Nox - Dining in the Dark Experience

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.

Seoul Garden Hotpot - for your korean food cravings

I am sure Seoul Garden is not foreign to many of us. I remember patronizing them since poly days as it's a good halal buffet dining option for long meals and never-ending chit chats. A Seoul Garden Hotpot outlet recently opened in Bedok Mall and I finally got to try it. They serve a myraid options of Korean food from japchae to army stew to desserts! 

They have quite a number of set meal options which makes it more worthwhile. But on that day I craved for specific dishes and decided on beef bibimbap, army stew with beef slices, japchae and yuzu chiller drink. I am not sure why I become so "beefy" nowadays. With most Korean style restaurant, free flow marinated sides and kimchi are available. This one requires you to self-service and take them from the corner. I tried the spicy and sour cabbage, which is nicely appetising. The kimchi taste okay, but also a little weird at the same time. The sides-corner is not really well kept and gave off a slightly messy feeling.
 

The japchae arrived first in a nicely designed ceramic plate. This small portion costs about $8 but it is the most delicious among the 3 dishes ordered. The noodles is tasty, QQ and not too oily. I like that it comes with a good amount of seafood. I would definitely have the bigger portion one next time (at about $13) for a fuller meal.
 

The army stew came in a hotpot, accompanied by a small bowl of pre-cooked ramen noodles (possibly only half of a packet). The soup base was too thick to start with, as compared to other army stews that are lighter tasting at the beginning. As a result, the flavour of the soup is too rich, which is not ideal. The noodles that came with it was also way too soft before we even put it inside the hotpot. Most places allow us to put the raw noodles in ourself for cooking so that we can "customise" the firmness of the noodles. But the small size of the hotpot might be the reason why it cannot really accomodate cooking food.

My main dish; the piping hot beef bibimbap. One big mistake we made again is to order bibimbap with beef. We have come to the conclusion that beef doesn't go well in bibimbap. The taste of beef is too strong and overwhelms the taste of the other ingredients. The choice of chicken would have been better! My word of advise for bibimbap; always choose stonebowl so that the rice maintains its hotness throughout.

Well, this restaurant is not a place I will patronise often. For the japchae though, I will. :P

Chir Chir

I ate at Chir Chir Bedok Point awhile ago and found this place really good! I cannot remember the names of the dishes already since it has been some time ago! They provide those utensils you can use to grab a chicken drumlet without dirtying your fingers [that duck web feet looking thing]. Alternatively, they have plastic hand gloves if you wish to just dig in with your hands.

 

 

The purple drink is a mixture of berries and sparkling soda which taste super refreshing, soury and gassy. It came in a jar, only half filled, and the rest of the soda in the tall bottle is then poured and mixed together.

This chicken dish is their signature, with spicy chicken tenders in creamy base sauce & mashed potato topped with some buttery taste whipped cream. We mixed everything together and the whipped cream accentuates the delicious taste of the cream base. Since the chicken tenders are also spicy, it makes the whole dish very appetising despite the cheesy creaminess. The menu stated that there are rice in the cream but I don't really taste it. 

While the food here is very tasty, the downside is that a meal here can be quite expensive. The chicken dish itself cost about $30 and the drink about $15. The dinner is about $50 plus but both of us were not full at all. 

It is still worth it though! :D

FORLINO

31st December 2015`
It is our 7th Year Anniversary. I love my man so much so much. 

Work ended at 4pm [what half day is this??] and baby waited for me near office. On my way to meet him, I saw a rainbow! It was drizzling and I was struggling to keep my dress in place.

Baby secretly tricked me into walking around Esplanade to kill time before dinner. He made plans for dinner at this restaurant named Forlino, which required a reservation one week in advance :D. Our first fine dining experience and it was kind of weird and exciting at the same time. The dinner consists of a fixed menu with 5 courses from the soup to the dessert.

The soup is served first. The name is so foreign to us so the waitress told us that it is beetroot soup. It's is a nice creamy beetroot soup in a bandung pink shade. Too bad it's only that little, like an espresso. We were supposed to use the teaspoon to drink the soup but how much can you drink with that small mini spoon haha. 

Bf researched that we are not supposed to cut the bread but pinch it with your fingers instead. I just used a fork to eat my bread :p. 

The seafood appetizer is so nicely displayed. It's looks raw though and I was quite nervous about it since my stomach can't handle raw dishes that well. The salmon taste like it is smoked but the taste is not as strong as those I have eaten outside. The shrimp is tender, slightly saltish and taste of freshness. So is the squid? The best is the fish roe which burst and melts in your mouth. Wooohoo. And that green thing, we have no idea what that is. It's kind of cold and tasteless, but has a texture like chocolate truffles. If I remembered correctly, it was emitting some 'smoke', like dry ice. Haha. 

Sparkling water cost $9. Sparkling water is not nice. It's like soda with no taste which is sooo weird. But okay it helps you to burp lol! Mixing it with some juice might be nice.

My favourite part of the dinner is this! 

The pasta is so al dente with the texture like ee mian. The sauce is creamy, with pangs of yuzu and lemon, and it just taste so good. Scampi is also soft and flavourful. Give me more, give me more.

