If you’re feeling adventurous, or simply desire a new type of food experience, look no further than Restaurant O’Noir at 124 Rue Prince Arthur.
At O’Noir, customers eat and drink completely in the dark. The main sense of sight is completely cut off, forcing patrons to focus on their conversations and the delicious food the restaurant serves up. At first, being in the complete darkness made me slightly anxious, as it truly is a revolutionary experience. Soon however, I began to enjoy becoming familiar with the place setting in front of me.
Customers of the restaurant order drinks and dinner in the chic front room furnished with low black couches and wooden tables that give the entire restaurant an urban vibe. Only after ordering dinner and enjoying a cocktail or two do you enter the completely dark part of the restaurant. Patrons are lead and served by one of the blind members of the wait staff. According to O’Noir’s website, their “socially conscious concept” is popular in other cities, but all were inspired by the original concept from a blind pastor, who blindfolded his dinner guests so they could experience the way his eating experiences were.
My boyfriend and I elected to try O’Noir’s surprise menu and their cheapest bottle of white wine (warning: it’s not the cheapest restaurant in Montreal), although there was the choice to normally order off the menu for a two course or three course meal. I recommend the surprise menu however, as guessing what we were eating by taste alone was half the fun of our date night.
After enjoying a warm bread roll that I failed to be able to butter, our appetizer came. While it was obviously a salad, it was hard to identify the meat. I guessed it was pepperoni, and my boyfriend confessed he had no idea. Our waitress informed us that it was actually scallops, which shocked us both. Food truly does taste different without being able to see it.
For our main entree, it was obvious that there were potatoes and sweet potatoes, but the main protein again was hard to guess. My boyfriend thought it was chicken, while I thought it was turkey. We were both wrong however, as it was actually duck. I had never actually had duck before, but was surprised at how good it was, and will definitely be ordering it again in the future.
Dessert was the guessing game continued, and while we were almost positive that we were enjoying Vanilla Creme Bruleé, our waitress again informed us that we were incorrect. Our tasty dessert was actually Banana Panna Cotta.
Being a foodie, it was slightly embarassing going 0/3 all night, but I think that emphasizes how truly different it is to eat completely in the dark.
While some people might cringe at the idea of eating “surprise” food, everything was so delicious that nothing was scary about it. I genuinely feel like this eating experience was educational and more interesting than many other dinner dates we’ve had. I never would have ordered duck or panna cotta, but I’m so happy I was able to enjoy them and learn how pleasant they truly are.
While the food is delicious, the experience itself is what you are paying for. O’Noir should be on everyone’s bucket list, and is certainly a great date location if you want to switch things up.
Photos are the author’s own.