Hakkasan: A Review

When I was visiting my Uncle last month, he told me he really wanted to go to Hakkasan. Just by hearing the name, I thought it was a Japanese restaurant. Who knew it was a Chinese restaurant! (Probably everyone, but whatever.) This is actually the first time I’ve seen Chinese cuisine “elevated” towards a Western standard in the states. I’ve been to elegant restaurants in Hong Kong, China, and Taiwan, but reading about Hakkasan made me genuinely intrigued. I’d actually not heard of Hakkasan before, despite their myriad locations, and I must admit…I am generally very picky about Chinese food. I am my father’s daughter after all.

I’m not usually picky about anything else, but to me…I feel like I know Chinese food well. I mean, I did grow up with it. I also often feel like Chinese food is misrepresented by stereotypes and generalizations. Chow mein, fried rice, lemon chicken and spring rolls Chinese food does not make. Taking into account my love for Japanese food and Japanese “fusion-type” cuisines I've sampled, I was interested in seeing an “elevated version” of Chinese food. The best Chinese food I’ve had was when my dad was taking us around Hong Kong, the place where he grew up, and we were eating rice noodles in hole-in-the-wall type restaurants with maximum seating room for ten people. It was fun.

Going into Hakkasan feels a little pretentious. The restaurant is located by Westfield Center in the downtown area of SF. That area is always pretty busy and filled with tourists, so the juxtaposition from the busy street to the tranquil lobby is kind of abrupt. From the street entrance, you’ll step into a lobby with a dedicated desk and host/hostess to greet Hakkasan’s customers. The lobby is also heavily incensed, as in they burn a lot of it to create a certain atmosphere. I’m sure some people like it, but it gave me a vague headache. Being greeted at the bottom lobby, you then step into a sleek elevator that's been designated to take all of Hakkasan’s patrons to the main restaurant floor.

The décor was very chic and for some reason, at least for me, vaguely reminiscent of Las Vegas. Lots of dark shiny surfaces contrasted with high shine metals. The decorative accents they added were cute and reminded me of being in a “tearoom.” Latticed partitions, octagonal windows, and the occasional orchid now and then hinted to the kind of cuisine they served. The service was friendly and I enjoyed chatting idly with our server. He was very friendly and was very knowledgeable of the non-gluten items on the menu. He also told us that the SF Hakkasan location was hoping to bring in some Michelin Stars this year (sadly, they did not) and the requirements for restaurants to earn them. A very interesting conversation.

Left to Right: China Doll and Kowloon Cooler

My uncle and I went to Hakkasan for their lunch service, so we opted for a little taste of everything by ordering their lunch set menu and some drinks. It’s no shock to anyone in my peer circle that I can’t hold alcohol, and it’s uncharacteristic of me to order drink with food. Honestly, I was pleasantly surprised they offered blended non-alcoholic drinks alongside their cocktail menu. Usually it's just a boring array of sodas or some fancy juices.

My uncle and I ordered China Doll, which is a tamarillo fruit, pistachio, apple, and peach juice concoction, and the Kowloon Cooler, which consisted of strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, lychee, apple juice, cranberry juice, and lemon lime soda, from their non-alcoholic drink menu. While I didn’t enjoy the taste of the drinks paired with the rest of the food we ordered, they were perfectly fine on their own. My berry drink was tangy and refreshing, but had quite an “earthy” aftertaste. My Uncle’s Lychee concoction was sweeter and equally as refreshing, but was brighter and didn't have the "earthiness" mine had.

Fried Dim Sum Selection: (bottom) crispy prawn dumping, (middle) xo scallop puff, and (top) roasted duck and pumpkin puff

From the lunch set options they gave us, my Uncle opted to order the dim sum appetizer set, and they give you a choice between having your appetizers fried or steamed. Due to the gluten, I couldn't personally taste them myself, but my Uncle looked like he enjoyed them. And to be totally honest, anything fried is pretty yummy. 

The trio of dim sum yummies included: a crispy prawn dumpling, pumpkin puff, and an xo scallop puff.

