Pitch Black Review
We were slightly apprehensive before making our way into the bar as Pitch Black is at No Such Place in Covent Garden! I’m not even kidding. Can you imagine telling your family you’re going out drinking at No Such Place to drink alcohol in the dark! Seriously being lead into room, having the lights switched off and having to sit in a dark room with a bunch of strangers and drinking alcohol… it sounds like a plot for a bad horror movie. Well fortunately this ONIN London Reporter and her friend… it wasn’t.
When you arrive at Pitch Black, you are greeted with a champagne reception to start easing any concerns that guests may have and shown into the tasting room. The entire venue has a very 70’s theme to it and we felt like we were in someone’s house. It was incredibly cool. My friend did comment that he wished we were lead into the room with the lights off so it could add to the experience. Our host Dom explained that they didn’t do this so guests could feel comfortable.
After charging our glow and the dark coasters so we knew were our drinks were going to be placed, it was time for the first cocktail. We were asked to describe the different flavours we tasted and to have guesses about what we thought the cocktail was. I thoroughly enjoyed our first one and couldn’t wait to try the second. Dom refused to tell us what our first cocktail was until after we had tried our second cocktail. We went through the same questioning and discussion about our thoughts and what we could taste. It’s a completely different experience and one that showcased that the power of suggestion works. As soon as someone mentioned a flavour, I seriously thought I could taste the alcohol spirit they mentioned. I’m sure a psychologist somewhere has done a study on this at some stage in history but it was an interesting concept. I’m not going to ruin it for our readers and tell you what the cocktails were but they were quite tasty. With the first cocktail we were completely off with our guesses but more successful with the second cocktail.
After an amuse bouche to cleanse the pallet… an unusual combination of Lemon Curd, Salt, Celery and Tomato. We moved on to the wine tasting portion of the evening. We all played the guessing game again trying to guess the two wines but it was only one of the girls in the room that got the answers correct. I was incredibly impressed.
There were 7 other people in our tasting session, though we didn’t interact with each other until the lights were switched off. It was quite funny that being together in the dark bonded us during our 90 minute session. It helped break the ice and we were able to chat about how we were enjoying the experience, the drinks, being in the dark and a bit about ourselves. Our host Dom was incredibly lovely throughout the evening and quite knowledgeable about cocktails, wines and places to drink in London.
While priced at £45, you might think this experience is quite expensive, but you have got to remember that tickets include bubbles on arrival, two cocktails, an amuse bouche and two wines. A large glass of wine in Central London can cost you £10 and a cocktail will cost you around £10-£13. So in all, it’s a very reasonable price and it’s a lot of fun. I’d definitely suggest it for an intimate and different date night experience or a night out with friends.
To book tickets for the 90 minute experience visit https://www.designmynight.com/london/bars/covent-garden/no-such-place/pitch-black
Reporter: Tegan LeBon
Twitter and Instagram: @toogs1
Pitch Black is located at No Such Place, 68A Neal Street, Covent Garden, WC2H 9PA.
https://www.facebook.com/pitchblackbar
