Don’t miss the new menu at Six by Nico

With restaurants across the UK, two in London and more to come, Six by Nico is taking the food scene by storm and the latest menu is possibly our favourite so far…

Nico Simeone is the Glaswegian chef behind the concept restaurant chain Six by Nico. The concept is simple: every six weeks a new six-course menu is revealed, themed upon a different place or memory. Previous inspirations have included Lisbon, Tokyo and ‘Street Food’, which offered a playful twist on street food classics found across the globe.

Simeone has previously worked at Michelin-starred Number One at Balmoral and Brian Maule’s acclaimed Chardon d’Or, and dining at Six is an affordable fine-dining experience surely influenced by this impressive history.

Currently being cooked up at the Canary Wharf and Fitzrovia restaurants, New York is the last instalment of the tasting menus. Diners are invited to embark on a ‘culinary expedition’ that pays homage to a number of quintessential dishes that can be found in the Big Apple. The menus at the table are illustrated with a map, pinpointing several key locations, and there’s even a QR code which links to a full list of recommendations from the team’s expedition to the city.

Before we get into details, how much does a six-course menu in London cost? Well, here, it’s a very reasonably priced £50 and just £35 extra for wine pairing. There is also the option to add a ‘snack’ or amuse-bouche (£5-£9), and an aperitif (from £8). As for the main event, there is a regular and a vegetarian-adapted version of the same themed menu. We also found the menu incredibly accommodating for gluten-free diners, with very minimal tweaking required – be sure to tell your server though.

Course 1: New Yorker Slice & Cookie | Pepperoni ragù with Panzanella and pecorino foam, and a  truffle NY black & white cookie

Course 2: B.E.C – Bacon, Egg & Cheese | Smoked bacon belly, confit egg yolk, confit potatoes, Trapanese ‘hot sauce’, parmesan beurre blanc

Optional wine pairing: Malepère AOP, Le Pic des 3 Seigneurs, Domaine Girard

Course 3: Pastrami Sandwich | Ox ‘Pastrami Sandwich’, choucroute, pickled kohlrabi, battered gherkin, Frenchies emulsion

Optional wine pairing: Rosé DOC, Viile Metamorfosis

Course 4: The Everything Bagel | Grenobloise coalfish, salt baked cleriac, wild garlic, caper & brown butter foam

Optional wine pairing: Grillo Sicilia IGT, Baglio Sicano

Course 5: “Double Chicken Please” | Buttermilk chicken, hot honey sauce, jalapeno ketchup, Thai basil & hazelnut pesto. Add-On: Lobster and crayfish toasted brioche roll with shellfish emulsion, lemon gel (£15)

Optional wine pairing: Taxi Cab, Casa Americo

Course 6: Lower East Side Apple Pie | Baked apple creme, New York cheesecake, dulce de leche, cookies & cream anglais

Optional wine pairing: Grains de Plasir, Cotes du Gascogne IGP – Cave du Marmandais

Optional extras:

Snacks: chicken parm doughnut or aubergine pram with roast garlic aioli; sourdough with smoked maple bacon butter or smoked maple butter

Aperitif: Martini Highball, non-alcoholic Martini Highball, Cosmo Spritz, Pineapple Manhattan

We visited the Canary Wharf restaurant which is tucked underneath the DLR tracks near Canary Wharf station and seats 95 diners in the eclectically-designed space. From the moment you step inside, the team are ready to welcome you and guide you along the gastronomic adventure. As each dish comes sailing out of the kitchen, the waiter introduces and explains the intriguing construction on your plate in meticulous detail.

Our meal began with an aperitif – we enjoyed the Martini Highball, with white grape and apricot flavours, and the Cosmo Spritz – and a snack course of chicken parm and sourdough with smoked maple bacon butter topped with salt. Inspired by Parm on Mulberry Street in Little Italy, the chicken parm comes in the form of a doughnut that is topped with mozzarella and a tomato preserve and served alongside a gorgeous roast garlic aioli. After suitably warming up our tastebuds, we were ready to begin the tasting menu.

The New Yorker Slice and Cookie, inspired by New York’s Table 87 and Joe’s Pizza, kicks things off with an exciting display. It arrives as a bowl with a plate on top, with the cookie on full display. It looks similar to an Oreo cookie, but don’t expect chocolate; although it’s savoury, there is a slightly sweet, buttery flavour to it. Concealed in the bowl beneath is what appears to be a bowl of cheese sauce. Plunge your fork in and you’ll soon uncover the tender ragù beneath. Although it contains pieces of bread (Panzanella), we were glad to have left some of our sourdough from the snack course to scoop up the cheesy pepperoni ragù.

Having polished this off quickly, we were soon on to the second course, representing the B.E.C and inspired by Daily Provisions in Union Square. This is sure to be a hit with Brits, offering somewhat of an elevated fry-up. Soft smoked bacon belly is topped with a confit egg yolk, while confit potatoes are topped with a quenelle of Trapanese ‘hot sauce’.

The following three courses take you from Lower East Side delis to a chicken restaurant in Bowery, via a stop at Russ & Daughters. First up, the Six take on a pastrami sandwich comprises uber-tender ox tongue and shin that’s topped with a battered gherkin. Pickle-haters shouldn’t be so quick to turn their noses up as this was a game-changer for me. For the gluten-free option, my fellow diner was served the vegetarian course of hazelnut ragù and parpadelle pasta that was the ‘best gluten-free pasta [she’s] ever had’.

Up next, course four is a much appreciated lighter affair of coalfish and vegetables (we had samphire, though this isn’t mentioned on the menu so don’t arrive expecting it). Once again, textures and flavours harmonise perfectly and the Everything Bagel adds a delightful crunch to the fish.

The final stop on the savoury side of the journey is a double serving of chicken. A slice of chicken breast with crunchy topping is served alongside a smaller, even more flavoursome piece. There’s also hot honey sauce, Thai basil and hazelnut pesto, and jalapeno ketchup too, making this one of our favourite dishes of the night.

This course comes with an optional add-on too: for £15 extra, you can enjoy a toasted brioche roll filled with lobster and crayfish, and topped with shellfish emulsion and small but mighty balls of lemon gel. It’s quite a large roll so the only trouble was that, being served so late in the meal, we didn’t have room to enjoy more than a few bites which felt like a shame. Perhaps this should be a ‘snack’ option?

Last but by no means least, dessert comes inspired by Eileens Special Cheesecake in Lower Manhattan. A classic New York cheesecake is elevated by a smattering of crisp biscuit, cookies and cream angalise and some beads of dulche de leche, delicately placed on the plate. It is the perfect finale to a fantastic dining experience and although we were incredibly full by this point, there’s always space for dessert, isn’t there?

We have tried a few of the Six by Nico menus now, each as intriguing, indulgent and satisfying as the last. Hurry, it’s only available until 19th May.

Opt for the wine pairing addition to enjoy a selection of red, white and rosé wines with each dish © Amy Hughes

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