We travelled to Birmingham to give it a try
Smoked ham hock, caramelised cauliflower, piccalilli and herb crumble at Six by Nico
I know I’m not the only one who was excited when Six by Nico announced last year that it was planning a new restaurant in Nottingham.
A planning application was submitted to Nottingham City Council for structural changes to a grand Grade II listed property in Queen Street, previously George’s Great British Kitchen.
Six by Nico was unknown to me until the pandemic. We were looking online for food delivery options during lockdown, when restaurants were closed, so we could have something different from the standard takeaways of burgers, pizzas and curries.
We found Nico’s quirky Mad Hatter’s Tea Party, an Alice in Wonderland taster menu, which arrived with dozens of containers for an intriguing feast of restaurant-quality food at home.
Down the Rabbit Hole (carrot panna cotta, rabbit terrine and carrot mustard), Late for a Very Important Date (chicken ballotine with red pepper ketchup for drawing the hands of a clock on the plate), and the Queen of Hearts (a heart-shaped dessert of a white chocolate mousse and raspberry sherbet) made not going out more bearable during this testing time.
The prospect of six-course themed tasting menus, changing every six weeks, coming to Nottingham city centre was something I was immensely looking forward to. Best of all, they were less than £50 a head.
But then, without any explanation, the chain, which has restaurants in 12 cities, including Glasgow, Manchester, Dublin and Oxford, appeared to pull out. Instead, The Beefy Boys have taken over the site, and work is underway, ready for opening around May.
As much as I love burgers, Nottingham is saturated with them, while Six by Nico is unique.
Mushroom velouté, brioche soldier, pickled walnut, truffle emulsion, mushroom ‘pipe ash’
To see what we’ve missed out on, I took a trip to Six By Nico’s Birmingham restaurant. First glimpse of the building in Colmore Row: I can see the attraction of a very similar-style property to the one in Queen Street, with its grand Victorian façade.
We were booked in for 12pm as soon as the restaurant opened. I was worried we’d be the only diners in a vacuous space, so I was surprised by the number of people inside – after a surge of custom every table was full.
I can’t think of many restaurants in Nottingham that busy at lunchtime, so the concept is certainly a draw.
The six-course tasting menus designed by Glasgow-based chef Nico Simeone are inspired by themes, places or memories. This one revolved around Sherlock Holmes, inviting us not only to dine but to play detective and solve a murder mystery.
Bubble & squeak, confit hispi cabbage, gnocchi, black garlic ink, aged Cheddar
A booklet on the table informed us that a Victorian maid had died just after her 18th birthday and listed possible suspects with clues for each course.
I wondered if the food would be style over substance. I wasn’t just pleasantly surprised, I was taken aback by how good it was amongst the theatrics.
Diners can watch chefs in action at the open pass, which spans the whole length of the restaurant. We started with Sherlock’s Nightcap, a mushroom velouté with a brioche soldier decorated with pickled walnut, truffle emulsion and mushroom ‘pipe ash’ — a clever nod to the detective’s famous pipe.
This wasn’t a gimmicky dish; it deserved its place on any fine dining menu.
Every course that followed was a joy to eat, from the bubble and squeak with gnocchi and black garlic ink to the smoked ham hock with edible newspaper letters that we thought might spell a clue, but they were a red herring.
On the subject of fish, the sole ballotine with hazelnut ragu and a squid-ink tuile was an accomplished piece of cooking, with flavour and texture in every bite. The lamb flank, served with a dramatic plume of smoke when a cloche was lifted, was downright delicious.
Victoria sponge, marmalade, toast cremeux and milk ice cream
Our server, Carmen, had a role to play as the plot unfolded, not just serving the food but also delivering clues to the table along the way, such as a scrunched-up note, a postcard, and a dowsing pendulum. She was brilliant, and it felt like we were part of a dramatic performance.
Service was polished with just enough time between courses to put out detective skills to good use. By dessert, we’d worked out why the maid was killed and the method… but I’m not giving away any spoilers.
We thought we’d sussed out the suspects, elementary my dear Watson, as we tucked into Victoria sponge, marmalade, toast cremeux and the most delicate honeycomb-shaped tuile — Carmen added a sprinkle of the contents from one of the test tubes that were delivered as one of the clues. Thankfully, it wasn’t the one with ‘poisonous devil’s root’.
A case of test tubes is part of the murder mystery
Turning to the last page of the booklet, it turned out we were correct about the motive and method of the murder and partly right about the killers.
The two hours flew and it’s the most fun I’ve had over food for a long time. The price of the tasting menu wasn’t frightening either at £49 a head.
There’s plenty of opportunity to add on snacks at the beginning and enjoy the food with a wine or cocktail pairing if you want to push the boat out.
The bill for the two of us, with a glass of fizz, two beers and a coffee, came to just over £137, which in today’s climate is the norm.
The Sherlock Holmes theme runs until April 19 and then the theme changes to Seoul. Before, it was Paris and previously diners have been transported to the Land of Oz, Space, the Chippy and Childhood Memories.
If I lived in Birmingham, I’d be booking in every six weeks. It’s a real shame Six by Nico isn’t coming to Nottingham — but then again, it’s probably best for the sake of my bank balance and waistline.