Sixbynico Reviews 210

I was really looking forward to my visit to Six by Nico Mad Hatters Tea Party, at their Deansgate Restaurant, as a birthday treat. Overall the restaurant design and atmosphere was lovely with a warm welcome from staff. Explanation of how the tasting menu worked with options was carefully explained by our key server who was lovely. First two courses of snacks and course 1 were lovely, but it then went downhill, service became slow and presentation of all dishes did not represent in my opinion, The Mad Hatters T Party, and certainly the food presentation did not reflect how it was advertised to what was actually served on the night. Whilst food overall in terms of courses 2, 3 4 and 5 was nice, it was not overwhelming and certainly there was no wow factor, albeit some elements were tasty and better than others. The dessert course was by far the poorest course, supposedly the queen of hearts, it was significantly delayed and whilst it is acknowledged that a complimentary dessert wine from the paring menu was provided to all our party, with an apology for the delay, the dish when eventually served was significantly underwhelming, very poor and more importantly did not reflect the menu description and/or the picture shown in the advert., it was evident that there was some sort of a problem, I observed, who I can only assume was the head chef standing behind the pass on her mobile phone, clearly not happy, but instead of being honest to us as a customer, at the point they finally served the dessert to the table, they served in my opinion a very sub standard dessert…if you check the website and look at the pictures other customers had posted eg a Deep Red Heart chunks of red velvet cake, raspberry’s etc…to what we were served, namely a pale pink mousse, no raspberry’s, some dots of white and red coulis and a light dusting of what appeared to have been cake dust particles, then to say I was disappointed would be an underestimate. In my view there were missed opportunities that could have made you believe you were at the Mad Hatters Tea party, due to the lack of imagination and presentation of what was basically restaurant dishes, save for the title they were given. Overall I did not feel this was good value for money…especially when you have James Martin down the road, who delivers much more and is value for money. When your paying this much, £39.00 per person for tasting, add on the optional extras, including paring wine, snacks, aperitifs and drinks in general, all of which racks up the cost and is to enhance the experience, I expected much, much more.

Amazing Concept. Would definitely return

The Table!!!!

Went from terrible, we won't be coming here again, to enjoable, but should never have even been terrible at the standard of restaurant.

We visited Leeds Six by Nico as we were bought as a Christmas gift voucher. Booked the Alice in Wonderland experience as we are massive fans.

Arrived on time for our table booking at 7pm, but our table was not ready. 20min later than booking our table was ready.

Shown to our TABLE!! Introduced to said TABLE as "cosy"!!
What can we say this TABLE was not cosy it was awful, a table that should not be where it is!!. The emergency TABLE.

Have you ever felt like the restaurant over booked and forgot your booking?! Well this table made you feel like that.
Or maybe we smelt or were not dressed well enough to sit in the restaurant with other customers, so put them there out the way. We actually felt so uncomfortable, not cosy at all. The so called "COSY TABLE" on its own, is just to the left of the stairs into the restaurant, staring at everyone else, sat on the right in the main restaurant area to the other side of the walk way, before a door the staff went in and out off. Yes we were sat in the corridor, the forgotten table!
The headteacher table watching all the others in the atmosphere of the dining hall. Yeah you got the picture now, not cosy.

Made our feelings aware to the Maitre D. Who did apologise and said we are fully booked, which we could tell, hence felt like the emergency cosy table had been slid out to cater with over bookings. My poor husband was like we can do this once the wine flows it will be fine, trying to make the crap table positioning feel less awful. But we can tell you staff rushing past blowing a gale each time they past and other customers standing right next to you putting coats over their arms to manage the stairs etc. Was very uncomfortable and not a cosy positioning.

Then we had course one and waited over 20min for course two. Luckily we had the wine experience as well as taster experience. So had our first glass of wine delivered in the big gap and chatted trying to get over the uncomfortable positioning of said TABLE.

At course four the Maitre D came to say she had a table in the main restaurant we could move to. We asked if we could look as did not want to move from "cosy table" to worse, when half way through eating. Especially as my husband had seen two more tables in the corridor when he went to use the toilets. They were together not as solitary as our so called cosy table, but he come back saying they have other over flow tables, you really wouldn't want on route to the bathroom.

The new table was much better, in zone two and had atmosphere and you could see the chefs busy away making the artistic food. We got talking to the couple next to us and actually felt like we were out in a restaurant, not sat on our own on the outside looking in.

So grateful that the Maitre D listened to our upset when first sat down. We made sure we thanked her as we left.

The food, the wine and the staff luckily made up for the said TABLE experience.

The waitressing staff were fantastic at their jobs and very friendly. The amount of information they have to remember regarding each course and wine is amazing!

