Being marriages season coincided with valentine’s eve most of the people at office took leave, the population is very meager. I asked one of my colleagues for lunch outside the office. He agreed. Initially we thought of going to any near by dhaba but due to my colleague mood swings we ended up at the “Dialogue in the Dark”, the darkest restaurant in the city. I initially thought it would be any other restaurant but when we opened the doors I was surprised. It was decorated completely with heart shaped red balloons and bunch of packed gifts on the desk , the staff taking the pictures of the couples who came into and in short it was in the festive mood of valentine’s day. The staff are expecting couples. We were the ODD Couple out there. Obviously we did not receive any special attention from the staff thus got saved from their artificial social niceties or they say customer experience.
We waited for our turn to pay the bill. Yes you heard it right. We need to pay the bill in advance as it is the darkest restaurant there wont be any second servings / no buffet / no ala-carte. The casher asked “do you know about the restaurant?” and we said “NO” in sync. Then he explained that inside the restaurant it would be completely dark and asked us to read the instructions to be followed. After paying the bill we waited for our turn to go inside. I did not understand why we're waiting at the first place even after paying bill. Then after sometime they allowed us inside and asked us to deposit everything we had into the counter including mobile phones ,keys , Id proofs and even my spectacles and then after security check they asked us to stand in a line and hold the shoulder of the person in front. And then we moved into the dark restaurant. It was literally pitch dark cannot even see my partner. We are following the guidelines of the staff and are moving on little steps. Finally we sat and the staff person asked for apology as he thought I was a gal. “Excused “I said with a smile.
The best thing happened when the waiter placed the food on our table. I think this was the first time after very long time I was thinking about the food I am eating while eating. I was identifying the food by touch and taste and nothing more. Finally the waiter came and asked us to name the food we ate. We named but failed to provide details. We giggled. Then my colleague asked the waiter how are you able to do the job in that pitch dark. He said “ I am used to it and I am the master in it.” And then he said he was a blind person and took us back to the door.My partner filled the feedback form with the line “ Everybody is giving u feedback but I learnt a lesson here,even in pitch dark there is some light.” and then we left.
PS: Though I was skeptical in opting for the restaurant that too with a guy on a valentine’s day, I did not regret after coming out.
PPS: Dialogue in Dark is food chain available in some other asian countries.
PPPS: Sometimes they even have dark painting exhibitions. Heard that it was interesting stuff.
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