I must admit, this one post is a bit hard to categorize. At first, seeing that I am talking about a place to eat, perhaps then “Bandung Food Testing” is the most appropriate. But then again, what I really want to talk about is not the foods sold at the place, but rather the unique experience that the place managed to evoke for its customers. Some may view it as creativity, although I assume some may also think that the uniqueness that this place offers is nothing more than just a gimmick.

I’ll let you decide it. As for what the place is, let me introduce you to the Blind Cafe (oh, and I categorize it under “Bandung Food Testing” after all.)

This place is situated in Cihampelas Walk (or Ciwalk), a shopping mall that I have discussed briefly before. The thing that is most unique about this place is not the foods that they serve–they are actually quite the typical bunch, actually–but rather the experience of eating the said foods.

You may initially wonder why a person would be crazy enough to call a Cafe with a name such as “Blind Cafe” (I mean, really), but when you know the same crazy concept behind it, you may think that there are actually hardly any names more appropriate than that.

You see, the concept behind this place is this: any customer should be covered in darkness at all times when they are enjoying the services of this restaurant. Yup, you read it right–no lamps, no candles, no flashlights, nothing. Just the customer, the food, and total darkness. Such experience is definitely unique: you cannot see the food you are eating, you cannot see any silverware, you cannot see your plates (in fact, you just can’t see anything at all.) Eating in a completely dark atmosphere is something I reckon most people have never experienced before, and it’s actually quite fun what’s with all the mess inescapably created when people trying to guess where to pick the food and what the food they are picking.

Just for kicks, some of the waiters there are actually blind themselves, further strengthening the unique flavor of this place (though some are wearing night vision goggles, as evident by traces of red LED lights when they are delivering the food order)

Unfortunately, however, other than the incredibly unique atmosphere, the foods in this place are actually nothing to write home about. They’re of typical taste and variety, and they are rather expensive to boot. The concept is that by ‘turning off’ your sight, you can particularly focus on the taste and thus able to savor the true flavor of the food. But that is just not simply the case here. Simply put, without the novelty of the unique experience, this place actually has nothing particularly special that they can brag about.

Regardless, this place is a good place to go if you are looking for a novel eating experience in Bandung.

Tags: Bandung Cafe, Bandung Food Testing, Blind Cafe, Cafe, Cafe in Bandung, Cihampelas Walk, Ciwalk
Categories: Bandung Food Testing

This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 15th, 2009 at 10:37 AM and is filed under Bandung Food Testing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.