O.Noir
It
has been reviewed here before, but I'm posting a somewhat more detailed review of
O.Noir. As a result of a companion's instigation I ended-up going. Frankly, as intrigued as I was by the 'concept' I don't think I'd have gone without another person's urging.
The concept of O.Noir is immersing yourself, and dining, in darkness. Total pitch-black darkness. As if you were blind! The owners go as far as hiring blind staff. O.Noir, for the French challenged, phonetically translates to 'At Black.' Presumably this denial of sight enhances the other 4 senses...
The restaurant is located on St-Catherine across from the Faubourg in the Concordia area. The bar/foyer one enters first is dimly lit giving your eyes a chance to adjust to the upcoming darkness. We were asked to stow our coats into rather small lockers, of which they didn't seem to have enough of (we just ended up inelegantly stuffing more coats into fewer lockers), but more importantly they also request that watches and cell phones be put away so that dark dining environment isn't spoiled. Once settled, but before being seated, we ordered at the bar. Their menu is
online. The (sighted) hostesses at the bar were very helpful, polite, and attractive! Too bad we weren't going to be seeing much more of them.
I ordered the 'Surprise entrée' and 'Surprise dish', hoping to fully benefit from the experience, and specifically requested the Viennese chocolate cake with vanilla ice cream for desert. We were then introduced to our waiter and led into the dining area which is only separated by two heavy curtains that cut out the light. Since we were a large(r) party, we basically formed a conga line with the waiter at the front and were brought to our table. Once seated we ended up chatting while waiting for all the other parties to be seated and for the waiters to start bringing the food. It was a bit surprising that the conversation prior to the meal wasn't terribly stimulating. Not having the usual visual cues as to whether the person you are talking to is looking at you, interested, agrees, disagrees... made it a bit tenuous. This was noted during the conversation by everyone so I know it's not because of mediocre social skills.
If you are only going as a couple then this 'effect' probably won't be as acute.
Finally the food started to arrive. It can take a bit of time for everyone at the table to get their meals since the waiters have to do multiple trips (only one waiter is assigned per table). Since they are blind they also call out to each other fairly often so as not to bump into each other. The night we happened to go, there seemed to be a handful of people celebrating birthdays... regularly, a table somewhere would erupt into "Happy Birthday" and the general 'tone' of the crowd was boisterous. This meant that the waiters had to shush the crowd a few times since they mostly used sound to navigate and couldn't hear each other's calls.
As for the food: all I remember of the entrée was that it contained mushrooms. It was appetizing and I looked forward to what would come next. The main dish, frankly, was disappointing. Not much of a surprise here. Steak, potatoes and gravy. Average; there's nothing else to say. Desert was much better; the chocolate cake was excellent and the ice cream along side was a perfect complement. Until then, I had no problem with picking up food with the fork in the dark and directing it into my mouth. Though now, the spoon, cake, and ice cream were not working together. Like all of my table companions, though some did this much earlier on in the evening, I opted to resort to directly eating with my hand. This was of course not something any of us would have done in a lit environment, but in this case it was acceptable.
I have no recollection what the red wine we drank throughout the meal was, but it was above average (at least to my limited wine palate) and reasonably priced. After desert we were offered coffee or tea. I opted for tea. When it was brought over the minty scent was particularly strong and we were all surprised to be reminded that we have a noses with which we can smell with! Of course one tastes food as much with the nose as with the tongue, but the olfactory sense just didn't 'come into play' during the meal. Also, judging from a quick tactile survey, the decor is absolutely inexistent (I guess as it should), but it's not because I can't see that I can't tell the table is poorly made and that the chairs don't match each other, and weren't particularly comfortable. Also, the place mats were made out of some sort of rubbery material. Evidently they must be easy to wash since a lot of food must get spilled, but it's not a particularly pleasant material to the touch. As I mentioned earlier, the place can get quite loud. And it's an unpleasant loud since the room is very reverberant. The sound of the room would probably be more pleasant with some absorptive material on the ceiling (and maybe also the walls).
Once we were done, we were led out by our waiter. As stated earlier, the waiters are blind, and it must be said that they do a fantastic job! The transition to the dimly lit bar was a bit abrupt everyone had to adjust to the light... after our pupils readjusted, it was revealed that I had a 'food mishap'. I was not the only person who had spilled food on themselves, but my spill was the most 'spectacular'
Ironically, my stain happened when I switched to eating with my hands. Do not wear anything too fancy that would upset you if it were ruined by a stain. It is practically inevitable that this will happen.
My bill amounted to about $50 (including tip and wine). They do take credit cards.
Should you go once? Yes! Repeat? No. I don't think I'd be able to regain the novelty of the experience. Overall it's a great concept, but there's a lot of room for improvement. We live in such a visual society, it could have been particularly interesting to let the other senses flourish, but I don't think O.Noir cultivated them.
O.Noir
1631 St-Catherine West
(across from the Faubourg)
514-937-9727
Services only at 17:45 and 21:00
Lunch is available for groups of 15 or more.