I’m from Wishaw - or as we say there, am fae Wishy - we don’t really have fine dining restaurants there, it’s rare to be offered a set menu with matching wines experience.
Like many Lanarkshire towns, there’s a bunch of fantastic cafes and plenty of takeaways - but a sit-down restaurant? Choose one from these three options.
- Artisan, a Scottish restaurant and Whisky lounge which is admittedly uncharacteristically fantastic
- The New Pak Yee, a Chinese restaurant at the bottom of the Main Street
- And the Boofi village, an Indian Buffet.
They’re treasured in the community, but it’s a different hospitality from the rarefied air of Glasgow’s West End. When I got an invite to the launch of Six by Nico’s new menu on Byres Road, I was intrigued by the opportunity to try their entry level version of fine dining.
In recent years I’ve been trying to expand my culinary horizons. A Middle Eastern meal here, a Mexican burrito there, ocassionally a vegan option. But surrendering to a tasting menu - the full six courses? Unheard of.
I can’t begin to tell you how excited I was to try Six by Nico for the first time, and truth be told I’m still buzzing about it.
With the cost of living crisis, I’ve been living day-to-day mostly on frozen dinners - massive shout out to Morrissons for their new frozen range, sweet & sour chicken and lasagna for 85p a pop? Don’t mind if I do.
This prelude is to establish the type of palate this writer possesses. It’s unrefined.
My favourite thing about Six by Nico has to be the affordability, for £39 you get the full six plates - and for an extra £30 you get wine pairings with each dish.
Now at that price I was expecting little more than a mouthful of wine per dish, but in fact you’re getting a pretty fair measure in the glass with each plate. Enough to provide a warm glow as your dining experience is complete.
It’s accessible to a lot of people like myself who wouldn’t be able to afford a full on fine dining experience otherwise - and make no mistake it really is an experience. You’ll be sitting down for at least an hour and a half as you go through the courses, there’s plenty of opportunity to ask questions and each dish is explained to you at your table.
If you haven’t heard of it before, Six by Nico revolves around the concept of six dishes inspired by a cuisine or idea that change every six weeks.
The theme at Byres Road this month is ‘Once Upon a Time’(Chapter 2), based on childhood fairytales, the dishes evoke a comforting sense of nostalgia.
The Once Upon a Time Chapter II menu will be running at the Byres Road Six by Nico until September 24 - if you want to book a table, you can do so here on the Six by Nico website.
In this review we’ll be going through the dishes one by one.
1. Bird Pie - Chicken & Duck Leg Ragu, Pickled Celeriac, Prune & Caramelised Puff Pastry
Inspired by Roald Dahl’s, The Twits, I wasn’t really expecting much from this dish - the idea of eating a bird isn’t all that appealing after I accidentally ate pigeon on holiday in Egypt, but that’s a whole other story. That being said, I was pleasantly surprised, the dish is incredibly soft and refined. The mix of textures between the ragu and the caramelised puff pastry was divine too - I can not express just how buzzing I was for the rest of the meal at this point.
2. Just Right Porridge – Spaetzle, Barbecue Maitake, White Turnip, Black Garlic Dressing
Porridge? For dinner? What a concept. I found this Goldilocks dish incredibly puzzling, the only two ingredients I recognised were the white turnip and black garlic dressing, neither of which sounded particularly appetising with porridge. I’m a simple man who enjoys a simple porridge, perhaps with banana or honey or sugar, but vegetables? I was very confused, and I still am. I had a frown on my face the whole time I sampled the porridge, the flavour profile and mix of textures was like nothing I’ve ever had, and I was sure in the moment I didn’t enjoy it. That being said, I haven’t stopped thinking about it since, and I would definitely try it again - and if we’re thinking about fine dining as an art - isn’t that the whole point? To challenge your preconceptions and make you experience something new, in a weird roundabout way my least-favourite dish at the time has ended up being my most favourite in retrospect. I’ve never tasted anything like it, and it’s instilled in me a yearning to try more out-there food.
3. I Like Them, Sam-I-Am! - Smoked Ham Hough Sandwich, Garden Pea Pesto, Egg Yolk Jam
A Dr. Seuss sandwich for dinner? That’s more like it. Many a time I’ve had a piece and crisps for dinner - but this sandwich completely blew my council cuisine right out of the water. The sandwich had a crisp texture, and the Egg Yolk Jam was perfectly gooey - together they were a flavour sensation and combine that with the garden pea pesto? Incredible stuff. I genuinely could have cried with how much I was enjoying the dinner at this point. Although the second glass of wine may have contributed to that too.
4. Dip Face, Have A Carrot – Sole Ballotine, Tandoori Baked Carrot, Carrot Top Pesto, Lobster Jus
This dish was inspired by Matilda and let me tell you it was magical. I’ve not been the biggest fan of carrots in recent years, I got put off them when I had some awful carrot & coriander soup a while back, but as soon as I realised that sole was a type of fish - I was back on board. That’s not to discount the carrot itself, I never knew you could bring so much flavour out of the assuming orange vegetable - coupled with the lobster jus and some of the sole, it made for an incredibly refined and rich flavour profile that’s making my mouth water just thinking about it now.