I asked if I could get the steamed dim sum set and supplement it with three shrimp dumpings (they're traditionally covered in a rice wrapper versus a flour one), but the waiter said that the trio of samplings were fixed and you can't modify them.

Stir Fried Mushroom Lettuce Wrap with pine nuts, and pistachios 

So instead, I got the lettuce wraps. I feel bad, but I just naturally am not wow'ed by lettuce wraps. I think it was my initiation with lettuce wraps from P.F. Chang's, but I just think they're meh. These lettuce wraps, obviously with the addition of pistachios and pine nuts, didn't taste very "Chinese" to me. Of course we can get into the whole debate about "what does Chinese actually taste like?", but let's focus on the wraps. It was very nutty, the mixture didn't really seem like a cohesive filling, but instead an amalgamation of nuts that someone had thrown together. I was very generous with the filling, but even so, I still had a couple of spoonfuls left over when I had finished the lettuce leaves. It was ok, but I didn't feel satisfied after eating it nor would I order it again.

Stir fried Black Pepper Ribeye Beef 

For my Uncle's main dish he ordered the stir fried black pepper ribeye beef. Due to the soy sauce this dish wasn't gluten free either, but I still nabbed a bite. I'm more strict on myself about gluten now, as I developed a headache and had all the other unpleasant side effects of eating gluten, but it was tasty. It was savory, tender, and mildly sweet.  Very good and addicting, my uncle enjoyed himself and ate everything on the plate. He even gave the fried noodle cornucopia a try.

Spicy Prawn with Lily Bulb and Almond

 As for myself, I went for the spicy prawn main. Honestly, in retrospect, I don't think this was gluten free (it's not denoted on the online menu), but the waiter told me it was at the time. Despite not being gluten free, it was delicious. As I stated before, I didn't think that gluten in small amounts would hurt me, but it does. ::lol:: Gluten allergy, who knew? The shrimp was delicious though, it was plump, juicy and not overdone. The curry sauce they paired it with was spicy enough to give a slight kick, but not enough to feel like your whole mouth was burning. The sauce was creamy and addicting as well, while the almonds and lily bulb gave the dish the textural notes it needed to keep it from being monotonous.

When choosing the lunch set it includes a bowl of bok choi and your choice of steamed or egg fried rice. The bok choi was nothing special, just some normal bok choi that was gently flavored with garlic. I was very glad that a vegetable side dish was included in the meal. At this point it seemed very meat heavy.

Sweet and Sour Pork Tenderloin

This dish was an additional main that my uncle and I ordered to make sure we were sated at the end of the meal. Since our lunch sets had come with bok choi, we elected to go with a viand. This dish was also recommended to us by our waiter, who said that the dish was quite popular. It was good! The pork was tender and the sweet and sour flavors balanced each other out completely. There's nothing worse that ordering a "sweet and sour" dish and having all of one aspect, but none of the other.

Everything was evenly coated in the sweet and sour sauce, the pork was tender, and the pomegranate seeds, pineapple, and red onion added little bites of acidity and freshness that the dish needed. Even though I like pineapples, when they're served in savory dishes like this, I pick them out and don't eat them. I think it's something about the texture of cooked pineapple that I don't like. 

Overall the meal was above average, the ambiance was wonderful, and the service was great. We had a wonderful experience with our waiter just shooting the breeze. Nothing really wow'ed me or was original in my opinion. I would definitely go back to Hakkasan, but only with friends. For some reason, I feel like I would choose other places to go to eat than Hakkasan if I had the choice. The environment that Hakkasan creates is one of a chic nightclub or a swanky lounge, if I wanted to go on a date or spend some family time here I think I would feel out of place. It lacks that sort of intimacy that some restaurants offer their diners. To me, it seems like Hakkasan is a place to go before clubbing or if you want to explore something new with friends.

Thanks for reading! I hope you give Hakkasan a try!

Price: $$$ out of $$$$$
Kid Friendly: Yes! They're very accommodating and I did see some kids playing about in the booths next to our table.
Repeatable: Yes! With friends.

