Opaque – Dining in the Dark

this place is awesome. I haven’t been out in san diego for a while and decided spur of the moment to come here. me and my friend have really been thinking about trying something new.
the idea of losing sense of sight to enhance sense of touch, smell, and taste really compelled me to dry this place. Granted that the idea might be messy and all. Total fan of bizarre, unique, and tell-​tale worthy places. I’m the kind of person who needs a lot of stimuli to even get interested in things in the first place and this place totally did it for me.
kinda cool that people could have been doing the dirty right next to me and my friend but haha i don’t think we would’ve mind at all. Tried to focus on the food and not trying slap each other while at it, overall i think it was a great time. definitely a good place to try, but not something i could do once a month.

Came here for Valentine’s Day with my girlfriend. She’s been wanting to go for a few years now. The food was great and we had an absolute blast! A bottle of wine was a little pricey but its the best time I’ve ever had eating out. A word of advise: don’t be afraid to use your hands.

This iteration of Opaque was at the U.S. Grant Hotel. On the one hand, Dining in the Dark really is a fun and unique experience. The room is truly pitch black, can’t see, darker than the dark side of the moon. Trying to remember where you set your wine glass versus your butter plate can be an adventure when you can’t see. On the other hand…
The service was friendly but spotty. The wait staff would forget that plates had not been cleared (everyone working the dining room is visually impaired) or a course was not served to a table. The mistakes were corrected quickly and with a great attitude. Not bad all things considered but there is room for improvement.
What did bother me and most of those I was with, was the quality and taste of the food. Other reviewers are quite correct about how bland everything really was. I don’t mind hunting for butter and trying to figure out where the rolls are as that is part of the experience. I do expect the food to taste better then mediocre especially considering how much this costs per person. And the taste was quite disappointing. The romaine salad with Gorgonzola, poached pear and walnuts was the best part and it was a just typical salad you can find anywhere. The entrée of Salmon with asparagus and risotto was at best ‘OK’. Dessert was a New York cheese cake that was nothing special. For a dining experience that claims to be all about the taste, they missed the mark by a very wide margin.
I am glad I tried Opaque once, it is a fun experience for a group. I wouldn’t do it again and those that do go need to concentrate on the fun aspect and not expect much if anything from the taste.

*Upon walking out of the dining area, while slowly adjusting our eyes to the light…*
Dinnerdate: «So, you know we totally could have gotten away with it in there (sex).»
«that would have been fun!»
me: «You know, this is vital info that I could have used about 30 minutes ago… VITAL! «
The experience is amazing, and it really is a different type of dark in there. Someone could be right in front of you, literally, inches away from your face and you cannot see them. I’m for it.
«It’s dark, all around me. soo dark. deep, dark oblivion. nothing without nothingness, only darkness as far as the eye can see…»
Now I know what all the emos were writing about in their livejournals. They must have all been at Opaque.
The food was delicious. I had the beef plate. I liked having to rely on only my sense of touch and smell, which were heightened by the darkness. I had, like super senses. Thats how I know my ninja training was well worth it. There were flower petals on the table (rose?) which was cool. I ate some. Also very cool.
It was a wonderful experience and probably the most interesting dinner I have ever had. I made friends with the table next to me. I waved bye to them but I doubt they noticed.