The breaded mushroom taste so different and omz. Then we heard people around us asking the waitress what that is. And it is breaded oyster mushroom!! Have you eaten breaded mushroom made from oyster mushroom? Damn good. I told my bf that the fish taste like fillet O' fish from macs. Succulent and juicy on the inside, crispy on the outside. I don't like the black thing, don't know what those are, probably truffles.

The beef taste like braised pork to me. I don't eat so much beef but this doesn't have a very strong taste of beef.

Not my kind of dessert. Just some pistachio sponge cake and cream cheese and some sweet sweet stuff. Haha. 

I look at him and my heart is smiling secretly. 

I am blessed to have someone who can love me so much. <3

Bedok South Indian Rojak

I wanted to write out this post to really express how much I enjoyed my experience with this stall. Indian Rojak is kind of unhealthy so I don't eat it very often but Bf had this craving so we decided to try it. Before that, we have seen a few groups of people eating the rojak, one of them was even taking a photo of the stall front. It must either be for a complaint or a recommendation.

So we need to choose our items in our plate right but because all of them look quite similar, bf asked the stall owner what all the items are. The owner, who is a really nice Indian man, explained to us row by row what ingredients are each food item comprised of. He even gave us small pieces of food sample to try before we order. I love the small shrimp dough, it is very fragrant and delicious. While we were debating whether to get the vegetable fried dough and wondering what vegetables is used, he gave us another small piece to try. Although I kindly rejected it since we already decided to get one to try anyway, he still persuaded us to take the piece, nice then buy he say. It is really very rare to find a food stall owner who has the patience to explain what he is selling and even provide us with free food samples. I overheard him telling another customer that there is no minimum order too! If you just want like 1 piece, I think he will still be very glad to serve you. 

After our chosen items were heated up with the fryer, he warned us to be careful as it is very hot. He guided us to where the utensils are and tell me that I can take more gravy if we don't have enough. Honestly, we ordered only 5 pieces and had two gravy bowls which is more than enough. He is generous. Since we sat near his stall, I could hear how he communicated with all the other customers. He feels like a jovial and very approachable uncle. I think one of the customers asked him about the beginnings of Indian Rojak and he said that this is Singapore Rojak. He has not seen or heard of any rojak in India hahaha. This is an interesting point. 

Of course the taste of the food must still be good la. I haven't eaten much Indian Rojak to do comparisons but generally since the food is heated up, it taste good and crispy :). The small shrimp dough is a must try because I love it so much! Other than that, it is mostly flour [carbohydrates!]  which can be gelat if you eat too much. And super unhealthy. 

But because the Indian uncle is such a nice seller, we would definitely patronize the stall again. Sometimes, making the effort to build good relationships will bring you further. 

Bedok South Road Block 16 Market & Food Centre. #01-07. 

Banana Tree

Bf brought me to a dessert place called "Banana Tree". He said I would love it, I think more in terms of the interior design and the cutesy decorative items. It was a quiet and nice atmosphere that day as there were only few people in the cafe. They have those mini pots as the serving bowl of their desserts, and with the addition of a stalk of flower, it becomes a miniature potted plant. These potted plants are also accompanied with spoons which look like shovels!

 

Self service free flow iced water as per most cafe style. I have the same banana keychain that is displayed on the shelf beside!

Here is a therapeutic corner for the bookworms, but I'm not so sure what types of books they have. I saw that there is a "chicken soup" for something. 

My Love, after I adjusted his hair abit.

We just ordered a chocolate flavoured one to share, with ice-cream and cake included.

This looks good! The chocolate ice cream is bittersweet and rich in flavour [really dark chocolate kind of chocolate]. The cake is also very very chocolate-ty. However, the strong flavour above will make the chocolate ice below taste rather bland. Also, it was a little difficult to eat because the wooden base is curved and not stable when you dig into the food. You have to eat the ice cream and cake with care lest everything drops on the table. We almost lost our cake >.< .

And I end the post with the "after" picture of the chocolate dessert :P

 Banana Tree, 26 Keong Saik Road Singapore 089133

 

Bliss House Theme Restaurant

My birthday lunch at Bliss House, The Central. 

Bf researched on a place to bring me on my birthday and he thought that I would sure love this place. And sure did I! As we walked in, I was thinking to myself "wah so romantic feeling, well done!!". This place is a theme restaurant which has a lovey dovey ambience which suits my personality well haha. They probably spent a good deal of money decorating the place but it is absolutely lovely! 

They should change their menu since the words have faded already! Lol. I cannot remember the soup of the day but I think it tasted like borsch soup and it's yummy.

The staff was nice to recommend me a nicer range of vanilla milkshake but my ordered milkshake was not very good either. It didn't really have any hint of passionfruit. His oreo milkshake was good though.

While bf liked his grilled chicken, I found my cheesy pork chop very xin 腥. The porky taste is strong and not covered even with the cheese. The fries don't look so appetizing but it taste alright. The calamari is crispy and slightly saltish. I think this can be made better.

Their service is great, providing assistance to us promptly, delivering the food quickly and showing initiative to help us take photos. This is also an area catered specially for wedding events. The background decor is perfectly suited for such an occasion and great for photoshoots. 

I didn't dare to sit fully on this thingy because I'm not sure if we can even sit on it. So afraid that I would spoil it haha. 

My impression of this theme restaurant is quite positive. It is a place that gives off a happy and relaxing feeling. However, if you are a person who place more importance on the taste of the food, then this is not for you in my opinion.