Aziza: A Review

While I was in San Francisco, many high end restaurants were waiting with baited breath, not for my arrival of course (haha, I'm awful.), but instead for the 2014 Michelin Star Rankings. A day after the Michelin Star Announcement, my Uncle noticed a familiar name on the list: Aziza. So with that we decided to try some Moroccan Food. Although my Uncle had been before, this was my first time, and the first time that I can remember trying Moroccan Food.

The decor was both very Moroccan and very modern. I have a minimal amount of knowledge about Morocco and Moroccan culture, but what I had in my head seemed to match with the decor. Rustic oranges, curved archways, deep blues, and bright crimsons decorated the restaurant.

The menu was small, but featured a range of enticing appetizers and entrees that featured seasonal ingredients. Obviously, the menu rotates and things are switched out, different flavor combinations are switched in, etc. By now, I should really know to take a photo of the menu or write down the exact thing I ate.

This was the best I got. HAHAHA. I know, awful. Dat side blur tho.

The staff was quiet, efficient, and not overly friendly. When I told our waiter about my gluten intolerance, he was incredibly knowledgeable about it and knew immediately what I could and could not eat. When I expressed interest in the lamb shank, he immediately offered to substitute the barley on the lamb for something else. My uncle and I were quite adventurous, and we ordered two appetizers, two entrees, and two desserts. 

Chicken Wings, honey, nigella seeds, cucumber

These are the chicken wings with honey, pickled cucumber, and nigella seeds. As you can see, it was very beautifully presented, boneless, and each wing chopped into three pieces. Which is wonderful, because the two of us could evenly divide the appetizers without having that awkward moment of "who gets the last piece?" 

The flavor was tasty, the chicken was sweet and tender, and I can easily see why it's a staple on the menu. Aziza altered the dish to be gluten free for me, but I was really unsatisfied with the texture. Unfortunately, Aziza does not have a dedicated gluten-free fryer (which makes sense, they're expensive!) so they cannot fry the wings without risk of cross contamination. Because of this the wings really suffered textually. Although the nigella seeds were crunchy, the wings on a whole felt monotonous in texture profile. I wanted a larger crunch, with the tender sweetness of the chicken meat in the middle. I was grateful for the cucumber on the plate. I think with the mild sweetness of the chicken, the cucumber was a good palate cleanser to move onto the next appetizer. 

Squid, cucumber, spinach, tomatillo, zhug

 The squid appetizer accompanied by a sliver of tomatillo, cucumber, spinach, and some smatterings of zhug. Unfortunately, there were only three pieces of squid distributed on the plate...and I gave the last piece to my uncle. Selflessness. I should be sainted.

The squid was cooked perfectly. It wasn't difficult to chew, but had enough bite in it to balance well with the crunch of the cucumber, and the tenderness of the spinach. Additionally, I really admired the knife work done on the outer layer of flesh. It served the dual purpose of looking really neat and adding texture to an ingredient that would otherwise be textually boring. The zhug or skhug, a middle eastern type of hot sauce, wasn't too spicy, but added a nice kick of flavor to the three mild ingredients. The dish was satisfying and skillfully executed, but I wasn't too "wowed" by it. Especially given the price and the portion size, I think I would opt to try something else if I was given a second chance to look over the menu.

Halibut, Seaweed, Barley, Root Vegetables

As for entrees, my uncle ordered their daily seafood special which was a halibut "clay pot" served with fried seaweed, barley, and assorted root vegetables. You can see the barley peeking out of the sauce there, so this dish isn't technically gluten free, but I'm sure the chef and waiters would be more than happy to change it for a gluten intolerant patron. I had a little bite of the halibut and it was very good. Tender, moist, and buttery...the halibut was an addictive fish to eat. I couldn't eat anything else, for fear of gluten, but I was told the flavors of the dish were very fresh and mild compared to the lamb shank I ordered. Which is great, because if you're not feeling like rich hearty food, you can always order something light and equally as delicious off the menu. 

