On our 9th anniversary of togetherness, which is also the last day of 2017, my dearest planned an exciting & expensive ($168++ per pax) dinner for the both of us. He wanted it as a surprise for me but somehow it did not really turn out that way.
He said: ‘Dear, there cannot take pictures though.’ And I replied: ‘Oh, Nox is it?’
He had told me about this restuarant long long ago, but since one of his friends posted about Nox on Facebook recently, its name immediately came to me.
I was a little apprehensive at first and asked him whether he thought I would be able to take the dark. All along, I could not stand total darkness in the hotel rooms when we sleep, let alone dining in the dark. He assured me that he was there with me. It was enough for me.
We arrived 15 minutes prior to our booking at 7pm and was warmly welcomed by the staff. They ushered us to the sofa seats and gave us our choice of welcome drink. I went with sparkling wine, and he went with the mocktail, a mix of chocolate, ginger and some other stuff. The end result turns out quite nice, and the chocolatety taste stands out. To compliment our drinks, we had 2 different types of welcome snack. One of them was an almond chocolate filled with cheese-like filling. It tastes funny because of the saltiness in a sweet chocolate. On the other hand, the savoury snack is really delicious - should be ebiko + raw salmon + truffles on wanton skin.
There were a total of 3 servings of drinks which will compliment the food we would be eating. I chose to have the cocktail pairing while my bf continued with mocktail. Mocktail is like the only choice if you do not want any alcohol. According to my bf, he booked a special mystery new year package. There are 4 categories - appetizer, mid-course, main-course & dessert. The lady staff briefed us to eat from our 6pm, 9pm, 12pm & 3pm as there will be 4 bowls. Shortly after, we locked our belongings in the locker, visited the restroom and were ready to be ushered up to the second floor.
At the door, we were greeted by our host, Liu. You will see how amazing this whole idea is after you meet your host who would be assisting your table for the whole dinner. Like a train, we put two hands on the shoulders of the person in front (our host together with another couple behind us), and we walked up the stairs. We were told the number of steps, and as it starts to turn really dark, I counted the steps in my heart to keep track. Once on the flat ground, we literally take mini steps forward. Liu guided my bf to his seat first while we all stood there. He guided my hand to my chair before he moved away. The lack of further guidance actually surprised me a little, because I had to figure out whether the chair was pushed in and how to sit down.
He gave us instructions on where our utensils were. Just the very basic were on the table - the spoon and fork on the right, and an empty glass near the middle on the right side as well. The table felt small but adequate, like a square with rounded edges. The area on second floor sounded considerably small as well, maybe 5 couples at a time? Our drinks were served shortly and it was placed right beside the empty glass. Oh, so that glass is just a marker for us to gauge where our actual drink is, and a guide to help us place it back at the exact spot.
Our appetitizers were served in a tray with 4 small square bowls and we were to eat in a clockwise direction. Bf reminded me to feel the bowls first so that I can picture the whole image in my mind. Now how should we eat our food? I really wonder if everyone eats the same way since you cannot really gauge if you lifted any food up. You do not even know what you are lifting up. So we both put the corner of the bowl to our mouths and sweep the food up. This is the safest way.
The first one was an easy guess, a salad with walnuts and some other ingredients. We started each bowl together and had fun guessing what we were both eating. I recall now that my bf had asked Liu this question: ‘Do we eat with a spoon or fork?’ Hahaha. Liu said he preferred the spoon. We used the spoon throughout, and the fork was useless. It was fairly easy to know whether you finished the food, just put your spoon at the corners to feel it. Since we were eating the same dishes, we did not have to share. Only for the drinks part, you have to communicate properly to pass the glass to each other or just ask the other person to take from the original position of the glass. By the time we were done with the appetitizers, we were more or less used to the dark. At some point, I was just closing my eyes while eating because it made no difference.
We were quite full after our main courses. There are 4 kinds of appetizer, 2 types of mid-course, 4 different mains and 4 variety of desserts! By the time I finished my 2nd drink, I was already a little high. They do not serve water unless you buy the mineral water. We felt for each other in the dark and it was quite an interesting experience. The comfort of just purely feeling his hands and face. Generally, you would only go for such dining experience with someone close. At some point after the main courses, my nose was very blocked. And I was very sniffy. It was probably due to the effects of alcohol as well. One of the host was really nice and passed me some serviettes twice, once on the table, once on my hand. It felt a little panicky when I could not see and breathe properly at the same time. I felt the need to see light.
Desserts were served and the dessert spoon was passed to my hand directly. Before I closed my grip, the spoon slipped off my hand! It shocked me a bit, like NOOO I would not be able to find my spoon by myself. Anyway, I was talking to the air that my spoon dropped. If I am not wrong, the same guide that passed me the serviettes passed me a new spoon after. I made sure I held on tight this time.
After desserts, Liu checked with us whether we were ready to leave or do we want to sit longer. Once you are ready to see the light again, he will guide you the same way down the steps. As the path will gradually be lit as you walk down the steps, it was not so difficult to adapt to the full light downstairs. In fact, the first storey is also dimly lit, with the atmosphere of a relaxing pub.
It was now time to see what we had eaten! At this point after we have been overwhelmed with the different types of food, we have already forgetten some parts of the food experience. It seems so foreign when we looked at the nice food display in the little bowls. Are you sure we ate that? Does it really look so beautiful before we digged in? We guessed correctly for some of the dishes. Did not remember how the venison tasted like. The scrambled egg appetizer is really good, with some pieces of raw tasting food. Turned out to be uni, the sea urchin. I thought I would never eat it again after the smelly first experience of uni at Sushi Express. There was this root vegetable which we have never heard before and it is quite yummy like potatoes. My favourite is the cod fish with edamame. I love codfish to the max.
We asked for some iced cool water. After the glasses of cocktail, I felt dehydrated. See the difference in my eyes after the drinks on the right. And more desserts were served! The tart chocolate was super good and crispy.
This dining experience was unique and it was awesome we tried it together. It was kind of an intimate experience when you cannot see but only feel your partner through your sense of touch. And the voice, it seems to resonate more clearly in your head. On a personal level, it made me appreciate the power of my sight even more. The visuals make everything a lot better, even the taste of food seems to be enhanced. While the food at Nox is delectable, it still felt like something was lacking. We could not 100% tell what we were eating based on just the smell and taste.
Due to the fact that we were so focused on guessing the dish, our conversation revolved around the food rather than a good quality discussion of sorts. There were also various sounds made by the hosts to let the other hosts know about their position in the dark. One of them sounded like a duck, and it got us a little confused at first. Not sure if it is a sound device or their actual voice. Also got knocked into/ brushed against slightly a few times, which can cause a mini shock since it was in total darkness.
Overall, I would say that this might not be the best romantic dining experience but I definitely think it is the kind of adventurous dining that everyone should try once.
