Sixbynico Reviews 208

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.

Six by Nico's 10-course Trust menu (£90 + £35 wine) was a major letdown. Dishes were unimpressive, easily replicated at home, and lacked the promised "wow" factor. One course was overloaded on garlic, ruining the balance and the wine didn’t quite match the food. For example, a ceviche matched with a cabernet sauvignon? Disappointing, to say the least!
Despite mentioning a prawn allergy when booking, my companion received a minuscule prawn salad with tomatoes and pieces of bread; while I got a measly tomato and pieces of bread substitute. It felt like an insult!
Our neighbouring table shared our disappointment with the whole experience.
The "Trust" aspect, meant to be a surprise culinary adventure, turned out completely UNTRUSTWORTHY. Six by Nico missed the mark entirely and any remembrance of the Michelin excellence.

EDIT: At the time of the booking my sister entered her credit card. But, I paid the bill with my card at the restaurant, TODAY THEY CHARGED HER CARD FOR $110. Trying to call them but no success so far.

Their Answer: “I am sorry to hear this, and can see you were marked as a no show in the venue and have been charged as per our booking terms and conditions.

I can only apologise if this was not the case, can you please send a photo of the payment being made”

My answer: I wasn't a no-show, I arrived and spoke with the front door receptionist and we had drinks at the bar before we were taken to our table.

This is utterly out of order. I have to prove that I paid a hell of money for substandard food. It is unacceptable the way you treat customers for extra cash.
So, your front staff made a mistake and I have to fix it otherwise you extort an extra £110 from my sister's account. THIS IS DISGUSTING!

The proof of the £230 payment is attached. Cancel this charge, because it is quite fraudulent what you are doing.

NEW EDIT: They admitted the mistake and paid back the money.

Have to say the New York experience was really disappointing, to say the least. Food was extremely salty, and I dont believe it reflected on NY one bit. Again, I am disappointed with the lobster tail side dish, tasteless and overpriced. Fourth time visiting, which has been amazing, but unfortunately, this experience spending £200 left a bad taste in my mouth along with the salt.

An expensive experience that will never be repeated! I can honestly say I did not eat very much of the miniscule six tasting courses as they were absolutely vile. I’ve been to New York many times and this is no reflection on American food. So pretentious! The restaurant is freezing too. I felt for people sitting near the door.

Four of us visited the Birmingham restaurant on Saturday and had a good time, atmosphere was decent and the food was enjoyable.

The problem started when we got the bill and the server accidentally over-charged us and got flustered attempting to do a refund. He went back and forward to the manager before coming back and saying that refunds could not be done at the restuarant and gave me an e-mail address and asked me to contact them with pictures of the receipts and bill and was then ensured that whenever this happens they always sort it out very quickly. My phone number was also taken as they were "going to ring me first thing Monday morning".

Now four days later, I have called multiple times and nobody answers, I have sent four e-mails and got no reply, I have gone through contact us feature on the website but once again there is no reply.

I understand that mistakes happen and I feel this could have been resolved much more smoothly and quickly than this. Its turned what was initially a good experience into a draining headache.

Glasgow Byres Road. Had the vegan New York menu today. Started had a 'cookie' which was the driest thing I've ever eaten and it turned my mouth black. The cauliflower on another course was so undercooked that I couldn't cut it properly. We waited 30 minutes for dessert and it was so bland. No course was good enough to want to eat again and I'd pay to not have to eat some courses. Would not recommend at all.

Unable to use a voucher at the weekend… despite it being fully paid without any discount. Should not matter and turning away was not helpful.

Voucher to be used but will not be recommended. Disappointing as friends had a very different experience some time ago, looks like the establishment needs to look after their customers more.

I recently tried the 'New York experience' advertised on their Instagram, expecting 6 courses and a glass of champagne for £32, down from £48. Unfortunately, there was no champagne upon arrival, the food was overly salty, and the waitstaff seemed uninformed about the ingredients despite have a script memorised in their mind. Despite mentioning the promotion to the waitress, we were still charged the full price. Overall, a disappointing and unpleasant experience.

The food was lukewarm at best.

Long waits between courses.

Courses weren’t balanced well or complimentary in flavours.

Same cutlery used for all the courses.

Unresponsive serving staff that lacked training.

That the Customer Relations team use a copy-and-paste response to bad reviews that has misspelled “experience” is peak irony that is no doubt completely lost on them and yet evidence that the rot of complacency runs deep with this group.

They truly do not care. Fill the seats. Rotate. Spend a small fortune on marketing to ensure the cycle repeats in the absence of repeat custom.

