes later, a couple hungry girls were happy to hear Gao announcing our names for the main course. Then suddenly behind us, or at least I think it was behind us, was a group of women singing and clapping for a birthday. The celebration was missing one crucial birthday tradition, candles. Of course, in this restaurant candles would not be allowed but what is a proper birthday celebration without blowing some candles out and making a wish?

Putting forks to the plate, I was happy to realise the meat had been cut up for us to avoid some potentially harmful injuries. Imagine cutting with a sharp steak knife in the pitch black to only realise it was your finger you had been cutting. The meat had been prepared perfectly and had a lovely sauce it was difficult to decide what kind of meat it was. In addition to not knowing the food you are consuming, it was challenging to figure out if there was anything left on the plate. Giulia Pantalleo, a bartender working at Dans Le Noir for 4 months has really liked working here. “I’ve experienced dining in the dark twice. It’s interesting that communication is different and you behave differently; sometimes in a good way and sometimes bad.” As soon as I ran my fingers through the plate, I understood why Giulia had said some people behave badly.

Desert had been a nice way to end the meal as we all guessed it to be a familiar taste, cheesecake. Yelling out to Gao, he called back that he would be there in a minute to take us back outside. After another short Congo line dance, we were back into the light, which was like poking needles to the eye. The cashier had the menu with pictures of the meals we had just devoured in a mysterious cave. It turns out that what we thought was pork was in fact samples of Crocodile, Springbok and Ostrich. Are you up for the challenge?