Dans Le Noir

Amazing experience that I think everyone should do at least once…
Yes it sound strange to eat in the dark but until you enter the room dark means nothing! You suddenly feel vulnerable and scared… You hear and feel but don’t see. At that point it was already worth the experience.
The food was average but the service and the experience amazing! I would recommend it to every and any one!

Great new experience ! We enjoyed the concept and the personal was nice too. We really spent a nice dinner.
The food is not bad but isnt worth the price, I think that is the only negative point. But we still dont regret it even if this was quite expensive !

This is an amazing experience. I’ve been intrigued for ages and so glad we finally went. You sit in complete, pitch darkness, your waiter is blind and you don’t know what you’re being served (you pick a menu at the beginning out of ‘surprise’, meat, fish and vegetarian) and advise them of anything you can’t/don’t eat. It’s such a surreal experience but the food is amazing, our waiter (Darren) was a legend, and we ended up having a great time with the two girls we were sat next to (who we’d never met and couldn’t see). Being in the dark changes your whole perception of the world, friends flavours and all. It may sound odd but give it a go!

Came here by myself, for a business trip. I was pretty nervous at first, but I had to go for the experience. Made reservations for a Sunday night at 7:15. Got there a little early and was slow to be seated (didn’t end up at the table until 8). In the meanwhile, the maitre-​de took my order (I chose the red meat meal, between vegetarian, seafood, and chef’s choice).
I ended up heading to my table with a very nice couple. We formed a train (holding each other’s shoulders), as we were guided through utter darkness to our table. It felt a bit disorienting and stressful at first, but I quickly became more comfortable as I made friends with the folks sitting next to me.
Three courses, two new friends, and a mystery cocktail later I was quite satisfied. Our waiter Jack was wonderful — hilarious and always there to help when we needed him.
At the end they showed us pictures of our meal. What a shocker! I won’t divulge what I ate in case of spoilers, but I would not recommend ordering the meat entry unless you feel adventures.
I don’t know when I’ll next be ready to go back. The price was steep (£61 + service), but totally worth it for the experience.
Would definitely recommend — and kudo’s to Jack for some of the best customer service I’ve ever had. What an experience!

We went for one of my friend’s bday dinner, and we had a truly unique experience.
To be honest, food wasn’t the best I had. Having said that, some of their dishes turned out to contain some of the most unique ingredients such as zebra and crocodile meat, so all very worthwhile!
The fact that our dishes were served by blind people made the experience all the more special. It is really pitch dark in the dining hall, and you realise the frustration and difficulty blind people must go through day to day — and yet, in this very dark environment, our server Lisa was truly efficient and kind.
Not much to comment on ambience given the darkness, but I did enjoy the little gathering space they had outside the dining hall. A great place to chill and be introduced to the concept whilst sipping on a glass of wine or cocktail from the bar.
Overall, I’d recommend the experience if you’re up for an adventure!

Definitely a unique experience at Dans le noir restaurant! «In the dark»
Once I stepped in I got a bit nauseous. Maybe my brain was trying to adjust to the atmosphere of darkness. 10min later I was just fine.
This restaurant is absolutely dark!!!
I chose the surprise menu which you don’t know what you are getting. But you use your five senses, the sixth sense if you have it :)
touch your plate, your food, concentrate more on tasting it to find out what it is. Focusing one the voices. And appreciating it.
It’s amazing how our brain works and how easy to adjust to any situation. You just start feeling that you have an extra power to feel whats around you without seeing it.
Perfect place for a first date. You get to judge your date by personality than by the look.

Had an amazing night here with my boyfriend. Such a unique and fun idea! The food was great (I went for the chef’s surprise menu) and it was fun to guess what we had and then find out after. Also really good cocktails. We also got talking to the couple next to us which was nice (though they left before us so have no idea what they looked like!) A really fun evening and definitely worth a visit!

I was taken here for the first time on my birthday and it was a weird but wonderful experience! The waiter was absolutely lovely and made us feel really relaxed and was very attentive. The food was amazing and the atmosphere was great. I went again a few months later and it was still as exciting as the first time. Highly recommended!

We went here for a team night out, and even though the idea is great, I didnt enjoy it at all! Service was very good and our waiter was extremely helpful, supportive and fast! I would rate the service part with ⁵⁄₅.
However, the rest was rather disappointing. For the price you paid, we all left hungry, the food was cold when it arrived and not of good quality.
Its a lovely idea, but unfortunately I wouldnt go again.