The food was very well presented and although very small portions it is packed with flavour and delicious, although if you watch advertising video or look at photos, your portions you actually get are not to the standard of advertising! If only we could have had seconds of the mushroom broth from course one. It was delicious which was how we had got chatting to the table next to us once moved. Was a shame our waiter at "cosy table!" did not do what the waiter in zone 2 did re course 3. We watched him actually using the sauce to paint the goats cheese rose red!! As well as let the customer paint their rose. Would have been a much better experience.

It was such a good job the menu was edible! As we still needed more food after six courses to soak up all the wine before fresh air, this was a fun twist. We most definitely went to a Mad hatter's tea party.

First time at SixByNico (Glasgow West End). 6 course Funfair taster menu. Quite a letdown. Food was average at best, and some dishes were poorly conceived, with a mismatch of flavours, and too much salt. One dish was mostly unpalatable.

Service was tired, rushed, and inattentive. All of this would be bad enough if the price was fair, however £135 for 2 people with no alcohol, and 6 tiny dishes which were quite literally “one bite” each, is wildly and inexplicably overpriced.

Disappointing experience and would not return.

If I could give minus stars I would. My husband received vouchers for his retirement and we've had a difficult year. Wanted to use them in new year in 2024 but no, they won't honour them. £150 worth of vouchers and no meal. Absolutely disgusting way to treat people. Don't buy vouchers from them. We won't ever go to any of their restaurants agsin

Tasting menu restaurants are an experience. They create a menu that takes you on a journey via staging, calibration, seasonality, pairing. The staff are prepared and well-versed on the courses, and create a sense of ease and harmony within the space.

SBN models themselves more on a Chinese buffet template rather than the tried-and-tested Michelin one, churning out the numbers as quickly as possible to customers elbow-to-elbow. Eavesdropping fellow diners conversations can be a fun distraction. Becoming acquainted with their skincare routines is not.

Every element about Six by Nico screams an early-noughties red-brick catering college final exam dinner. Like their budget-bursting marketing ads, they’re all surface and zero substance, cynically targeting the social media-obsessed generations that cherish photos of food over the food itself. Entry-level “high cuisine” for the seriously oblivious masses. Vacuousness personified.

And just like a recent graduate - there is an absence of maturity, experience and calibration. It is all gimmickry, neediness and show. There is no consideration or calibration in the courses. Salt upon salt upon salt. None of the courses compliment the next, nothing to cleanse the palate and break flavour profiles. Just the pervasive, lingering accumulation of salt.

Matching the disharmonious food, the clearly NMW staff bellow out the courses disinterestedly and obviously tired by the rotations. Over-working has pulled the effort for charm right out of them. Out of curiosity, when questioned about the produce and provenance - a dull expression is unsurprisingly the resounding answer. We enquired about a drinks flight menu and in turn a drinks menu was produced. Suggestions for pairings were requested and we got to see that now familiar dull expression all over again.

High turnover = high profit margins. But using a tasting menu template without any consideration for refinement results in a poor experience. Six By Nico is a beef bourguignon TV dinner - an attempt at fine dining for the budget-based masses. It’s a Soundcloud cover band version of a song you really liked but can’t access. It is a catering college open evening dinner where they try to pass off a quenelle of corner shop vanilla ice cream as their own. It is a paradigm of the vacuous self-promotion and superficiality that pervades contemporary experiences perpetuated by online life, and for that, I congratulate them on cashing in off it.

Soulless, uninspired, affordable. A lot like Primark.

For point of reference to West End dining, they are doing great things at No.16, The Gannet, Gloriosa, Eighty Eight, Five March, and CB (if you can get a reservation!)

Disappointed after being told by vouchers@sixbynico that we aren't able to use the gift vouchers we received as a wedding gift last year (£80). They won't extend the expiry date. This was 6 months which I hadn't realised! Thought it was a year & its written in v small print! I explained to them were unable to use them within 6 months as husband works shifts us we have 3 kids. I wanted to book for March 2024 for first anniversary. They were unwilling
to extend & were not understanding at all. Very poor. Won't be dining there now as that's put me right off.

Avoid buying a gift voucher for Sixbynico. £100 wedding gift voucher had a ridiculous 6mth expiry on it. Clearly not an inclusive restaurant that understands not everyone lives in a city with little or no child care to consider.

We arrived for our reservation to find the door locked. Staff could quite clearly see us stood on the pavement in the cold but we were left stood standing outside for approximately 5 minutes. We were eventually let in, no apologies or reason given.

