Here’s a question for those blessed with sight: What would you do without the use of your eyes? That is one of the questions that the immersive experience at the city’s first dining in the dark restaurant — The Dark Dine — poses to its visitors. An over-enthusiastic member of our group yells, “Be Matt Murdoch”, a popular blind Marvel superhero, better known as Daredevil. After a short introduction about the 45-minute experience, we are relieved of our phones, watches and bags, equipped with a cane and led to a door.
Even as you remind yourself of Tom Hardy’s (Bane) lines in Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight Rises — “You think darkness is your ally? You merely adopted the dark. I was born in it, moulded by it” — hoping to muster up some courage, every sense of confidence dissolves immediately upon entering The Dark Dine. It is total, complete darkness.
Back to the start
Started by a group of school friends, the eatery comes after the ten of them embarked on one such experience at Chennai’s Dine in the Dark restaurant. “While the concept is similar, we have tailored this experience to cater to local tastes. It is meant to be more of an adventure, while giving participants a taste of what being visually-challenged means,” shares Jaya Prasanna, one of the ten partners, adding that the restaurant currently has two visually-impaired personnel acting as guides. Set up with a series of games and mazes based on sound (identifying sounds made by objects), touch (opening a number lock in 30 seconds), and smell (samples of food ), the week-old restaurant is a hit with students and college-goers.
Tasting times
As we gingerly make our way through what seems like an eternity of assigned tasks, we finally hear, “You are at your tables.” We scurry to our seats anxiously, worried if our hands might land into some food. Offering a complete set vegetarian menu, you are spared the chore of choosing from an elaborate menu.
As our food arrives, we discover that it is packed in a tiffin carrier. Packed in four separate boxes there is an assortment of sandwiches, fries and nuggets. While our first bite resounds with a crunch, revealing a perfectly grilled sandwich packed with vegetables and cheese, we soon move on to the crumb-fried goodness of the vegetable nuggets. To wash it all down we are given a fragrant ice-cold drink, Jigarthanda, specially sourced everyday from Madurai. This dessert, which is an in-house speciality, is a mixture of badam pisin, nannari sharbat, sugar, milk cream and has an additional layer of basundi.
Variety is the key
While deliberations are on to create a rotational menu, culinary pursuits are the farthest thing from our mind as we make our way to the door. Stepping out into the light, our squinting faces erupt into smiles. Another round, please?
Entry in batches of eight. At Dare 2 Eat, Hopes College Junction. Rs 350. Details: 7708775122