Six By Nico — Restaurant in Scotland

Dined here 29th March 2024 as part of the popular six courses & matching wine for 2 deal - Christmas gift treat !

First off, we arrived 15 mins early, and we were enthusiastically seated at our table (booth style), anticipating a quick drink option before the menu kicked in. Duly served: we thoroughly enjoyed our cocktails from the Hanoi menu itself: the Kiwi Refresher Highball & Tropical Spice Daiquiri.

Enjoying the drink, we opted for the 'Snacks' - Banh Bao Chien Pork Bun & Crispy fried oyster mushrooms - beautifully presented & delightfully tasty 😋

It did take 2 attempts for the servers to realise what voucher deal we were on which was slightly frustrating and I do wonder whether an automated voucher system should be setup whereby; when you book it in online at the start of the process, the system makes it very clear to the folk serving you on the day that you are on Option A / B etc and then you wouldn't need to faff around with the voucher in the 1st place (and the confusion that did happen for us after)?

After a bit of confusion, the free drink - a small fizz - arrived for us and a nice touch, but ultimately, we forgot we were getting it as it was part of the deal. Happy days 😀

At this point we were aware that other tables had moved on to 1st Course & quickly they arrived for us too: this dish was the highlight / most loved of the food that day: Bun Rieu - a spiced pork ragu with wild rice & crispy noodles.... small but packed punch with a real depth of flavours & interesting textures. This dish & every other that came after came with a description from the servers, which was genuinely helpful.

The eager, informative and helpful staff at this point unfortunately forgot our accompanying drink for Course 2 but it arrived towards the end of the course after a gentle reminder. The crispy prawn & spring roll were lovely though and we were suprised how tasty the light batter was on the prawn.

Another standout dish was with Course 5: Goi Xoai which was a heavenly tasty morcel of tamarind glazed chicken, sweet potato hash, chicken leg & mango mix. Lovely. We opted for the £8 add on of the King Prawns with hot/sour pineapple but didn't think it was as tasty & accomplished as the other dishes & probably not worth the add-on ...on this occasion.

The accompanying drinks throughout were all lovely & generally matched up well with the dishes but our favourites on the day were the Muscat but especially the Brachetto d'acqui il furetto (lightly fizzed slightly sweet red) - which you could imagine being an alternative 'hit' at a barmy summer day BBQ.

After enjoying the 'pudding' Course 6, we felt slightly rushed to leave, and we did feel it very slightly detracted from an amazing experience.

All in all: we thoroughly enjoyed our experience and would recommend...

Worst service I've ever received.

Arrived at 9.15pm and stood on the door mat, blocking the door and lingering over a couple who were unfortunate enough to be sat at this table on the door mat. There's no host podium, presumably because the restaurant is tiny, and given there are 5 service staff, it would be reasonable to expect you wouldn't be standing in front of the door, looming over diners, for longer than a couple of seconds.

My partner and I stood at the door soaking wet for about 3-4 minutes awkwardly waiting to be greeted. I believe there were around 6-7 members of staff, two of which were shuffling around laying cutlery inches away from us, and not one person took it upon themselves to welcome us.

Eventually, I leaned over and asked a member of staff if there was a reason we weren't being greeted and she proceeded to complain about how the tills are down, the music is off, it's been hectic for her. Just excuse after excuse, completely oblivious and uninterested in the fact we've just entered the restaurant and didn't receive so much as a glance in our direction.

Eventually, after rambling on about how terrible it was for the service staff my partner had to finish the story, and confirm if it was cash only. She replied yes, and told us we could go and get cash. My partner and I walked in torrential rain to Sainsbury's to get cash. Had it been earlier in the evening and we were closer to literally any other restaurant, I would not have returned.

When we returned, we were soaked to the bone, and once again didn't receive so much as a glance in our direction or an apology.

We were sat at the table at the door and had the pleasure of dealing with the freezing cold every few minutes as people came and went without closing the door properly.

Terrible encounter after terrible encounter with service staff.

Asked for the meat menus to be swapped with the vegan and vegetarian menus we requested on our booking. Gave my partner his vegetarian menu and told me there's no vegan menu. If I want it, I can look on the website.

Wait staff engaging with us were uninterested and complained over and over again about how inconvenienced they were by the tills breaking and forcing patrons to pay cash only.

6 miniscule portions of food (tasted fine) brought to our table and described to us with a laughable amount of enthusiasm.

The atmosphere was like a barracks canteen with no music and no atmosphere.

The service staff's petulance and disdain for patrons was completely unacceptable.

A cheek to include a discretionary 10% charge...

We were very much looking forward to visiting Six by Nico. Unfortunately our visit was dominated by the very low temperature, inside the restaurant was absolutely freezing (apparently the heating was on when we complained although the temperature never increased). This was compounded by staff and suppliers constantly coming in and out opening the door and not closing. I would suggest arranging deliveries before you open, rather than drink, ice and the bins all coming past eating patrons' tables. The cold temperature and constant draft really spoilt our experience. As for the food, it was the Guilty Pleasures menu. The only guilt I had was bringing my wife to this restaurant as a celebration... The portions are 6 canapés, not unexpected but to be left hungry after spending £74 on food doesn't quite sit right. The first course based on Spaghetti Bolognese was cold, the tuna in a tin (advertises as tuna mayo eaten from the can as a guilty pleasure) was tiny cubes of tuna and jelly in a liquid with melon....had consistency of a can of Whiskas. The only saving grace was the "lamb kebab" eating a mouthful of each element really did transport you to a night out at a kebab shop, the onion and pickle tang and sauce were just perfect. And that's where the highlight started and stopped. The "Fish supper" had no potato element - removing the supper part - sorry Nico the celeriac puree is no substitute. There was also no crispy element meaning the fish was not battered... not a fish supper then. To have batter sprinkled across the plate would have been the obvious thing to do? The final course (Nutella and waffles) is advertised by a picture of a jar of Nutella staring up at you from the back of the menu. The reality turned out to be a very standard cold parfait and a slim crisp waffle shape the size of a 10p piece.... massively disappointing and not original, this is a dessert you will find on hundreds of menus. The concept and the menu are clever, always changing and no waste - great. However serving every table at the same time makes it feel like a wedding. And a disappointing one at that. Service was OK, nothing special and again, reminded me of a wedding where the local teens make a bob or two throwing plates at you.

Overall the experience was disappointing, looking at past reviews it's not the first time it's been cold and left the customer hungry. Most of the ideas didn't translate on the plate. A...