Dans Le Noir. Food for thought.
Having left the mobile phones in the locker, we were guided to our table by a very friendly waitress Claire to enjoy a 3-​course lunch from a surprise menu. In a complete darkness.
A meal at Dans Le Noir will not only test your senses, but tolerance. One is left to guess the dishes after the meal. I was pleasantly surprised by the range of food: from foie gras pâté to exotic meat, although, I was expecting much more from the quality of cooking.
It’s definitely not an experience for everyone, but rather something quite different that will give you food for thought. Eating in complete darkness will definitely open up your senses… or will make you anxious. The restaurant is located about 10-​minute walk away from Chancery Lane and Barbican tube stations. Although the reception room could do with a bit of a make-​up, the service was great. Slightly expensive, but worth a try at least once.
Would visit again? Maybe.
My score: ⁵⁄₁₀

I was taken to Dans Le Noir as a birthday treat, and it took a little while when the idea was revealed to me to get my hear around it. It goes like this…
You dine in the dark, completely in the dark. You can’t see anything. Pitch black is what I’m aiming for here. And it makes for an amazing experience.
You’re welcomed into a bar area where you lock your belongings in a locker, grab a drink and choose which of four menus you want to dine from. What you’re actually going to get is a complete mystery, you just choose a general idea from Meat, Vegetarian, Fish and Chefs Surprise… Both Mrs D and I went for the surprise and the adventure began.
Ushered into a dimly lit corridor, you’re introduced to your server for the evening. All the waiters/​waitresses are blind, and we had the fantastic Christine. Forming a sort of cross between a human caterpillar and the conga you’re led, very carefully and very slowly to your table. You’ll be seated on a table with other people (I think ours was six) so Christine helped get us seated and we introduced ourselves to those we’d be dining with. The experience of being so thoroughly in the dark was very odd at first, because it’s only when you’re so completely cut off from the light you realise how much you can normally see, even at night. Without a frame of reference, it’s really difficult to place how far away you are from other people or what’s in front of you…
Our set menu was a three course affair, with a glass of wine served with the starter and main, selected by the restaurant to go with the meal that we had, and included a cocktail which you could choose to have before you started, or with dessert.
The starter was our first foray into eating without being able to see, and take it from me; it’s so much harder than it sounds. It was, I decided, after a bit of prodding with my fingers, some kind of pâté — I’d already found the toast, and sticking your fingers in jam is actually highly enjoyable. Eating it was great fun too, with a really great variety of flavours in there and the difficulty in navigating the food successfully to my mouth really adding to the experience.
Once cleared away, Christine announced the next course. Once again, there was prodding, and this time I determined that there were meats of some description on the plate, along with carrots… All I could tell at the time was that the food was good. I had no idea what it was, but it melted in the mouth.
Lastly, the dessert — this was creamy and good, with maybe some kind of chocolate shavings on the top…
I’ll go through what the menu actually was shortly, along with a nice big spoilers tag, because, once you leave, they explain to you what you’ve eaten, and show you that, at least prior to you getting your fingers in there, it was all plated up beautifully. It’s an eye opener to see what you’ve eaten after the fact, and if I’m honest, I’m sorry that the meal wasn’t longer — it’s true… Time flies when you’re having an amazing time.
***SPOILER***
Starter: Foie Gras with Plum Chutney and Toasted Herb Bread
Main: Bison, Venison and Lobster
Dessert: Panna Cotta with White Chocolate
*** SPOILER ***

This place was rubbish, it’s run like the blind leading the blind.
I came out of this place and my bank balance felt like a battery farm chicken who has just seen Bernard Mathews licking his lips.
The last time I felt this violated Leroy and his five brothers had just dismounted me. I like the concept of dating on the dark especially with the dating skills of Claire Balding however after being fisted by the price I don’t think I’ll be hurrying back.

