Tucked in a corner on Arab Street is what looks like a normal restaurant — until you pull open the glass doors. NOX offers a unique dining experience, where diners are treated to a three-course meal in the dark. While dining in the dark might seem like an intimidating concept to some, there’s another reason for it.
NOX was founded seven years ago by the owner, Jesper, who has family and friends who are visually impaired. This, together with his experiences from travelling and being in the F&B industry, motivated him to create this unique dining experience.
It remains as the only such dining experience of its kind in Singapore, and employs visually impaired staff that guide diners through their meal. Dining is taken to a whole new level at NOX, “by taking away their sense of sight which forces them to tune in to their remaining four senses.”
When guests arrive, they will be seated at the lounge to enjoy some light bites (Amuse Bouche) and drinks. During which, the guests will be briefed on how their dining experience is going to be like. Before moving up to the main dining area, guests are expected to keep all their belongings in the locker provided.
Guests will then be guided by the visually impaired host to the dining hall to their seats and also be orientated on what is on the table. During the dining experience, the host will impart their experience and knowledge to the guests in the dark, which most of them will come to appreciate the longer they are in the dark dining area. After their dining comes to an end, they will be guided back to the lounge and be briefed on their dining up in the dining area. Guests are welcome to enjoy more drinks in the lounge after their meal.
While diners are unable to see their food, plenty of work goes into its preparation. As taste is of the essence, the restaurant’s chef, Chef Shahrom, believes that “simplicity is key, and we need to do justice to the ingredient, let its natural flavors shine through.” To come up with seasonal menus, Chef Shahrom draws his inspiration from life experiences, co-workers, magazines, books, and trips to the market. He always finds it important to use what is in season, so that diners are treated to “the freshest produce and the best showcase of flavors.”
However, NOX’s success today is not without its challenges. During the early stages of the pandemic, NOX had to close for three months, being unable to open due to its experiential nature. After the restaurant’s reopening, it was a challenge to recover economically due to NOX getting its customers from word-of-mouth. Today, NOX is almost fully booked throughout the weekend, and for the Chinese New Year season.
“You always need to continue to push to follow trends, develop new menus, offer the best possible service and drinks offering in the market,” says restaurant manager Diyanah Z.
When the pandemic does end, NOX has plans to explore bringing the concept to new markets outside of Singapore to offer employment to visually impaired in other places in Asia.
NOX raises public awareness for the visually impaired community through its dining concept as people might not be aware of the support that the visually impaired community gets. Their mission? To “spread the word to the (visually impaired) community that we are here to support them and make them part of our team.”
The restaurant also provides visually impaired individuals with a chance to explore an alternative job industry, rather than the usual route of becoming a call operator or a masseuse. Prospective employees come from the Singapore Association Of The Visually Handicapped, a dedicated community support agency for visually impaired individuals.
The work that NOX does helps to open more job opportunities to the visually impaired community and allows regular people to interact with the community. By participating in NOX’s dining in the dark experience, diners get a firsthand feel of an evening in the life of a visually impaired individual. While diners lose their sense of sight temporarily in the experience, it is permanent for the visually impaired individual. At the end of the experience, NOX wants their “guests to leave the dining area feeling humbled and inspired after learning more from our visually impaired hosts, with an overwhelming sense of appreciation for their sense of sight.”
In the midst of the pandemic, NOX has hopes that “people will continue to support us through these tough times so we can continue to offer this dining concept and job opportunities for the visually impaired.”
So, if you’re looking for an enlightening and diverse dining experience, why not dine in the dark with NOX?
Address: 269 Beach Road, Singapore 199546
Opening Hours: Tuesday-Sunday 6pm-late
Contact: [email protected]
