Dark Table — Restaurant in Vancouver

I’ve been here 3 times before and this 4th time was a bit questionable. The times before was 10 years ago and it was mainly food. Now they have added additional costs and a drinks menu.

I wanted to bring my friends and husband for my birthday to experience this since they never did before and I am aware of what to expect. The servers before have always been professional and very good at making the experience comfortable and warming. Given I understand that the servers are blind and respect it as such, but this time was different and questionable.

Even though I am aware our group was late, there seemed to be a miscommunication with the hostess and a eagerness with a server (which I guessed right it was our server) asking about a table they were expecting. The hostess had to communicate the information through text in their phone to the servers (from what they said to my friend) and punch/type in the pos system on the tablet and write down the orders on a piece of paper. I have never had that with the hostess prior and only used the tablet with the pos system. (Not sure what happened or why they chose to do that?)

As we sat down at our table there was some how a few things not informed properly with our orders. The server omid (from what I remember him saying what his name is) placed down a shot when I actually ordered a drink and they forgot my friend’s starter. They resolved it but the response seemed to be odd when the blind server said “oh, we didn’t see that.” That made it questionable, the service was fine after that and the food and drinks were great.

I have a lot of patience with people especially how I respect an establishment helping blind people have work but the last straw that made me question about this was that our table of 6 people had to pay the whole table under 1 bill. The server said it says it on their website, checked the website in the reservations and FAQ but found nothing. I felt like the server just wanted to get us out by saying that, however I did checked the email and it did say people 6+ has to pay the bill in 1 transaction.

10 years ago they never had any issue with that. Everyone was willing to pay for themselves, so my husband had to take care of it and ask for our friends to e-transfer their share of the money of their food. Like people don’t always have $400 to put out on a table of 6 people especially when you only expect to pay for yourself, can you imagine 8-9 to pay for? Insane.

This experience was a little disappointing and probably won’t come again since it was not the way I remembered it...

Compared to if you were to buy the ingredients at a grocery store, the markup is about 275%, upwards to 425% if bought through commercial wholesale. After standard business inputs/operating costs and wages, you’re looking at a house take/margin of about 13-33%, not including alcoholic beverages. Not a bad business at all. With munchies and a drink per person we spent about $170 after tipping 15% on a post-tax subtotal (I was only given this subtotal by the house; I usually tip on pre-tax subtotals).

Server (Omid) was nice. Hostess was nice (but also seemed to be having to handle a lot on her own).

We came for the pitch black dining experience, as ultimately all restaurant food can be replicated for much less at home. We were seated pretty close to the entrance so the red exit side showed through once in a while from where I was sitting. The payment/food kitchen servicing corridor was often entered and exited so my partner could see the light coming from there and therefore had to keep her eyes closed to get the full experience.

The food was tasty. Nothing was bad. The spices used in the fish were fragrant. The steak was of a good cut (but more was desired when searches for more steak yielded seemingly endless amounts of potato). The appetizer was uninspired (a salsa mix of sorts with a toasted bread), but the munchies were nice, although steep for $10 per person - deep fried battered zucchini pieces sliced diagonally at a sharp angle lengthwise. Dessert was a tiramisu and a tuxedo cake. I guess in a way you could say that the appetizers and dessert were « surprises ». I’m not sure if it’s necessary not to disclose it so people don’t feel disappointed by what they end up with and to better manage inventory to reduce loss and quality degradation (i.e. they can get rid of pantry and fridge items in the order of shelf age rather than based on customer preference. The absence of choice can be sold/marketed to a customer as part of a game where you get to test your ability to discern what you’re eating. But if I were to think realistically and practically, this would be very effective for inventory management and waste reduction.

Northern Light cocktail felt a bit weak and it didn’t punch anywhere.

Not entirely sure if the menu rotates or not but the ARR byline at the bottom of the website says 2012. I’d be open to trying this concept again but maybe at another establishment with a different menu selection as I’m not sure there’s much more on the menu I’m particularly im...

This experience was ah-mazing! I think everyone should do this at least once in their life. It is a humbling experience and gives a deeper appreciation and understanding of those that have visual impairments. We arrived 15mins prior to our reservation time and were greeted by seeing-hostesses.They provided us with a menu to choose which dish we wanted to have while we waited in the outdoor area. We also selected our drinks at that time and were instructed to turn our phones off. When our names were called we were introduced to our server, Mo (who was excellent by the way). The entry way is dimely lit which gives you an opportunity to adjust to the darkness. With hands on shoulders in train mode the 4 of us followed Mo to our table. Mo instructed us where to sit. It was actually alot easier to maneuver in the dark than I expected. Mo was very good at talking to us to let us know what he was doing. The tables are actually quite large so it gives lots of room. Of course your instinct is to help when you are being served but it's better for you to keep your hands out of the way (on your lap). The food was so amazing, it was fine dining quality for sure! Everything was cooked perfectly, it wasnt greasy or too salty, there was excellent flavor and the perfect temperature. We had the lamb rigatoni, chicken (which was spicey), steak and the surprise dish (I wont ruin the surprise). We also got the surprise appy and dessert. We had so much describing our food and trying to guess what we were eating on the surprise dishes. Mo instructed us if one of us needed to go to the washroom, to yell his name and he would escort us. Appraently the bathroom facilities are top notch as one of the guests at the table let us know and yes, there was light in the bathroom. When dinner was done we were taken (by Mo, hand to shoulder train again) to a dimely lit room to pay our bill where we could ask questions of the food and then escorted back to the main door. A few tips..wear dark clothes incase you spill. Bring a pair of sunglasses for when you leave as adjusting to the light might be difficult if you are sensitive. Dont be a jerk and turn your phone on! And if you have a sport watch take it off as the light will be bright. We will definately be taking any of our guest visitors here as this is a one of kind experience that really makes you appreciate something we take for granted everyday. It amazed us at Mo's skill in handling our dishes and guiding us around. Thank you so much for an excellent...