Somewhere by Nico — Restaurant in Scotland

Style but not as much substance...

Was really excited to try Somewhere out on opening weekend after enjoying 111 by Nico and Six by Nico for years. Starting with the positives, the restaurant design is really quirky and each course is definitely stylish (the house and ruby slipper first course being my favourite).

Small things, like the 'T' in "Private" having fallen off the door in the main room could have been easily fixed (only a few days in you'd think this could have been glued back up). The waiters were a mixed bag - all of them were lovely, but some were way more nervous than others, some were better at explaining the story behind the courses than the rest, and it was really really hard to hear any of the explanations about the courses or cocktails over the very loud music (so much so we checked the menu after each time to see what we were trying).

The first 2 (maybe 3) courses were very good but the second half was more disappointing. It went downhill from realising we'd paid the same as those the previous few nights for the menu, but weren't served an entire food course as they had changed their mind about it. According to both the online menu and printed one on our table (which hadn't been updated), the third course should have included a parker house roll, ham hough terrine 'Lion's mane', goats cheese and picked rhubarb 'brain' and a chicken liver parfait 'heart' (there were even lines for each on the wooden board that was used as decoration). Instead we were given a single parkerhouse roll each with some lobster and crayfish in it. We were then swiftly moved onto the next course which was a drink with no food pairing at all?! We asked a couple of waiters why three out of the four food items were missing and got a range of answers (none of which matched) from people not eating them/ leaving them the last few nights, them being too difficult/ fiddly to make and my favourite 'a lot of people don't like seafood' (the seafood roll was the only thing they did serve). They did say they'd had similar complaints/ enquiries from other customers that evening and would be feeding back to management, but I do think it's very disappointing having something on both online and printed menus and not serving it Wouldn't have minded as much if it had even been replaced with something else? The fact we lost 3 pieces of food but were charged the same as those who got it the previous nights doesn't seem fair... We did give this feedback to the waiter at the end when asked and did say we were leaving feeling a bit hungry after spending ~£150. Again the first and second courses were very tasty, but the later risotto was more than al dente with not much flavour and the candy floss was the best part of the dessert.

In terms of the cocktails, again they look great - but unless you're a fan of dry spirit or rum you might be a bit disappointed in the variety as every cocktail contained one or the other (or both). The best-tasting one was definitely one of the two mocktails and I found the last two cocktails almost undrinkable (to be fair the last one is a personal preference as I don't like coffee so I was never going to enjoy a strong coffee cocktail - both of us left this one after a sip).

Amazing concept, beautiful venue, just a bit disappointed and hoping it's just opening week issues as it's something that we should have loved and would have booked into for each menu if it had lived up...

A Disappointing Experience at Somewhere by Nico

My recent visit to Somewhere by Nico left me with a blend of pleasant memories and lingering disappointments that I feel compelled to share.

Upon arrival, my friend and I were warmly greeted by staff, who appeared to provide attentive service throughout the evening. The restaurant’s ambiance was inviting, enhanced by charming decor that added an elegant touch to our dining experience. While the food was enjoyable, it could have benefitted from a bit more seasoning and precise cooking—something to consider as the kitchen continues to refine its dishes.

However, as the evening progressed, the tone shifted uncomfortably. Despite the restaurant being open until 11:30 PM, we were surprised when a staff member approached our table and said, "Unfortunately, here is the bill." This was presented at around 9:40 PM, without us having requested it. Initially, we thought nothing of it, continuing our conversation after confirming the closing time with our waiter. We noticed other guests still enjoying their meals, which made the early bill feel perplexing and unwelcome.

My friend ordered a mocktail that amounted to over £10. Unfortunately, it resembled grapefruit juice more than a creative and refreshing mocktail, leaving her disappointed given the price.

As we moved around to take a few photos in front of the beautiful floral arrangements, we were met with an unexpected cleaning effort right where I stood, which felt intrusive. The staff member then pointed out my jacket hanging at the back, further emphasising the sense that they wanted us to leave. The subtle hints became more apparent when, after putting on my jacket, we decided to take a few more pictures at the stairs outside the restaurant.

To our surprise, the same staff member repeatedly opened the door to check if we were still there, creating an uncomfortable atmosphere that signaled we were overstaying our welcome. It was disheartening to sense a rush to vacate the space when we simply wanted to enjoy the last moments of our evening. Ultimately, we decided to continue our chat outside, trying to shake off the feeling of being unwelcome. As we stood outside, we could even hear the staff member closing the restaurant door with the keys, further confirming my impression that they weren’t keen on us being around.

In conclusion, while Somewhere by Nico offers an appealing ambiance and initial service, it became clear that our presence was no longer appreciated as the hours went on. A little more mindful hospitality - I hope management takes this feedback to heart and encourages their staff to foster a more welcoming environment, even as the night draws to a close.

Ultimately, the evening ended on a sour note, overshadowing the few earlier positives. It left me questioning whether I would return. Additionally, I attempted to contact the restaurant prior to our visit for some information, however, no one seemed to care to...

Went this week as we wanted to try the Latin american menu that had 50% off but the experience wasn't great. We got there on time, they took us to our table and left with our coats. After a few minutes they came only to take our drink order, we were ready to order our food too but they said drinks first. Then came back for our food order - we wanted to try 4 things, there were 3 of us and as they hadn't explained anything about the menu, we didn't know anything of sizes. They told us that what we were ordering was only enough for 1 person, we weren't expecting to eat much so we just doubled the order. The server insisted it was still not enough for 3 people, that it was only enough for 2 and to which we said that if we were still hungry we'd order more afterwards. To this, he said that if later we wanted something from the mains, it would take a while so he recommended we ordered it right then. We had already told him that we didn't want anything more but it felt pushy. We ended up just telling him that if we wanted something else, we'd order something that wasn't a main dish. We ordered the ceviche, which was way too salty, the croquetas de ají de gallina - they were ok, but there was no ají de gallina there, just fried balls of rice with chicken. We also had the sea bass which was quite good and a terrain of potatoes and queso fresco which was ok as well. After ordering, someone else came to get our order, which we had already sent... We had two deserts: affogato and brigadeiros, they were nice, although the afogato was too much espresso for the amount of ice cream. When we were finishing our deserts, they came and said that "sadly" they needed the table in 10 minutes, "as it is a big table" so that to he had to give us the check, unless we wanted someting from the bar and then we could stay longer. First of all, we made the reservation for 3 people, we did not pick that specific table, second of all, if they had taken our order sooner (and insist so much for us to order more), we woulnd't have taken that long to eat. Our surprise continued when we saw the check, our server had told us that the service was included in it, when we saw it was 24% of the bill. Our bill wasn't that high but really, an £11.63 tip for a £48.25 meal seems excesive.

We don't plan on coming back anytime soon, we went because we missed latinamerican food but it wasn't...