Sixbynico Reviews 207

We've not eaten yet at the Birmingham Six by Nico but I have to commend Neil at Reservations for sorting out a problem with our booking. He was amazing & went above and beyond. If the service he's initially provided is anything to go by we're in for a tremendous evening - woohoo

Aberdeen -Amalfi menu
Ive read a lot of the reviews to guage what other people are saying as I don’t like giving bad reviews. It wasn’t bad - the quality of the food was very good but the service was very slow and we received 3 apologies for the wait on 3 of the 6 courses. Also it was all lukewarm. We went for the wine pairings which was something I was particularly looking forward to as in the past I have been blown away by the expertise of the sommeiller in selecting the appropriate wine to balance a course. However first time at SixbyNico and although I enjoyed 5 out of the 6 wines, I didn’t think they all matched particularly well with the courses. However, still very enjoyable and it was nice that they allowed us to share the wine between two of us, so serving us 50 ml each instead of 100ml. I do love wine but I like it to compliment the food and not take centre stage, so that was perfect for us.
We started off with a very knowledgeable server who talked us through the components of each of the first two courses, which I do find very interesting. However this had trailed off by course 3 and our waiter was very polite and friendly but not as knowledgeable which I found a bit disappointing.
Sadly I did need to visit the bathroom during one of the long (and apology accepted for) extended waits between courses and I did need to bring the condition of the bathroom to the attention of a member of staff.
So quite nice but not blown away and a few things need attention, in my humble opinion. I did expect more.

I am Mexican and I must say that I did not understand the hole experience, it was not my country’s dishes, it is pricy and disappointed, go to Lupillo tacos if you want to get a real Mexican testing or you can go after as you will get in total about 7 spoons of food after finishing their menu

This restaurant needs to think a bit out of the box. It specialises in it’s taster menus. But if you want to purchase a voucher as a gift, you can only buy monetary vouchers ( why not just give cash). As it’s a gift I didn’t want to purchase something with a price tag attached. Phoned customer service and they said ( computer says no) though at times like Christmas it says yes. Asked if they could do something, explaining my dilema. And their mantra is NO.
Not exactly customer focused I’m only trying to give custom.
Thankfully many restaurants do. So my custom goes elsewhere. A lucky insight to their customer service values.
My reply

I appreciate you following up via email after your phone call.
I acknowledge you don't wish to leave a price tag on a gift voucher, however, the monetary value will be visible when using as part/rull payment or the experience.
That is not a worry, please do feel free to take your custom elsewhere.
Regards,
Elle
Six By Nico
Customer Relations and Reservations
T: 0141 248 3938

Having read these reviews I feel vindicated in my complaint about our awful experience at Fitzrovia yesterday.
The food was actually good but the courses were rushed.
We told them we had a voucher that had been bought for a Christmas present by our daughter. The date on the voucher was 5 June. Christmas Day when we got the voucher is 25 December. They told us it was no longer valid and would not accept it. I am afraid I insisted and spoke to a manager who did, in the end agree to take it. Of course they are VERY happy to take the money for the voucher 6 months in advance…. Day light robbery!! My advice to those considering buying vouchers or eating there is STEER WELL CLEAR! There are plenty of other caring eateries out there!!

I imagine that there will be loads of image conscious people with large bank balances, small appetites and no requirement for a reasonable wine choice for whom this restaurant is extremely well suited.

But for us, this was pretentious nonsense!!! Six courses that comprised 10 mouth fulls in total but cost our party of 4 north of £450 and left us all feeling in need of a kebab!

We started with pre dinner drinks, the limited drinks list was supplemented by an offer from the waiter to make whatever cocktail we might want but after “no” to the first 3 requests we settled for two thimbles of warm Prosecco £9 each, and two flat G&Ts £19 each (yes 19).

Anyway after drinks we entered the restaurant with expectations high. Chose wine from the seriously limited wine list (not the wine flight which seemed to have been constructed by the bloke who stocks the wine aisle at the local Happy Shopper) and waited….further disappointment ensued when the eagerly awaited Red wine was warm, not 21st century centrally heated house room temperature but it appeared to have been on in an oven at gas mark 6 for 30 minutes!

The food was, for the most part tasty, although the pork morsel was dry and over salty….there was just not enough of it! Very much the emporer’s new clothes!!

Service was at best “ok” but the discretionary service charge of 12.5% was laughable.

There are better places to spend this sort of money on in almost any town around the country.

We won’t return!!!

I have been a few times to both London branches and feel that whilst the food is on the expensive side when it comes to value for money, the food is yummy, the experience is something different, and the ambiance is nice. The portions could be a bit bigger but other more expensive tasting menus are similar in size so I think the small portion size is just part of the tasting menu experience. There are sides you can order as additional courses but they are quite pricey.

Overall I would recommend Six By Nico but suggest that diners with a larger appetite have a snack before dining.

