I’ve been to Barcelona many times, and always find myself going back to places I enjoyed on a previous trip. One place for sure will get a rerun, but we decided to try different places, and where we started, couldn’t have been more different.
‘Dans le noir’ is a dining concept in London, Paris and Barcelona. There should be one in every city, not because the food is great (in our case) but because of the concept.
Essentially, you are completely, and I mean completely, in the dark. You are guided in by a waiter – who is registered blind – and served dishes which you have to guess.
A challenge for the senses as without sight you need to hone your tastebuds and concentrate. Most of the dishes were easy to suss out, but we did miss some, because not knowing there are say 6 items on the plate; we were advised to use our hands and not cutlery which was fine until canelloni was served. Strangely, roast beef, which is one of my favourites, felt too slimy in my mouth and I had to remove it.
I noticed how I think I am not a fussy eater and say the only thing I don’t like is carbonara, but really, there are a lot of flavours I don’t choose to cook or take when at a restaurant.
The wines were not to my liking, but one, which smelt like a red, was indeed an organic white. To be honest, being squiffy and feeling claustrophobic would not have been a good mix.
We were thankful dessert came quickly and asked to leave as soon as our plates were clear. We wanted to win the guessing game, but really wanted to be in the light again. We managed to guess most of the offerings, subtleties were missed and once you saw the images of the food, you convince yourself you would have enjoyed it more ‘sighted,’ however, I like my hot food hot and the delay in serving made for congealed textures which are hardly ever pleasant.
I wouldn’t try this again, partly because of the discomfort; partly because the food wasn’t very good (in fact, we stopped off at a tapas bar on the way back to the hotel) but I do think it’s a good idea to challenge your senses and feel, even for a short time, how it feels to truly blind taste.