Lamb Shank, Baby Arugula, Sunchoke, Saffron, Pomegranate Seeds

I ordered the lamb shank garnished with baby arugala and pomegranate seeds, with a side dish of sunchokes and celeriac. The lamb shank was rich, hearty, and heavenly. They gave me a steak knife to cut it, but I didn't need it. The lamb shank was fork tender and had a melt-in-your mouth consistency. I really loved the arugula and the pomegranate seeds, because when the rich lamb taste got too monotonous, you could always pick up a little arugula for some palate cleansing bitterness or munch on some pomegranate seeds for their tart acidity. The celeriac and the sunchokes soaked up all the delicious lamb fat and provided a much needed starchiness and carbohydrate-y goodness to the dish. This dish is a staple on the menu for a reason and very obviously a fan favorite. I recommend at least one person at the table get this dish, it's very yummy and everyone will get a chance to taste that fork-tender lamb shank. 

Chocolate mousse, coconut, rooibos  

For dessert, I decided on the chocolate mousse, as it was naturally gluten free, and served with all sorts of tantalizing things like a caramel wafer and coconut. Honestly, as a someone who prefers milk chocolate, this chocolate dessert was way too heavy for me. When I took a bite of that chocolate mousse, the cacao completely covered my tongue with its rich, powdery flavor. The dark chocolate wasn't very sweet at all. Everything else in the dish: the coconut, the rooibos ice cream, and the wafer, balanced the dark chocolate out, but I still couldn't get over the desserts' inherent richness. I can see someone else loving this dish though. 

Black Currant Curd, Vanilla, Fennel Meringue, Almond-Hazelnut Sable

I'm usually not a fruit dessert fan, I'm one of those people that think desserts have to be rich, chocolately and sinful to be categorized as a "real dessert", but this odd little wreath of black currant and vanilla droplets totally stole my heart away. The black currant droplets were tart and were perfectly balanced by their vanilla companions, and the fennel mergingue added a fluffy, light textural element to the whole dish. We asked for the almond-hazelnut sable on the side, since it was basically a crumbled up cookie, but I can see how that would add to the dessert's texture as well. Even without the crunchy goodness of the cookie, I enjoyed this dessert. I'm actually over the moon about it, I just wish there was more. After my rich meal, this fruity, tart, sweet dessert is the perfect meal closer. 

My whole Aziza experience was above average, but not mind blowing. My main gripe about Aziza is the portion sizes, especially in terms of their appetizers and desserts, given their prices. I'm not expecting a huge portion with each dish, but the sizing of the dishes left me with a strong feeling of disparity between the food and the price. My uncle had been to Aziza once before and he said that his first experience was really one to write home about and he was somewhat disappointed with this revisit. However, he's since been back a third time and one of the waiters said that the Aziza kitchen had gotten a whole slew of new line cooks, so the head chef wanted to break them in. He also said the third visit was much better than the time that we went.

All in all, I think I would revisit Aziza for special occasions, but probably not a casual meal. I love their twist on Moroccan cuisine, although I wouldn't be able to tell you if it's authentic or not. I can tell that they put a lot of care into each dish in terms of texture, presentation and flavor. Congratulations on the Michelin Star Aziza! 

Kid Friendly: Probably! They're very accommodating.
Price: $$$$$ of $$$$$
Repeatable: Yes, for special occasions. 


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Maki ~ San Francisco

I've been heading to Maki ever since I was a little kid. I have very fond memories of the incredibly nom-nom Japanese food and the attentive service my family received there. This summer I had a chance to be in the Bay Area again and was so excited to hit up one of my family's old haunts. However, I am almost 100% certain that the ownership changed and the chef and waitresses that I was familiar with are now gone.

In this most recent California trip, I've visited Maki upwards of five times...you can say that I'm obsessed. It also helps that my boyfriend lives quite close by to Japantown. You could say that he aids my addiction to Maki and he's probably the worst enabler I've ever met. =P Each time I've dined there, I have had an incredibly varied experience, both in terms of the service and the food. To start things off, Maki is a very, very small hole in the wall restaurant with very, very limited seating space. The interior of Maki has both bar and indoor seating that can probably seat about 18 patrons at once. While "outside" the restaurant in the main mall, they have "extra" table seating that can seat an additional 12.