Although you get 6 courses they are very tiny even minuscule when it came to the fried mars bar could have been any old sweet in batter the size of a malteaser ! Most of it wasn’t that great , the fish was probably the best but only because a bit bigger than a golf ball . And if you like going to the toilet in the Dark great my guess is to hide the normal stuff you find ..
AND ADDING a SERVICE CHARGE they call discretionary they also add another £1 for some charity THEY embark on embarrassment if you dispute it ,, UK IS NOT AMERICA get lost with your tipping calling it a service charge

After wanting to go for a few years, we were left disappointed by the experience.

Was gifted vouchers for a meal for two and a drink, and by time we went to use it, the taster menu had gone up by £10 pp.
Try finding pricing on their website, spent 10 mins and still couldn’t find it anywhere. I wonder why.

Appreciate its a taster menu but for £42 the portions sizes were really poor. Add on a 12.5% service charge, a £1 pp charitable donation, and even room left on the bill for a tip and your almost at £50pp before you have to go to McDonald’s to fill up some more after!

Yes u can ask for the service charge and charitable donation to be removed but most won’t want the embarrassment of asking and will reluctantly pay it like we did.

They say the charity is close to Nicos heart but not enough for him to give up £1pp of his profits to gift, it’s up to the customers to do on top of over priced food and drink.

After what was meant to be a gift for us, ended up costing me £37 on top when my mum thought she had given us enough for the taster menu and a drink each.

The food was nice though but just not value for money and not really an experience. Bare minimal on table, no place mats, one set of cutlery, paper napkin. Cafes have been set up with more effort. Warm welcome and staff were nice. We expected a more luxurious setting for what we were paying and the way this establishment is marketed.

It’s all about the buck here and sadly it showed and we won’t be back. Have previously bought as a gift too but having experienced this tonight, I won’t buy again unfortunately.

Had the chippy menu at the new Oxford branch. Dish 1 was bland,tiny drizzle of oil and no cheese,had to add the curry sauce from the chip part to give it flavour. Dishes 2-5 were good. Dish 6,the dessert,was dissapointing. The sorbet was revolting and the small deep fried mars bar ball only tasted of batter. The accompanying wines weren’t great either, the whites were tepid in temperature and the dessert wine tasted like a cheap glass of red. The music was too loud. Our waitress was brilliant though, knowledgable and friendly.

Aberdeen 3rd May 2024. Shocking experience, keeping in my this was our second time going, my partner wanted to go back for her 30th birthday. First time we went I became sick after about 3rd course (Tokyo menu) thinking the first time was just a fluke, how was I wrong. Happened the second time too. Also adding a £13 service change. That apparently voluntary but already added to the bill? Not on. Especially for people that don’t like confrontation and have social anxiety, I’d be more likely to tip if you weren’t bringing in scammy practices. Will not be back.

Also forgot to add, when I booked it said we would get free snacks, we never got them. And not to mention every time we have booked there’s always been a menu change for our date, first time we booked for the Once upon a time, got the Tokyo menu instead. Second time we booked for the New York and was then offered the Tokyo menu yet again, had to move dates to get the New York. Absolutely hopeless.

Leeds:-
A warm welcome and shown to an end table for two.

This run of tables for two are too close to each other; there’s little point in polite service with your free hand safely stored behind your back if your derrière is right in the face of the guests on the table behind you as you serve and those guests are trying to eat. And that happened on at least eleven occasions; one for every course and one for each wine pairing.

We had to make our server aware of the complimentary welcome drink & snacks; the booking confirmation either didn’t impart as far as the restaurant floor or he simply forgot. Either way he assured us he was blameless and it was down to us.
Prosecco, sourdough & chicken parm were excellent additions; thank you for your hospitality.

However no sooner had they arrived than first course turned up. We were asked if we were ready and said no. Back it went to the pass where it sat for the next ten minutes or so.

It was tasty enough when re-served but obviously, by now, lukewarm at best; none of the courses were particularly warm.
And before it’s said that we should have sent it back, it shouldn’t have been served in the first place.
And where was the cookie? The one in the Instagram posts was no where to be seen.
Tbh the aesthetics of the courses photographed to sell the experience and those that made it to the table was vast.

Course 2 was split between classic & vegetarian and the flavours and textures of both were on point.

Course 3 was again split and again there were no negative comments regarding the tastes and textures; Hazlenut Ragu was exemplary and extremely well executed.

Course 4 was coalfish which was a tad dry but acceptable.

Course 5 chicken; again very tasty.

Course 6 dessert was, for us, a complete taste failure. The crumble and sorbet nearly held their own but the main event had nothing about it. Bland both in taste and consistency. In our eyes original NYC apple pie wasn’t well served at all with this course.
Our server brought dessert wine foc as he felt that might lift the course. Whilst I appreciated where he was going, we don’t think Lazarus could have resurrected it. Each to their own and I’m sure others were happily served by it.

We weren’t asked if we required coffee. There were no draught products; a tap explosion in the cellar was the explanation. Bottles of beer were cold and glassware chilled.

