Six by Nico — Restaurant in Scotland

We've been to six by nico restaurants a few times before and really enjoyed it but going again last night it was really poor for a couple of reasons.

I enjoyed the food (that's where the two stars come from) but the service/overall experience wasn't good.

We arrived for our table at 7 and they were running behind. Not the end of the world, these things happen. We didn't mind going for a drink next door and coming back for our table.

But once we did get seated everything was so rushed and chaotic. We had our second course before we even got our drinks and the bread we ordered. It felt like they were trying to pack as many tables in as possible and get us out of the door quickly.

The puzzle element that went alongside the meal also fell flat because everything was so quick that we didn't really have time to engage with it. We were also told at the end that there were certain clues we should've been given that we didn't get, so couldn't really play the game properly.

We have done the murder mystery at the cocktail place upstairs and thought it was great. So, maybe the concept doesn't work as well with food or perhaps it was just poorly executed.

There was no loo roll in the women's toilet either. This seems petty but it's a pretty expensive place and they should be able to get that stuff right.

The biggest issue came at the end of the meal when we saw the bill. My partner let the staff know on the booking and again when we arrived that she has a sesame allergy. But on the bill, under the allergies section it said "none" so it seems that this was never communicated to the kitchen.

Luckily, the allergy isn't life threatening and she didn't have a reaction but this could've played out very differently for somebody with a severe allergy.

Overall, I wouldn't go back. We've had great experiences before and felt that it was good value for money. But now it seems like it's following the path of many restaurants that become successful - overbooking and trying to maximize profit at the expense of quality and service. The allergy issue also means we couldn't really enjoy a meal there again...

Overall food was excellent with dishes such as the mushroom veloute reminding me of the dishes at 111 by Nico from pre "Six" days, but a series of minor service issues started taking away from the experience. We were 26 minutes from sitting down to being spoken to by the next member of staff. At which time we were able to get tap water for the table. We ordered the bubble pop cocktails, but one of the two was the wrong colour. We were kindly allowed to keep the extra drink and told that would be sorted on the bill. We had seen others getting the bubble pop show with their drinks, but after waiting a couple of courses in anticipation, we had to ask about it happening with ours. Kindly, the staff did make the effort to put on the show with the bubble smoke machine, which we appreciated. We had the matching wines but noted that with almost every course, either the wine or the food were unceremoniously plonked down with no description provided, which is not the usual standard. I also miss that staff seemed to have stopped asking how the dishes were, which was routine in the earlier days of this now large and still growing chain. We also forgave some longer delays between courses as the restaurant was clearly very busy and I think running behind with service. Our bill came with the erroneous cocktail still included, but this was swiftly fixed. Overall, I can't help thinking the "Six by Nico" experience is slipping in standards at the larger and busier venue when compared to the smaller Finnieston one. It wasn't one thing, but we felt the experience was let down by lots of little things. We'll continue to go every menu hopeful that they can maintain the standards amidst the ever increasing prices and growing size of the...

As always, excellent service and 6 sublime courses. In every respect, the standout gastronomic experience certainly in the West of Scotland, perhaps the whole country. Whilst it might seem that a fixed menu is somewhat restrictive, it's actually the perfect opportunity to try 5 different savoury/main courses (plus a tasty dessert) with optional extras and appetisers giving even more variety. There has been the odd course not to my or my wife's taste, but never both, so the other will always benefit. It's an appropriate testament to the quality of Six by Nico that, in 5 visits, i.e. 10 covers, we have never sent a single dish back and every single plate has been scraped clean. It also seems paradoxical that, in these straitened times, our single monthly eating experience is a fixed price of £78 for food only. However, far, far better to have one outstanding experience per month than 3 average experiences costing over twice as much - even before you add the spiralling cost of taxis and other transport. The paired wines are well-chosen and, now that measures have become more substantial, offer much better value if that is your choice. Service is very attentive - without being intrusive - and every course comes with a detailed explanation from the waiting staff whose knowledge of each dish, its ingredients and preparation is excellent. In fact, we now ask for the default service charge to be removed as we always want to reward the staff more highly. A consistently excellent experience that my wife and I look forward to eagerly every month and to celebrating special...