In the past, I always remembered that there was always a line out the door. Now, more often than not, my sister and I have been able to walk in without any reservations and get seated immediately. It's a well known fact that at Maki, the food often takes a long time to get to your table because of the small kitchen. However, the "hangry" vibes were always alleviated by the attentiveness of the waiters and waitresses. Unfortunately, more often than not I've had lackluster service. One of the more negative experiences that I've had there was when I asked for my water to be refilled. Even though the restaurant wasn't busy or full to capacity the waitresses seemingly ignored my requests and were quite rude. Even though I had asked for water, multiple times, in the middle of our meal, by the time we had finished we still hadn't gotten our refills. I believe the third of fourth time I had asked the response I got from the waitress was "We're really busy here." There were a total of two women "waitressing" and they really didn't divide the tables very well at all.

As for the decor, Maki is really simple and clean. You can the entire restaurant in the photo above...even 1/3 of the outdoor seating. Maki is one of those restaurants where "what you see, is what you get." Lots of bright colors, including celery green and clay red, accented by lots of neutral browns and beiges. You'll also see my beautiful sister and boyfriend making an appearance in the photo above. =)

Now, onto the meal!

The House ~ San Francisco

Oh man, oh man! Has anyone else received discrimination for being a food blogger? Today at my boyfriend's favorite restaurant, the table next to us wouldn't stop talking about how weird I was for taking pictures of everything and commented how they hated tourists and just wished they could throw chilies at them. Later on we discovered that they were from LA and in comparison....I was born here. By the end of the night, they too were Instagramming and taking photos of their dishes with their iPhones! They also made a couple of disparaging comments about how my boyfriend and I could "afford" to go to such a fancy place dressed the way we were. It made me terribly uncomfortable and made for a more than unpleasant dining experience. Luckily for me, I wasn't alone and the food was tasty. I guess...I always just wonder why people can't be nice to each other.

The house is a small, casual restaurant on Grant Avenue in San Francisco that serves "Asian American" food. I was really excited to try this restaurant, because it's my boyfriend's favourite and he felt really strongly about it. Usually when it comes to eating dinner together, it's always an awkward battle of "I'm not feeling like anything in particular, what do you feel like?" "Oh nothing, what do you feel like?" Haha, but this time boyfriend was like "We're goin' here." The restaurant actually sort of reminded me of a small shop, instead of a restaurant. The entirety of the floor space was taken by guest seating. The menu was only one page long, divided evenly between the appetizers and and the entrees, with supplementary seasonal special options for the appetizer, entree, and dessert.

The first thing I noticed about The House it was very small and seating space was incredibly limited. If you want to dine here, I highly recommend reserving a table in advance. The decor was clean and simple and there were no booths for large parties, but instead the entire restaurant was filled with tables that were able to seat two to four patrons at once. The staff is less like a well oiled machine and more like a bunch of ninjas. Our waters were refilled, our orders were taken, and our food was delivered, but after completing all these tasks the waitstaff disappeared into the shadows. For the most part, my boyfriend and I had a very enjoyable time to ourselves on one of our first "date nights" in a long time. The one drawback I would have to say is that there is really no privacy, the tables are really spaced closely together, and there's a lot of sound pollution within the restaurant. You have to raise your voices a bit to converse with your table mates.

Now onto the meal!

Pickled Cucumber Starter

The House staff gave us a little freebee to tie us over until we finished reading the menu. It was pickled cucumber with some toasted sesame seeds thrown on top. It was very, very, very tart and had more of an unadulterated "vinegar" flavor than the usual briny, sour flavor that pickling usually imparts onto veggies. I've heard that sour things get the appetite going and I was really excited to start the rest of the meal.

Blue Lake Bean Tempura with Pickled ginger soy

This was the appetizer that boyfriend was like "We're getting this." That was that! I have I was a little thrown off by this appetizer's description on the menu. I'm not a terribly big fan of green beans (steamed, blanched, stir fried, etc.) and I much prefer them as a side,but I have to say I wasn't disappointed. This dish was also probably one of the most popular off the menu and I saw a stream of criss-crossed bean towers emerge from the kitchen and brought to almost every table. 