I wish I could have had some photos taken here yet everything was taken away before going into the dark room. Obviously, feeling the food and the way blind people eating was the major theme — though I only guessed the dessert right. Nevertheless, I deeply enjoyed the way people interact here — using heart rather than superficially communicating. This is «the» best, not one of the bests, experience I have ever had in London. Thanks John: D

An intriguing, daunting and overwhelming experience but also humorous due to many mishaps in the dark. Other reviewers have already outlined the concept and process.
The smells are overwhelming as is the noise. Our waiter Addy told us people tend to speak louder in the dark. As for the food, it was hard to tell other than sticking your hands in the plate whether you had eaten everything. Small portions, mysterious food and textures — often tastes that don’t normally go together (I had wild boar, calf liver and saffron rice with crayfish all together as the main). Slightly daunting that you will never know the state of your plates or cutlery or food.
Very disappointing that no matter which menu you choose, everyone has the same dessert. It seems like a bit of an anti-​climax after the excitement of trying to describe your unique dishes to each other and offering them to your friends in the dark.
Slightly overpriced for the quality and amount of food, but ultimately it’s the experience that you are paying for.
On the plus side, loved sharing a long table (I think it was long) with strangers in the dark. The overlap of conversations is just hilarious. Don’t expect to have privacy because it’s dark in there!

Went here for a birthday dinner– they sing but sadly no candles– and it was such an interesting experience. You walk into a dimly lit restaurant and are told to put anything that is a light source (watches, phones, etc.) and your purses/​coats into a locker room. You then are greeted by the maitre’d and given a choice of menus– Surprise, Meat, Vegetarian, or Fish. The «Surprise» one is kind of a misnomer because all of them are surprises really– you have no idea what your plates are going to look like.
You are greeted by a waiter who leads you into a completely and utterly dark room (hand on his shoulder) and as you sit down at a sort of community table to start enjoying your meal. This is sort of a make or break point for me– I ended up having a really friendly and interesting table with lots of good conversation, but I can see how it could end up the other way around.
The food was delicious, albeit hard to eat (lots of disappointment when your fork reaches your mouth and you haven’t gotten any food on it). I will say that make sure you are ready for an experience because you have no say over what you are eating (unless it is an allergy and you submit that at the time of reservation). At the end of the meal you are lead out to pay with the maitre’d and you are given a «look book» of sorts to see what your meal looked like. I ate kangaroo and I liked it!
Overall a great experience for the adventurous and the food was delicious prepared. Highly recommend.

The concept of this restaurant has appealed to me ever since it was first brought to my attention so I finally got around to seeing if it lived up to my expectation.
Upon arrival we were greeted and briefed on what to expect. I picked the white menu, which is the chef’s surprise and we opted for 3 courses with surprise wines. Our coordinateur then advised us to use the toilets prior to entering the dark room.
Given that the toilet area was to provide my first impression I was a little taken aback by the state it was in. It was smelly and grubby, reminiscent of something you would find in a divey run down pub. Even the stairs and carpet outside were worn and tatty. Not what I was expecting!
We returned to the lobby and deposited our stuff in one of the provided lockers before being introduced to our blind waiter, Roberto. We were then led through expertly into the dark room and seated.
It really is pitch black, and I found myself exploring my surroundings with my hands to try and build up an idea of the environment around me despite the inky blackness.
The food arrived promptly, with the accompanying wine in tumblers rather than wine glasses for obvious reasons! Eating in the dark was surprisingly difficult, the lack of any tactile feedback from the cutlery makes it impossible to tell if you stabbing at food, your plate or just thin air! For both my starter and my main I had to resort to running my fingers across the plate to determine if I had eaten everything or not.
The three courses arrived in what seemed like quick succession. However we weren’t rushed and once we had finished Roberto told us to give him a call when we were ready to leave and was happy for us to take our time.
Once we were ready to go we were led back through the curtains and back to the lobby area where our coordinateur presented us with a leather bound booklet showing us what we had eaten. My guesses proved to be mostly incorrect, however the dishes selected were exotic enough that I wouldn’t have known what they were even if they had been served up to me in broad daylight…
Overall I found it to be an immersive dining experience which I would definitely recommend to others to try, however I didn’t find the food to be remarkable enough to feel that I would want to return. Our bill for 2 covers totalled £144 and while I don’t regret it for the overall package I have had better food for less money elsewhere.