Dining in the Dark: The unadulterated experience
So, my guy had the wonderfully romantic idea of going to Opaque for our anniversary dinner, and of course I jumped at the chance. I’d heard about the one in LA when I lived up there and the concept intrigued me. We picked a Saturday and chuckled at their threat of a $ 50 cancellation fee if we stood up our reservation. Nothing short of the Second Coming was going to keep us from this date night.
I had of course planned on getting all gussied up — it’s in the W for Pete’s sake, and Unilocal said attire: dressy. Then my guy showed me You Tube videos of people being interviewed coming out of the LA location after eating, and they all had a recurring theme: don’t wear clothes that you care about because you’re going spill on yourself, and spill righteously in most cases. In other words, wear black. I was bummed I had to scrap my outfit plans, but figured I was sacrificing in the name of a fabulous foodie experience.
We got to the W and were the only ones in the waiting area for Opaque. We were handed menus to make our dinner and wine selections, and my guy was a bit taken back — I guess he hadn’t realized it was a prix fixed menu. There were four options: beef, chicken, fish, and vegetarian, all for $ 99. You also got to choose one of two salads and one of two dessert selections. We both decided to go with the beef and a glass of cabernet sauvignon. After those details had been squared away, we were introduced to our legally blind waitress (lovely lady,) who escorted us into the pitch black dining room and to our table (talk about the blind leading the blind!) It was very disorienting to sit in a dark room and not have my eyes adjust so I could see at least a little. Our wine and water was brought out about 5 minutes after we’d been seated, and after a dramatic pause the salads made their debut. I had ordered the spring baby lettuce with mixed nuts, grilled stone fruit and champagne vinaigrette having no idea what grilled stone fruit is. It reminded me of an apple in texture, but the flavor was hard to place as it was very subtle. Not bad, but I won’t exactly go hunting for them at the grocery store. At the beginning I attempted some decorum by using my silverware but gave up very quickly when my fork kept coming up empty, so I just started picking up the lettuce and stone fruit with my fingers. As for the bread, that got buttered with my fingers.
The interval between our salad and main course was almost unbearable as we’d come to dinner in a starving state, having anticipated our epicurean experience all day (that and I’d run 18 mi that morning as a part of my marathon training, so no amount of food could have filled me up that day…) There was a good 30 – 40 minute break between courses and our reservation hadn’t even been until 8p, so I was starting to get cranky-​hungry, which is never fun. Finally our entrees arrived and I was relieved to find that the steak was being served in manageable medallions (I’d gotten worried about how I was going to maneuver cutting a hunk of steak in the dark…) I used my index finger to get a feel for the plate and figure out where everything was, but was sad to find that warm would be the best temperature to describe the food. I realize no one wants to burn their mouth eating food they can’t see, but I’d like to think I waited all that time to eat food fresh off the grill/​out of the oven, not something that’d been sitting around in the kitchen so it could cool off. I cut a piece of the beef, took a bite, and chewed. And chewed. And did something I’d never do at a fancy restaurant with the lights on: removed gristle from my mouth with my fingers. Seriously?! $ 100 for a steak dinner I can’t see and there’s gristle in my beef? I was hoping it was an anomaly and I could finish the rest without incidence, but there was more gristle and fat. Nothing kills it for me more than thinking I’m taking a bite of steak and getting a mouthful of fat. For the prices we were paying, we should have had shaved truffles on our steak, not gristle and fat in our beef. The veggies were well done luckily, but the potatoes were just as underwhelming as the meat. I was hoping the Bailey cheesecake with vanilla essence would save the night, but alas, it too tasted like someone had left it on the counter for the last hour, and room temp cheesecake just doesn’t do it for me. I didn’t even finish it.
Overall I give it one star for concept and one star for our wonderful server that evening. I think the biggest let down of the evening was how mediocre the food was after how much all the reviews built up the experience. For me, dining out is more about the food than how cool, hip, it, or now the establishment is. The idea of heightening the sensory experience for a nice meal is a great concept, but it’s only worth these prices if it is in fact a sensory experience for your palate as well as everything else.

Ok, I had wanted to try this place out ever since I heard of it. So I made reservations for myself and my fiancé. We get all dressed up and head downtown to W Hotel, which was modern and impressive. We head upstairs and let them know we arrived. They gave us the menu and wine list so we could choose between 4 $ 100 options and a sad excuse for overpriced wine. We both ordered the beef because we were in the mood for some good old red meat and a wine that had a wonderful description. We were led into the dinning room by our server who was absolutely wonderful. Fist they brought out the salad which was about as cheap as a house salad can get. The wine was closed and very weak on the nose and limp on the palate. It may as well have been a bad batch of Two Buck Chuck. Now I thought the main idea of «dinning in the dark» was to have a flavor experience that would be like no other, and when I pay $ 100 for a steak I expect to have better quality meat than what I could have gotten at a Sizzler, but no. The meat was a little tough, flavorless and a bit on the cool side, the potatoes could very well have been the garlic potato powder mix you get at the supermarket and the vegetables were average. The dessert was tasty but nothing to get too excited about. I have to say that I have never been so disappointed in a restaurant in my life. One star for originality, the pitch black dinning was kinda cool and one star for our server who was great. Save your money and find a better place to eat for less. If you want to eat in the dark, stay home and turn off the lights. I say it is good for dinner because «good for nothing» isn’t and option.