As you can probably tell from the picture above, the tempura was like a light flour exoskeleton to the green beans and served as a wonderful complement to the fresh, firm green bean "innards." The sauce was so good and paired with the tempura perfectly. Surprisingly, I could taste the sharpness of the ginger mingling with the tartness of the vinegar and the combo cut whatever oiliness was left within the tempura casing. There's a good reason why every table ordered it and after finishing our serving I really was craving more.

Charred baby octopus salad, crispy pork skin, and a red chili vinaigrette 

Both the boyfriend and I were sort of disappointed with this particular appetizer. After all the title made it look so promising. The inclusion of charred baby octopus (yum) and the sinfully delicious crispy pork skin (double yum!) really piqued our interests and we were enticed to order salad dish because we needed some vegetables in our diet so we didn't get scurvy. What you see in the photo above is an individual serving on my plate, but if you multiply my serving by four and imagine the salad in a bowl that's how the dish was presented.

I was hoping for really lightly diced pieces of baby octopus, but you really had to hunt for the pieces hiding between all the bits of shredded veggies. The salad itself was also very vinegar-y, not surprising from a vinaigrette, but instead of a tossed salad I felt the flavours in this dish were more reminiscent of the pickled vegetables that come inside a Vietnamese bánh mì sandwich. The predominant flavors were sweet and sour and I didn't really taste any "kick" from the red chili. The crispy pork skin was delicious, but if you throw bacon or crispy pork skin on anything it usually has the propensity to be pretty good. Overall, boyfriend and I were a bit disappointed with this dish. 

Warm Wasabi House Noodles with Angus Steak

This is what boyfriend says he gets every time he comes here and honestly, I can see why. The angus steak was a very tender medium rare, that was juicy and succulent. The steak mixed well with the kimchi and cucumber slaw that was presented on top of the dish. The slaw had that sweet spiciness that's common in Korean dishes, the sweet spicy, as opposed to a burning, painful one and I really liked the combination of the starchy udon with the crunchy slaw and the tender, juicy meat. The udon noodles were well done and had a nice bite with a sort of "al dente" chewiness that was really addictive. I didn't really taste the wasabi, which was strange because from the name is seemed like wasabi was a key component to this entree, but I liked the dish the way it was. I feel like wasabi might be a little too acrid for all the components within the noodles.

The Special of the day: A miso braised black cod, with wasabi oil, hoisin sauce, and a  California Roll

When the waitress was talking about the three daily specials they had for the night, it was to loud in the restaurant I couldn't really hear her. However, from the scant descriptions that I did hear I picked up a "black cod braised in miso" dish and that's when I made my decision. We ordered immediately after. The black cod did not disappoint in anyway shape or form. The fish was moist and delicious and blended with the miso crust perfectly. The almost buttery nature of the black cod was complemented by the many sauces below: which included a sweet hoisin sauce, red chili oil, and wasabi oil. All this was placed upon a little bed of "gai lan" with some shaved fried plantains for decoration.

The only real "cons" about this dish was that I felt the wasabi oil was really, really strong. When I was cutting the fish into pieces I would inadvertently load the fish up with so much wasabi oil, by scooting the fish off its safe bed of greens into the sauces below, that it really, really cleared out my sinuses every time I took an overly large bite. The California rolls were made with real dungeness crab and sweet, fresh avocados, but the roll sort of seemed out of place on the plate. Perhaps I just loved the fish so much that I just wished there was more of it instead of the "starch filler" California roll. Usually my boyfriend out eats me and we have to take some of our dinner home in doggie bags, but this time we finished everything on the table and were so completely sated we didn't have room for dessert. It was lovely and I had a great time.

I strongly recommend The House if you're ever in San Francisco and knackering for Asian Fusion food. The restaurant was loud and crowded, and I was told by boyfriend that sometimes the line is out the door, so I would definitely make a reservation one to two days ahead of time. For two entrees and two appetizers we paid about $80, including tip, for large portions and delicious food. I heard numerous remarks around the restaurant that the value for the quality at the House is unbeatable. Overall, I would say that my first experience at The House was a delicious one and that I would definitely return here with friends and family. Thanks for coming!

