How would your dinner taste if you couldn’t see it? You might think it doesn’t make a difference, but the Fairmont Dubai’s new dining-in-the-dark concept, due to start in September, may make you see the light (the puns stop here).

Called Noire, it’s a concept that’s been popular in Europe for a decade but is now making its way here. Expecting a gimmick, I recently attended a media preview, and came away having had one of the most enjoyable dinner experiences of recent times — and delicious food in the bargain.

Limited to 30 people in Spectrum on One’s private dining room, you’ll be led into through the pitch-black room by a waiter wearing night-vision goggles, who will seat you, and touch your hands to your cutlery, plate and glass (plastic, but sturdy quality). Almost immediately, the fun starts — after all, put a group of adults in a room in the dark, and the conversation quickly takes on a playful tone.

Everything depends on the attentiveness of the wait staff — without them, you can’t even get up — and here they’re top notch, handing me a spoon when they spot me searching for one, and telling me there’s still food in a corner of my plate.

What they won’t tell you is exactly what you are eating. The organisers check beforehand for any allergies and dislikes, but beyond that, you are in the dark about your dinner.

For food lovers, it’s a fantastic challenge — a test of the palate to identify what’s on the plate. The table nearby hollered “it’s lamb!”; the next table yelled, “No, it’s beef” as we ventured into the main course (it was beef short ribs, and there is a tendency to speak much louder than you would if you could see, something no-one could explain once the lights came on later). I was rather pleased with myself that I got the beef shortribs, but struggled to identify seared scallops, our starter, which were bathed in a curried sauce.

The chefs, led by executive chef Lorraine Sinclair, put a lot of thought into each dish — this is not simply food you’d be served in the main restaurant. Texture is a key element of the cuisine; without seeing your food, you need to use your mouth to gauge the shape and feel of the food and make a bet on what it is.

You’ll be amazed at how taste plays just a small role in identifying an ingredient. Smell, also, is important — dessert was a trio of raspberry sweets, and the fragrant fruit added another dimension to the meal. I’ve never been so enraptured by a raspberry meringue.

Even the plates used play a role — a bowl will help, wheras a plate leaves you pushing an empty fork around searching for a last morsel just out of your reach (although there is nothing to stop you diving in with your hands — after all, no-one can see you).

It’s a fun challenge, but there’s a message here too: Imagine eating every meal like that? Millions do every day, and some of them needlessly, which is why the hotel has teamed up with the blindness charity Sightsavers. Dh27 from each meal go to the organisation, which performs sight-restoring surgery and blindness prevention in more than 30 countries.

For the lucky diners, darkness lasts only an hour and a half, after which time the lights come on, the chefs come out and you find out exactly what you ate. I’m sure it’s romantic for couples but I’d highly recommend it for a fun night out with a group, too — move over brunch.