Ordered vouchers for Birmingham, but the confirmation email suggested I would get vouchers for Aberdeen (a click or type error). It took a short while to get an answer from NICO due to time of year but, they indeed sorted the issue and I’m looking forward to our 1st visit. Looks great

Recently ordered two vouchers for two different people at different addresses. Have received notification that one was despatched and now delivered but have received nothing regarding the second voucher! Tried emailing, Facebook messaging and no help/no reply. I am getting very anxious over this now as time is running out and a lot of money has been spent. Customer service is zero and has ruined the whole experience

Still waiting on vouchers, a dispatch note, text.. something.. anything! I can't believe I've spent so much at six over the years and this whole voucher situation has ruined my perception

I haven’t yet received a voucher purchased on Black Friday. No response to emails. I am extremely worried. Should I be? This is an important gift. I don’t know what to do??

Ordered voucher and paid £5 for delivery on November 23rd. No voucher. No reponse to contact attempts. They did respond to this post eventually and reassured me and the voucher has now arrived. So hence changed the staring.

Very pushy staff, spoiled the whole experience. Staff are sexeist and quite frankly set in 80s. Avoid
Manchester btw

Sad to say I never got to eat here. Had vouchers that I understood to have a year's expiry. Turns out they only have a 6 month expiry and Six by Nico refused to honour them. My own fault, but pretty poor to take the money and run...

In response to emails (and online reviews), they claimed it was not possible to extend them, which is patently untrue. Avoid at all costs

Had street food taster menu.
The drinks were nice.
The service was nice, staff very helpful, explained everything, answered all the questions professionally.
The food, on the other hand, wasn’t so good.
We ordered a side dish for a 5 year old child and even he said that it was tasteless. We had mac and cheese croquettes, the mac and cheese had no taste and was too oily, pickles from a jar, sauce was ok.

First course was the nicest off all 6. It was pork steamed bun with some pickled mushrooms and chilli oil. No complaints, just delicious.

2nd course was samosa, which was too oily and tasted like it’s been from the grocery shop.

3rd course was kebab, which was ok, the garlic foam was extremely garlicky and and didn’t match the dish.

4th course fish taco. It tasted quite nice but my plate was under seasoned while my partners was too salty!

5th course Satay, burned Pac Choi, everything else fine.

6th course desert: cocoa mousseline - lèche sorbet, léché sauce, buttermilk sauce caramel??? No taste coffee sponge?? All flavours didn’t went well, was too many of them in one desert.

Overall: too many flavours in one plate, under seasoned or over seasoned food, pre cocked and reheated. Very disappointed, specially because it was quite costly and quality didn’t match.

Son bought several Six by Nico vouchers as Christmas Gifts last year.

Turns out some have 12 month validity and some have 6 month validity (which we didn't spot)

Unable to use the vouchers in their restaurant and head office unwilling to reinstate the vouchers - so we have lost £80 because of some pretty brutal use of terms and conditions

Wouldn't mind but I ended up having to pay for the meal - which as others have said is rather "ready meal meets TV chef" in style

You wont be surprised to find that I wont be back

I really don't get it. Tasting menus for those who don't know better? All those posh foodie-style things you hear Gregg Wallace say on MasterChef replicated in a semi-professional ready meal?

Catalunya, home of two of the world's most iconic restaurants ever. Reduced to:

Croquetas: why bother with just an authentic Spanish Béchamel when you can add undercooked potatoes "to give it some crunch"????

Patatas Bravas: surely you can't mess up such a perfectly simple dish? Oh, yes you can. It tasted musty, more aioli than Bravas sauce. Totally uninspiring.

Chicken and mushroom. Fine until you tasted the bergamot in one of the side sauces. Even the more than palatable wine served with it was dulled by the overpowering grimness of the bergamot.

Tomatoes: massive textural issues. the pa amb tomaquet had clearly been made some time beforehand judging by the soggyness of it, although it tasted fine. The olive oil caviar was tasteless and texturally solid.

Deconstructed Paella: Acceptable and flavoursome, although the pickled mussels were probably from a jar and the squid ink rice cake was so so dry, it was uninspiring.

Pork rib with sobrasada and £9 extra prawns: pork moist and delicious, the sobrasada was mixed with so much filler, it lost its charm. The prawns were fine. The bean stew was literally overreduced baked beans from a can ( not Heinz)

The crema Catalana: flavoursome and delicious. Along with the wines the reason for the two star review. However, given it is Catalan week, I would have expected the wine selection to have been at least Spanish.

Would I go back? Possibly, but not in a hurry

Fitzrovia, London
A truly wonderful dining experience. Food was really tasty, beautifully presented and staff very attentive.
Will definitely be returning again.