I’ve been waiting on writing this review for a month now… finally…
The experience itself is 10-​star worthy. Totally unique, bizarre, and something that has to be experienced to be understood. I highly recommend coming here with people you know and enjoy greatly, and particularly those who can have fun in random (and somewhat disconcerting) circumstances.
It’s PITCH BLACK people! You see NOTHING… not your own hands in front of your face, nor the hands of your dining companion (s), wherever they may fall… but I digress…
Everything was a challenge… from buttering our bread, to pouring our own wine (our waitress insisted), to figuring out how to get to the bathroom (you have to call your server over and be escorted out). It was crazy and strange, but a ton of fun with our group.
Unfortunately, our service was really bad – our server was sweet, but way over-​sat and she could not handle all of her tables. I understand this happens at a normal restaurant, but it should not happen at one that is only open one night a week and is as costly as this. These people should have it down to a science by now, and realize this is a special dining experience for all customers. Between our salad and entrée, we all were dying of kidney-​bursting gotta-​pee-​ness, but since you can’t SEE anything (remember?), we just had to hold it and wait for our server. We also ran out of booze and our sensory-​deprived anxiety spiked. We took care of that by going to the bar when we were escorted out to the bathrooms ($ 54 for 4 cocktails – yeesh!).
Then the food… meh. The caprese salad was quite good, lots of basil, just the way I like it. We had to wait over an hour between our salad and entrees… and then the main courses were just okay – I had chicken with polenta – who serves polenta in the dark?!? Halfway through, I gave up on my silverware and just started picking at everything with my fingers – I ended the night with polenta under all my fingernails (ew). Dessert was brought out promptly (apparently the other tables had left) and the Bailey’s cheesecake was good enough. Somehow I ended up with some on my nose and cheek, but then again, I digress…
My friends and I had a blast… but largely because of the sheer novelty of the situation as opposed to mind-​blowing food or fantastic service. It’s a $ 99/​person prix fixe menu and the wine started at around $ 30/​bottle. Know what you’re going in for, and know that it will belie your expectations, no matter what they may be. A true words-​cannot-​do-​justice experience and one I’ll always remember but don’t necessarily need to do again.
In short: Go, but only with good and/​or hilarious friends, a few crackers in your pocket to sustain you during the bad service, and an empty bladder.

This place is definitely a unique experience. It was recently moved to the
W Hotel, which I think is a better fit for this place than the US Grant. You hang out at first in a small, swanky lobby and tell the hostess what you want to eat and drink before you’re seated. you’re waiter/​waitress comes out and meets you and guides you in to the pitch black dining room. you literally cannot see your hand in front of your face. Our waitress Lynn was awesome (all of the wait staff are legally blind by the way) she explained what was on our table and good techniques for remembering where stuff is, like placing our wine glasses right above our silverware. The food was incredible, everything was cooked perfectly, the beef was tender and juicy and the vegetables were amazing. It’s very strange not being able to see your food at all. your sense of smell and taste are heightened and it really makes you focus on the flavors and aromas. I still have no idea what the place looks like on the inside. i pictured a white table cloth, but for all I know, the whole dining room could’ve been pink or green or blue. We found ourselves using our hands a lot to pick up and eat the food, which is perfectly acceptable because nobody can see you doing it, they even bring you a small bowl of warm water to clean your hands after dinner. All in all it was an almost surreal experience i will never forget, and the food was awesome too. This place is expensive ($ 100pp without drinks) but well worth the experience.

Oh the things you take for granted… salt shakers, ice water, your vision? Last night I went to dinner with my wife and a group of friends to Opaque-​Dinning in the Dark. It was quite the expirience. We show up at the downtown spot located at the newly renovated U.S. Grant not knowing what to expect. You place your dinner order with a hostes, then you are led to your table by your server, conga line style, into complete darkness! You never get used to it, you kind of learn to work your way around the darkness. All ther servers are legaly blind. Our Server Lex was awesome! He showed us to our table where soon the food came. As you eat you cant help but use your hands to guide the food into your mouth. The capri salad was damn good, the fish plate with cous cous was even better. For desert I had the Rasberry stack that featured hidden chocolate covered surpirses. The whole expirence was really cool and different. For dinner it is a bit expensive at $ 100 a person, but I feel it was worth it for the expirience and the awkwardness of putting food in you mouth in the dark. I recomend checking it out. Look it up on the web at
.