+Love
PS Sorry for the skewed photos, I let my self consciousness get the better of me under the scrutiny of the couple sitting next to us. ><


Price: $$ out of $$$$$
Kid Friendly: Yes, saw lots of kids there. Including some that spilled dishes.

Repeatability: Yes
Website: http://www.thehse.com/


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Opaque ~ San Francisco

I love gimmick-y restaurants. Especially themed restaurants. I think I'm just a consumer that way. So what's the gimmick to this restaurant you ask? From the sign above you guys can probably postulate that you're probably eating in the dark. I know of several restaurants that advertise dining in the dark, probably most prominently O, Nuit in Toronto, Dark Table in Vancouver, and Dining in the Dark in Boston . However, my sister and I have been reading about Opaque for awhile and we probably won't be going to Toronto/Boston for a long time. That and my parents hate themed restaurants...so we probably won't have a very good chance of going in Vancouver either.

The dining experience is truly unique and I feel that I'll be talking to you more about the experience than the food. I'll take this opportunity to tell you now that it is kind of expensive...as in $100 per person expensive. Originally, the boyfriend and I mistakenly made a reservation, saw the price, tried to call and cancel, and then subsequently realized that it cost $50 dollars per person to cancel. Although we may not have fully intended on going....the experience was a good one and my sister, boyfriend, and I all had quite a bit of fun in the dark. No hanky panky between the boyfriend and I though! That shit is gross.

This is a long post, here's a photo of my dog looking disgruntled.

Before you go into the restaurant I suggest you wash your hands, I gave up using utensils during the appetizer dish and I feel that your hands will be accidentally dipped, dragged and inserted into your food. You'll also want to wear clothes that you don't mind staining....

I don't want to ruin the surprise of dining in the darkness for everyone, but I'll rate the service, discuss the food, and share my experiences. For the food I'll give my impression of it, but for the completeness of this post I'll return to the sister restaurant, Indigo, and order some dishes to further analyze them with sight. =) I think concentrating so hard on eating and actually getting the food into your mouth, took away some of the brain power one would usually use to "comment" on the cuisine. All of it was tasty and well executed, but I think, as I said before, dining at Opaque was about the experience.

Here he is hiding behind my mom.

As for the service, it was A+. They were polite, efficient, friendly and always there whether you needed them or not (which was helpful in the super dark environment you were in). As for the ambiance and decor....I couldn't tell you much. When they mean pitch black, they mean pitch black. It was really interesting to me the way that the servers "adjusted" to the darkness. Some people might tell you that the waitstaff there have "night vision" or "infrared goggles", but our waiter, who was very kind and friendly, said that Opaque only really hired people with existing vision problems. Our waiter bussed and carried food on a cart, refiled our waters to the perfect amount by listening to the ice cubes tinkle in our glasses, and in case we needed him he just popped up now and then to check on us. Genuinely, probably one of the best nights of service I've ever received in a restaurant...which was good, because we were completely helpless in the dark. I have to say though there were some issues with the rate our food was coming out of the kitchen, for once it was actually too fast, and one of the reasons we might have received impeccable service is because the restaurant wasn't particularly busy that Wednesday evening.

First walking into the restaurant you'll be guided into a lighted corridor, seen above, and you'll be able to pick three dishes: an appetizer, a main and a dessert, from a set menu. I chose the Ahi Tuna Tartare with the taro chips, the steak with mashed potatoes and green beans, and a warm chocolate cake with minted strawberries and vanilla ice cream. After ordering your entire meal, you'll be directed to wait until your server comes out to lead you to your table and reminded that cell phones, cameras, glow in the dark watches, and any glittery jewelry are strictly prohibited within the dining room. At Opaque there are two types of tables: booths and the open dining room. Luckily enough, my boyfriend, sister and I were able to sit at a booth so we could chat and embarrass ourselves privately. Given the chance to settle and take in our surroundings I drew a picture to give you guys an idea of what the main dining room looked like.