RESTAURANT REVIEW: Six By Nico – ‘Neverland’ menu

Keith McIntyre reviews the new “Neverland” menu at the Six By Nico restaurant in Glasgow’s Finnieston district.

WHEN chef Nico Simeone launched his Six By Nico restaurant in Glasgow’s Finnieston back in 2017, it is very doubtful that anyone could have predicted quite how much of an explosive impact he would have on the country’s dining scene.

From that one small restaurant, Six by Nico now operates in virtually every major city in the UK and Ireland, has been the subject of a BBC Scotland documentary, and has been a flag bearer for smart, creative food supported by funky social media marketing.

Everyone knows the concept by now – a themed six-course tasting menu that runs for six weeks before being replaced by another theme. The unveiling of the next theme becomes a bit of an online event for his thousands of social media followers.

His opening theme – “The Chippie” – will live long in my memory as one of the best meals I have ever eaten, all for the princely sum of £25. The price, for obvious reasons, has had to go up, but still offers incredible value.

The current menu, “Neverland”, promises to “take you on a delectable journey to Neverland – a place of wonder and nostalgia, where dreams are born and time never planned. It will be delectable, more-ish and creative”. Essentially, we were going on a journey back in time to some re-imagined childhood favourites.

Before embarking on the first of our six courses, we decided to sample the optional snacks. Entitled “Happy Thoughts”, this was a surprisingly large portion of mac & cheese croquettes, which came accompanied by the sharpest, most delicious gherkin ketchup and smoky chipotle sauce. Maybe a little heavy for a pre-menu snack, but they tasted fantastic; one between two would suffice.

The main event started with “Use your imagination”, which is described on the menu as “pepperoni pizza”. Our helpful waiter added the word “deconstructed” when it arrived at our table, as it resembled no pizza known to humanity. A light cheese espuma – or foamy sauce – covered a treasure trove of pepperoni and croutons, sitting on top of a rich ragu. In truth, it tasted more like a deconstructed spag bol or lasagne than a pizza, but was superb – even if the croutons lost some of their crispness under the cheese sauce.

Next up was “Lost Boys”, essentially a posh cheese and ham toastie. We both found it a little heavy, but it was saved by the delicious celeriac remoulade that added much needed acidity to cut through the richness of the rest of the dish.

We moved on to the first of two fish courses, a seafood risotto, delightfully named “Captain Codfish”. For a restaurant that prides itself on presentation, I have to say this wasn’t the most attractive plate of food I’ve ever seen, with the risotto smothered in the smoked cod botarga sauce. Again, the dish was saved by the sharp lemon flavours that cut through the richness. A bold statement dish that didn’t quite work for me or my partner.

Our second fish course, “Bangarang!”, promised a real hit of flavour, with black pollock, bang bang sauce, charred cucumber, satay emulsion, and pak choi all battling it out to grab our attention. While it was a delight to eat, it did just lack that oomph hinted at by its description. It was, however, nice to have a bit of texture in this dish after some of the sauce-heavy earlier courses.

Moving away from the sea, the next course was entitled “Food Fight” – this consisted of a stunningly moist confit chicken ballotine, accompanied by four flavour-packed sauces of piperade, red pepper romesco, saffron emulsion, and tarragon salsa verde. This was indeed a food fight and the beautiful chicken – even with the help of reinforcements from a couple of pieces of robust gnocchi – couldn’t withstand the flavour onslaught, with the tarragon salsa verde emerging the winner after a close-fought battle with the saffron emulsion. If there was ever a case of “less is more” then this was it.

Our “Neverland” journey came to an end with “Baked Mammee Apple Custard”, which we both agreed was an absolute stunner. If the aim is to go out on a high note, this is the dessert for you. A silky smooth baked salted caramel delice with caramel mousseline and buttermilk ice cream, topped with a gorgeous maple leaf crisp. Not overly sweet, but simply stunning.

The beauty of a visit to Nico’s is that you will always discover something new – you may not fall in love with all six courses, but there will always be an exciting flavour combination that stops you in your tracks. “Neverland” was a bold adventure that didn’t always work; some dishes definitely needed more texture and, particularly if you started with the snacks, might have been a bit too cheese heavy in the early courses, but we still ate some fantastic creative food and… that dessert…

All of Six by Nico’s sites across the UK will charge a £1 discretionary charitable donation per diner for every “Neverland” menu, which is projected to raise more than £20,000 for Great Ormond Street Hospital.

The “Neverland” menu runs until 26 February at Six by Nico and more details can be found at www.sixbynico.co.uk

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