Ctaste — Restaurant in Amsterdam

Summary: Serious injury caused by waiter (scar, fainted and concussion). it was completely ignored by staff even though we told them what happened. Not even asked if he was okay or given an apology or bandaid. Owner called after reading reviews and apologised and promised to make sure it doesn’t happen again.

after dinner were escorted outside by the waiter (doing exactly what he told us, holding on to his shoulder). As he walked out in the dark, he let go of a heavy door which smashed right into the face of my partner. It made a really loud bang and upon me asking, my partner said he got hit in the face and it hurt a lot. The waiter (giovanny) heard this, and turned around for a second after we got out, but then proceeded to walk away without saying anything. As we got out I saw that my partner had a big cut on his eyebrow and was bleeding a lot from it, and I told him. The guy behind the counter (not blind) saw and asked what happened - I told him the waiter had let the door smash into his face and he just said “oh…” and did nothing. I went to the bathroom and got some paper to hold up to his eye and then quickly went to pee. In this time my partner fainted and one of the staff caught him. They put him on the bench, asked if he was alright and again, just left without doing anything else, no apology, water, a bandaid or reimbursement (all wouldve been appropriate).

My partner has a concussion and probably a scar.

Moral: Don’t expect you can trust the staff to keep you safe in the dark even if you follow their instructions perfectly, nor to take accountability or help you when they directly cause you injuries. Mistakes happen but everyone knows that if you let a door go and someone’s behind you it’ll smash into them (especially here they should know as customers are literally holding on to them as it is pitch black). Help customers if they get hurt, especially if it’s your fault!

——— Later edit - after hearing about what happened (through the reviews) I was called immediately by the owner of Ctaste, who felt horrible about what happened, profusely apologised, agreed this is absolutely not how it should be and that he would talk to his employees and train them on this. He also refunded the cost for the dinner. This professional and quick response by the owner gave the impression that they really do care and this just was a series of...

I have already been in a "Dinner in the Dark" restaurant in Brussels and based on the good reviews of Ctaste in NL, I absolutely wanted to try it out. I am a vegetarian and also noted that during my reservation and repeated it when I arrived, which was confirmed by them.

We ordered the Royal Dinner with 5 courses and wine pairing. Arrived at the restaurant, everything was nice, had some amuse-bouches and a nice welcome, we were then guided to our table by the waiter.

First negative point, the table was right next to the door, which wasn't really a door, but these cowboy doors as you can see them in wild west films. EXTREMELY noisy whenever someone came in or out (which was often). With this, each time, there was light in the room, which missed the purpose of having dinner fully in the dark. Dinner was served very quickly, which was ok, but we didn't receive any wine. After the 3rd course, if we can call it that way, I had to ask for the wine, so they brought a tiny glass of wine, and they asked if we wanted some desert. I was quite confused since we barely got 3 courses (one of them was a sorbet...) and 1 glass of wine. I then raised the fact that we ordered 5 courses with wine pairing so they excused themselves and brought us desert and a cheese plate and 1 additional glass of wine.

All of this already quite upset me, not to talk about the food that wasn't really tasty, and the worst part is yet to come. I just had the feeling that the veggie option tasted like meat. I know it's sometimes difficult to make the distinction, but I was quite sure it was meat so I put it aside in a napkin to check later with the light. We went to the bathroom after dinner and it was indeed veal meat that has been served. A wild guess it that they just messed up the menus and someone else got ours and we got theirs.

I complained to the person at the entrance which welcomed us in the beginning and even showed him the meat that has been served. He confirmed and excused himself multiple times and agreed that we shouldn't pay for this and reassured me a reimbursement (since already paid via their website). As requested I sent them an email + a reminder but I never got any answer nor a reimbursement as they stated..

For us this was a really bad experience.. that I wouldn't recommend to anyone at all levels.. Dinner in the dark is definitely worth it,...

A unique experience in Amsterdam. It was an unforgettable experience.

The main idea is that the dinning room is in absolute darkness. When you get inside you can not see anything at all. Due to it, you have a completely different gastronomic experience. In the middle of the dark you have to use your other senses to interact with the food. You should smell it, touch it and taste to try to guess what's on your plate. Seriously, it's not easy. If you are curious, open-minded and not scared bout darkness, this place is for you.

One of the advantages of the situation is that in some way you feel more free. You have a privacy you wont find in a normal ressie. You dont have the eyes of people on you and the people who are with you. One more cool thing: you dont have to mind your manners while eating 😎.

About the food, it was everything well done. Salads, meat, dessert...everything was made in a really good way. Tasty and full of flavour. If I would change something, it would be adding some risky details to the food. I think it would be amazing if they go deeper in the idea of putting some strong contrast of flavours and play with the concept of the "unexpected", like having a detail of spice in the dessert, a sweet ingredient in the main course and everything that could be surprising, but well balanced. Still, as I said, food was amazing.

The best for the end: in this place you learn to admire more than ever people that daily have to deal with a big obstacle: blindness. When you get in the dinning room, you are introduced to your waiter. He is a blind person and is the person who will guide you through the darkness to your table. He will assist you during the whole experience. You will hear his voice telling you where you can find your fork or spoon, where on the table your glass of wine is and in general how to enjoy the experience. The two guys who helped us were not only professional, but soooo nice. They were super polite, always showed their sense of humour and had small, but meaningful chats with us.

I really liked their service and felt but admiration and respect for them. I really recommend...