Noir - Dining in the dark

Molly and I celebrated our five year anniversary in Ho Chi Minh City so wanted to do something special and different to mark the occasion. After a little research we came across this place which was the second highest ranked restaurant on Trip Advisor, so booked in for that evening.

I've eaten in some amazing restaurants before but this was by far the best dining experience Molly and I had ever had!

Upon arrival we were welcomed with a signature cocktail, a brandy mix, and told about the concept of the restaurant. The majority of the waiters that work there are either blind or deaf and each play to their strengths throughout the evening, with money from the restaurant going towards a foundation to help those affected by such disabilities in the city.

As the title gives away in this restaurant you dine in the dark. While enjoying our welcome drinks we were given a relatively simple board game to complete but with one catch, we'd each be blindfolded meaning we could only use touch to navigate the pieces – this was to make sure you could still function without your eyesight.

Admittedly it took us a good few minutes to complete the task but after a couple of attempts we were nailing it. Shortly after we were told about the different menus on offer, Eastern, Western or Vegetarian – they tell you to choose the same menu so that you can discuss what you think you're being served so we went for the Eastern menu, and it did not disappoint! Each menu contained three courses and between 3 - 4 small dishes for each. We weren't told what any of the individual dishes would be so were told to guess and remember what we thought each one was. I also chose the wine pairing, in which I had a different paired wine with each course, while Molly went for a delicious gin and elderflower cocktail then a mango mojito.

We were told to put our phones, watches (basically anything that had a light on it) into a locker before we were led into a pitch black room by one of the blind waiters (ours was called Yun) – and when I say pitch black, it was the darkest room I've ever been in. You couldn't see your hand if it was touching your nose! Once seated at our table, Yun explained the procedure for the evening and served our drinks and before bringing out our first course. As you can imagine trying to eat without the use of your sight is incredibly tough but Molly and I managed to escape the night unscathed (no spillages!). Over the three courses we were served four starter dishes, four mains and three desserts – each as delicious and perfectly cooked as the last. We realised after about 10 minutes of being seated that we were sat next to another couple, who it turned out were from Oregon, who we got chatting to at the end of our meals, discussing the dishes and describing ourselves (almost blind date style). A few moments later our waiter Yun escorted us out of the dining room and back into the light – which took a little while to adjust to. One of the other members of staff then sat us all down together, turned out the couple from Oregon had chosen the Eastern menu too, and asked us to guess what we'd just eaten before revealing to us exactly what delicacies we'd been served.

The beauty of this experience was the factor of the unknown, we can both be fussy eaters at times and during this meal we each ate dishes that we would never order from a restaurant ourselves. There are still a number that I wouldn't order but it certainly opened our eyes to a few delights that we've been missing out on!

An experience like no other that I would urge anyone travelling to Ho Chi Minh City, or anywhere else with a similar concept, to try for themselves!

Dinner cost us roughly £64, a lot more than a normal evening meal while travelling, but I would go back every season for the different menu if we could afford it. You could eat there cheaper if you didn't have the win pairing and just opted for a couple of drinks from the menu instead.

They change the menu at Noir every three months or so and we went in February, so if you're planning to visit before May I would stop reading now as we wouldn't want to give anything away and ruin the surprise! Unfortunately neither of us can remember what we actually ate but the Winter menu will be uploaded to their website soon so we will post it then to show the comparison between our thoughts and the dishes – here is the Autumn menu to give an example: https://www.noirdininginthedark.com/menu.html Our thoughts on the dishes: Starters Leek & potato soup Vietnamese soup with flavours of fish sauce & tomato Shredded vegetable salad with a deep friend squid/crustation Salad with tuna Mains Fish - Ben said sea bass, molly said salmon Duck in a bolognaise style sauce Vegetables - Molly thought there was a meat Ben had beef, Molly thought hers was pork in a teriyaki style sauce (Molly told the waiters before eating that she didn't want any beef) Dessert Ben thought vanilla ice cream, Molly thought coconut ice cream Sponge cake - Christmas pudding inspired flavour Passion fruit tiramisu style dessert Wines – Actual wines as told by the restaurant staff Portuguese white wine Californian Pinot noir Chilean sweet wine - Sauvignon, Riesling, guwertztraminer