Ate at Merchant City restaurant yesterday and was really disappointed. With the exception of the fish course and dessert the food was bland, lacking seasoning and was all cold. The batter on the prawns was greasy and a little soggy. Empty wine glasses left on the table from wine pairing and cutlery not changed after every course - small things that make a difference.

Unable to use vouchers for 6 course taster menu - Christmas present- as only last for 3 Months
My husband was diagnosed with cancer at Christmas - & is undergoing chemotherapy for 3 Months- refuse to extend vouchers
Thanks for being so uncaring & harsh - don’t buy vouchers

Birmingham branch. The food was delicious, the staff attentive but two things spoilt my time at six by nico. 1.Our table was opposite the serving counter and the constant noise of plates being put there was deafening, making conversation almost impossible. 2. After our meal we requested coffee to be told no coffee was available. We had teas- ginger & earl grey which weren’t brewed properly so we had to complain. Such a shame these 2 things marred our time. I would hesitate to return unless I could be guaranteed a seat away from the kitchen& serving areas.

Visited the Birmingham place last night and was so disappointed at the whole experience. Taken to our table, a server introduced herself as ‘our server’ but only saw her to come collect plates after we’d finished a course, in total we had around5/6 ‘servers’ who had no idea and were clearly very inexperienced. We had the vegetarian tasting menu, food arrived cold, missing items from plates and not as described on the menu, no depth or flavour and no differentiation between flavours. Was looking forward to the ‘kimchi roll’ that turned out to be a very bland lettuce roll and the ‘crispy tofu’ was slimy!
Rushed service, inexperienced waiting staff, had to ask for specific cutlery, cold food and an underwhelming taste, more style over substance.
Good concept of getting fine dining into the mainstream, but this was no where like fine dining, @sixbynico don’t advertise a service or create menus if you can’t deliver. We will not be visiting again, a shame as we were all looking forward to this and had waited a while to get a booking.

Very disappointing visit for a big birthday. Food was lovely (if rather tepid) but it was served at the speed of a bullet train by grumpy 'young people' with no people skills whatsoever. Just after we had been served our coffees we were told we'd have to leave as they had to get ready for next service. To be fair, the frantic spraying and cleaning of every table around us had signalled to us that we were on borrowed time but we had only been in for 75 mins at this stage! £65 a head for Sunday lunch would have been much better spent elsewhere. Total case of style over substance...with a service fee on top!

Visited the Glasgow Merchant City restaurant in Albion Street today and have to say it was fantastic. Before writing this review I saw a lot of negative comments and I really cannot reconcile them to the experience we had - the restaurant itself was gorgeous, very classy and brilliant atmosphere, the staff were very attentive and friendly, and the food was fantastic (Hanoi menu). We had a brilliant experience and would 100% go back. Yes it's quite expensive - but as an occasional treat it's a total winner. After the 6 courses, pleasantly full without being stuffed, and certainly not hungry. The wine accompaniments were perfect and really enhanced the food. I truly hand on heart would recommend the Merchant city venue readily - I can only assume the negative reviews are for other branches - but the one in Albion Street was first class in all regards, real Masterchef quality.

Visited Six by Nico, Cardiff last night. Extremely disappointing experience. Booked table 6 weeks ago, when we arrived nice waitress booked us in , told us table wasn’t quite ready and as there was no bar we were welcome to stand where we were and wait. On being shown to our table a young waiter explained the Hanoi menu and extras we could purchase. I understand the concept of a taster menu , the first course was served in a chipped black bowl. Flavours quite nice but hardly a mouthful, the same with the rest of the courses. We refused extra prawns at £8 a shot. Also refused taster wines. For what we received the bill was extortionate and to top it all we were charged for extra portion of prawns which we didn’t order or receive and also 2 taster wines which we didn’t have. I certainly won’t be going here again. Nor recommending it to family or friends. I felt very sorry for the young staff working there who were very nice but looked very glum. Not a nice atmosphere at all. Certainly not a good experience.

