I just went to O.Noir for the first time last night for a surprise birthday. The experience itself was really cool and also confronting. Having absolutely no vision meant we were very engaged as a group (with no one being able to text on their phones etc) and also humorous as people tried to feel their way around their plate to find their food.
I enjoyed the service I received. Our sever was very friendly and a few of our main dishes were late due to a mix up so he offered us an inconvenience discount without us even asking. The food however was completely unremarkable. There were limited vegetarian options for the main so I decided on the portobello mushroom app and tomato penne pasta main. The pasta was so average - I would have expected this of a cheap pub rather than a $$$ restaurant. I also ordered a gin crantini and not only did it not taste like gin it did not taste like cranberry...more like a cherry starburst liqueur.
Things I liked:
- the novelty of the experience
- nice service and server
- the discount for the wait was a nice touch
- the fact that they offer surprise mains and desserts (fun)
- the servers themselves are visually impaired and it must be a rewarding experience for them
Things to improve:
- change up the food (this is a great opportunity to be different and utilize everyone's enhanced taste buds... So why be totally generic?)
- offer more classic cocktails (what kind of full bar restaurant doesn't do mojitos?)
- change up the wine list
Would I go back? Maybe if they changed the menu. I don't intend to pay for that pasta again.
* I would have liked to give this place 2 stars but I feel bad because the sever was so nice. 2.5 stars rounded up to 3 on the Yelp rating system ;)