Everyone should try this once! Yes, it’s a bit pricey (42 GBP for 2 course meal) but if you’ve never done a dine in the dark restaurant, it really is a unique experience that is worth the small dent in your wallet.
I have NEVER experienced true darkness like that — it’s like a black curtain over your eyes. Quite the sensation. And while I didn’t find a heightened sense of taste, I did find a heightened sense of fun! :) Really changes the types of dinner conversations you have when you know no one in the restaurant can see or really hear you :)
Food itself is ok, very unique combos, though actual taste is only average given the price. Some items came out a bit cold. But then again, I don’t think you come for the plating or the food…
Tips:
–Use the bathroom beforehand — it’s a real pain having to get the server to take you once in the dark
–Surprise (house) wine is the cheapest and still very good (we tried both red and white). Just know that you will have to pour it yourself in the dark! They teach you to put a finger in the glass and pour until i touches, but it’s still hard and we spilled a whole bottle at our table!
–Don’t fret that you leave never knowing what you had, they do tell you after the meal. Once back in comfort of sight, they’ll have you guess, and then show you a pictured menu of what you ate, which I thought was rather fun.
–If you do the White course (Chef’s surprise), be prepared for VERY exotic food. If you are not comfortable with that, stick with the Red (meat) or Blue (seafood). SPOILER ALERT: I got the White course and my meal ended up containing ostrich, shark, and… zebra :X. I’m still not sure how i feel about the last one, but i know a friend of mine is a wildlife lover and had some trouble sleeping that night…

The Idea behind this place is that without the use of sight, guests are forced to place more attention to their taste buds.
and that works.
kindda.
when i walked into the pitch black dining room, and realized just how dark pitch black is, my stomach dropped, and adrenaline went coursing through my entire body. Omg, I thought, what the hell have I gotten myself into, this was a mistake, I’m going to trip and fall and die or some other terrible accident and no one will ever know. The state of panic my body launched itself into was astounding. My eyes literally hurt trying to find some kind of light to focus on, as if by looking *really* hard, I could force light out of the darkness. Eventually your eyes, well, adjust is the wrong word, but they reach a kind of half closed state, where you cant tell if they’re open or closed and frankly it doesn’t matter anymore.
The food was good. Not mind blowing, but that’s a bit hard, when a large portion of your brain is not only trying to figure out *what* the hell you’re eating, but *where* the hell it is as well. after quite a bit of scraping, coming up with empty forks, and eventually putting your finger tips down to find your food, you get the hang of it, more or less.
Funny thing about taking one sense away to enhance another — sometimes its not the sense you would expect. My partner and I kept our voices low, neutral, as we would in any restaurant, but many of the diners around us doubled their volume to make up for the loss of sight. Just because you cant see the room full of people around you, doesn’t mean their not there.
After you eat they take you back into the reception area and ask what you think you had. We described everything that we had figured out, and they did a little show and tell, with pictures and descriptions. Here is where the main flaw of the place was brought into light: they tried to do too much. The starter was complex, but interesting and while certain ingredients were surprising, you felt you had a grasp on it. The mains, however they had 3 very different dishes and set ups, but all on one plate. They called it ”tasting menu style.” That’s all well and good when you know and can consciously eat each one individually, however when you’re blindly mashing your food together and are happy enough with yourself to recognize that you just ate steak with mash, you’re not going to assume and go looking for soy and honey glazed duck with spinach (which I swear wasn’t there) and seared calves liver with artichoke purée. It might have all worked by themselves, but not as invisible mush.
It’s a cool, querky, novelty place to go with some friends for something different. — in fact, I would say everyone should go once and see what its like, but I’m not rushing to book another table anytime soon

As a restaurant, this place is rubbish. As a novelty experience it’s not bad… but that only earns it 2 stars in my book.
The food is mediocre at best. Sure it helps blind people and that’s all well and good, but I resent being charged £30 for something that tastes like a Tesco Value salad just because it’s in the dark and served by blind people.
And then they have the cheek to ask for a tip.
It’s such a shame because this would be a 4 or 5 star review if the food had been any good.

It’s pretty rare for me to come out of a restaurant to shout ‘sensory overload’ while rubbing my eyes with jaded glee! However, this was certainly my experience upon leaving such a fascinating concept restaurant, which surpassed my already high expectations. First off, my date and I were led to a series of lockers where were asked to leave our belongings and venture into the darkness.
We both opted for the ‘not-​for vegetarians’ surprise menu. Later when quizzed on what we ate, I said veal, the waitress said ostrich… I said chutney, she said goat’s cheese. But you know what, the experience itself was so utterly delicious the food really wasn’t the main attraction ;-)
Ben our blind waiter was perfectly attentive, as two tumblers of white and red wine were delivered with a deft tap of the shoulder. The only question you need to ask yourself is… should I scoop the mash with my hands, or opt for an ever-​vanishing fork? My date and I differed on this approach, with rather enchanting conclusions… pitch black has never been so illuminating!