Expensive and poor service . Food ok . Zero atmosphere

I was really looking forward to my visit to Six by Nico Mad Hatters Tea Party, at their Deansgate Restaurant, as a birthday treat. Overall the restaurant design and atmosphere was lovely with a warm welcome from staff. Explanation of how the tasting menu worked with options was carefully explained by our key server who was lovely. First two courses of snacks and course 1 were lovely, but it then went downhill, service became slow and presentation of all dishes did not represent in my opinion, The Mad Hatters T Party, and certainly the food presentation did not reflect how it was advertised to what was actually served on the night. Whilst food overall in terms of courses 2, 3 4 and 5 was nice, it was not overwhelming and certainly there was no wow factor, albeit some elements were tasty and better than others. The dessert course was by far the poorest course, supposedly the queen of hearts, it was significantly delayed and whilst it is acknowledged that a complimentary dessert wine from the paring menu was provided to all our party, with an apology for the delay, the dish when eventually served was significantly underwhelming, very poor and more importantly did not reflect the menu description and/or the picture shown in the advert., it was evident that there was some sort of a problem, I observed, who I can only assume was the head chef standing behind the pass on her mobile phone, clearly not happy, but instead of being honest to us as a customer, at the point they finally served the dessert to the table, they served in my opinion a very sub standard dessert…if you check the website and look at the pictures other customers had posted eg a Deep Red Heart chunks of red velvet cake, raspberry’s etc…to what we were served, namely a pale pink mousse, no raspberry’s, some dots of white and red coulis and a light dusting of what appeared to have been cake dust particles, then to say I was disappointed would be an underestimate. In my view there were missed opportunities that could have made you believe you were at the Mad Hatters Tea party, due to the lack of imagination and presentation of what was basically restaurant dishes, save for the title they were given. Overall I did not feel this was good value for money…especially when you have James Martin down the road, who delivers much more and is value for money. When your paying this much, £39.00 per person for tasting, add on the optional extras, including paring wine, snacks, aperitifs and drinks in general, all of which racks up the cost and is to enhance the experience, I expected much, much more.

Amazing Concept. Would definitely return

The Table!!!!

Went from terrible, we won't be coming here again, to enjoable, but should never have even been terrible at the standard of restaurant.

We visited Leeds Six by Nico as we were bought as a Christmas gift voucher. Booked the Alice in Wonderland experience as we are massive fans.

Arrived on time for our table booking at 7pm, but our table was not ready. 20min later than booking our table was ready.

Shown to our TABLE!! Introduced to said TABLE as "cosy"!!
What can we say this TABLE was not cosy it was awful, a table that should not be where it is!!. The emergency TABLE.

Have you ever felt like the restaurant over booked and forgot your booking?! Well this table made you feel like that.
Or maybe we smelt or were not dressed well enough to sit in the restaurant with other customers, so put them there out the way. We actually felt so uncomfortable, not cosy at all. The so called "COSY TABLE" on its own, is just to the left of the stairs into the restaurant, staring at everyone else, sat on the right in the main restaurant area to the other side of the walk way, before a door the staff went in and out off. Yes we were sat in the corridor, the forgotten table!
The headteacher table watching all the others in the atmosphere of the dining hall. Yeah you got the picture now, not cosy.

Made our feelings aware to the Maitre D. Who did apologise and said we are fully booked, which we could tell, hence felt like the emergency cosy table had been slid out to cater with over bookings. My poor husband was like we can do this once the wine flows it will be fine, trying to make the crap table positioning feel less awful. But we can tell you staff rushing past blowing a gale each time they past and other customers standing right next to you putting coats over their arms to manage the stairs etc. Was very uncomfortable and not a cosy positioning.

Then we had course one and waited over 20min for course two. Luckily we had the wine experience as well as taster experience. So had our first glass of wine delivered in the big gap and chatted trying to get over the uncomfortable positioning of said TABLE.

At course four the Maitre D came to say she had a table in the main restaurant we could move to. We asked if we could look as did not want to move from "cosy table" to worse, when half way through eating. Especially as my husband had seen two more tables in the corridor when he went to use the toilets. They were together not as solitary as our so called cosy table, but he come back saying they have other over flow tables, you really wouldn't want on route to the bathroom.

The new table was much better, in zone two and had atmosphere and you could see the chefs busy away making the artistic food. We got talking to the couple next to us and actually felt like we were out in a restaurant, not sat on our own on the outside looking in.

So grateful that the Maitre D listened to our upset when first sat down. We made sure we thanked her as we left.

The food, the wine and the staff luckily made up for the said TABLE experience.

The waitressing staff were fantastic at their jobs and very friendly. The amount of information they have to remember regarding each course and wine is amazing!

The food was very well presented and although very small portions it is packed with flavour and delicious, although if you watch advertising video or look at photos, your portions you actually get are not to the standard of advertising! If only we could have had seconds of the mushroom broth from course one. It was delicious which was how we had got chatting to the table next to us once moved. Was a shame our waiter at "cosy table!" did not do what the waiter in zone 2 did re course 3. We watched him actually using the sauce to paint the goats cheese rose red!! As well as let the customer paint their rose. Would have been a much better experience.

It was such a good job the menu was edible! As we still needed more food after six courses to soak up all the wine before fresh air, this was a fun twist. We most definitely went to a Mad hatter's tea party.