The atmosphere is very brisk & consequently service feels like it’s hurtling at you, and by you, at great speed; rattling off what each course consisted of was well intentioned but became strangely hypnotic and eventually lost all meaning.
There’s more staff whizzing past tables & expediting the stairs en masse than you can shake a stick at, but catching anyone’s eye was an art form.
And I’m with Brian Turner; please don’t serve hot food on stone cold plates.

Our bill was incorrect and had to be reissued, and when we tried to pay by American Express we were told the restaurant didn’t support the card and that we’d have to “collect our points elsewhere”.
We found this to be a quite frankly bizarre and rude assumption to articulate to a guest; and as it happens in this instance, entirely incorrect.
It wasn’t the only fatuously pompous remark of the evening either.
C’est la vie.

This was a gift from family and we enjoyed the food experience but some tweaks are needed before we’d return.

Pretentious and overpriced. Had a sandwich when I got home.

Amazing restaurant and great services. I cannot speak highly enough about my recent experience at the new restaurant opening in Oxford. The food and drinks were excellent, the service so impressive. The interior design of the restaurant is exquisite. This is the best and finest new restaurant in Oxford and I am
looking forward to my next visit.

I had purchased a gift experience for my husband as a Christmas present. We booked for 7March 2024 but unfortunately his father died on 3 March 2924 so obviously cancelled the booking. I asked if we could rebook for April 2024 as the funeral was to be held at the end of March 2024. This communication was via email (18 in total). In short I was told this was not possible as I had ‘plenty of time to use the experience’ along with other choice statements!! The customer care manager was appalling in his response and no account was given for extenuating circumstances. He offered the monetary value of the experience only. I did manage in the end to get my money back less postage. As I persisted I did manage to get back postage!! (More emails)
I did write to the registered office address for Six by Nico requesting a response to the poor customer care provided by the Customer Relations and Support Manager a number of weeks ago. This has been ignored and shows the lack of care and respect the company has for its customers

We went to Six by nico yesterday , they first said our voucher our son in law got us at Christmas wasn’t valid ,then they said we could use it . On to the second corse ,it cams out with a big black hair in it but only once I’d got to the bottom of the dish I realised , i said I couldn’t eat any more after this and me and my husband decided to leave , they wouldn’t give us the voucher back and was very abrupt , this was the manager . We had two tiny courses and two drinks then no voucher back or any apologie for the hair, they just sent me another dish , I felt sick .
My son in law spent a lot of money for this gift .
Very disappointed. Shame on you Six by nico .

Been to Six by Nico a few times in Cardiff and every time its been a wonderful experience. I can see a lot of negative reviews on here so just wanted to offer a different viewpoint as I've always found the service and food brilliant and very reasonably priced.

The customer service function appears to be non-existent. I tried to buy a voucher online for the Belfast restaurant, as a birthday present for my sister-in-law. The purchase appeared to go through, and I got as far as the screen telling me that confirmation would be sent to my email address. However, no confirmation email appeared despite by credit card being debited. This happened five days ago. Since then I have emailed the addresses given on their website both for voucher purchases and for customer services generally, but have had absolutely no response. I have had to raise a dispute with my credit card provider to try to get a refund. I won't be trying this again!

After confirming before booking and on arrival at the Byres Road Glasgow restaurant on 11 April that my partner was celiac, we were assured that the restaurant would accommodate.
After a 3-hour service (!) of their 'New York Experience', my partner became violently ill immediately after leaving the restaurant with the recognised symptoms of a direct and significant exposure to gluten. This left us stuck in a car park in Glasgow for hours while we waited for her symptoms to lessen and her pain to ease.
Despite emailing the company the next day, we did not hear from them until 16 April. Their reply (from the customer service team who commented on these posts) was to promise to investigate this incident with the branch and remind us of the risk of airborne contaminants.
Despite our reply asking for an escalation and a refund for my partner's meal, we have been ignored as I write this on 28 April. Based on our traumatic experience I cannot recommend this chain to anyone with a food allergy. The ‘customer service’ for a serious health issue is way below the standard of any other restaurant we have experienced.
We believed that the price point for a tasting menu was too good to be true at SixbyNico and it is with regret and disappointment that we now know it is.

Follow-up response 29/04/24
An insulting email response by SixbyNico stated 'purposely serving a coeliac gluten is not what has happened' which is a combative/unprofessional response at best.
As regular restaurant goers, we have enjoyed many experiences around Glasgow without incident. Regardless of whether exposure was due to a mistake or, as stated in SixbyNico's reply, 'the possibility of contamination, albeit slight' the result was an awful dining experience. A restaurant's true value is seen in how it addresses difficult situations. Customer service makes a difference.
In a similar incident with a different restaurant last year, the manager had personally contacted us to apologise before inviting us for a return trip to view the kitchen and receive a complimentary meal. We accepted and have returned many times since.
SixbyNico's response was to provide us with a statement of their internal investigation and ask us to get back in touch if we want further information.