I want to preface this review of Six by Nico Liverpool by saying, I’ve never tried a tasting menu.
Maybe that’s due to the fact that you’re not likely to come across many in Liverpool and if you are, price is bound to be a barrier. I can’t exactly claim to be making Michelin star restaurant level dough right now and I’m not emotionally prepared to be destroyed by snobby wine waiter. I’m sure the experience of those places isn’t actually like that, but y’know, you can’t be sure.
Anyway, when I heard a restaurant that specialises in tasting menus was coming to Liverpool, I was a little sceptical. I’m sure many of you will have heard of Six by Nico by now, it’s the new food sensation sweeping the city. In weeks after it opened people would constantly tell me about it and how I HAD to go down to try it out.
Last week, we were invited down to see whether it was worth the hype. Obviously, I jumped at the chance.
The concept of the restaurant is very simple, a six-course tasting menu that’s available for six weeks. A different theme every six weeks that’s invited by Scottish chef, Nico Simeone, each culinary journey’s purpose is to take you on an adventure with it. Previous menus themes include The Chippy and New York. Still kicking myself that I missed a chippy-themed taster menu, to be perfectly honest.
This is the second Six by Nico to be established, with five more restaurants based in London, Belfast, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Manchester. A clearly popular concept, but you half hope they keep it at the six restaurants serving the six courses over six weeks for continuity purposes.
While I mentioned previously that price was always a stumbling block for me, the cost of this experience couldn’t be more reasonable. £29 per person for a six-course meal (I’ve paid more for bang average two-course meals) with the option to include a wine pairing at £29pp.
This week, Liverpool’s Six by Nico were cooking ‘The Alps’. Think: apres-ski and warm comforts in cold climates. Perfect for that miserable February weather we seem to find ourselves in.
I’m currently embarking on Vegruary – vegetarian February – the kind of self-imposed meat exile someone finds themselves in when they baited the whole office too chicken to try Veganuary, enjoy cheese too much to ever give it up. Luckily, the restaurant more than accommodated for this and have a whole menu specially for vegetarians.
We ordered some snacks on arrival and they set the scene for what was about to come. A smorgasbord of cheese, bread and other lovely little nibbles. Including taleggio & emmental, pane di pasqua, root vegetable crisps and gordial olives. The prize winner of the board goes to the preserved artichoke bugnes, a light and fluffy battered artichoke which makes you want to offer the whole restaurant a bite before you realise there’s a finite amount of it.
First Course: Raclette Fondue.
Aaaaaaand we’re off.
Cheese is always a winner. Always. This raclette fondue was an absolute treat and the accompaniments of the single pieces of salt baked beetroot, gerkin and quince made it the perfect starter. Fondue without dipping is like toast without butter.
Second Course: Valchiavenna Chestnut Gnocchi.
Smothered in horseradish emulsion, pumpkin and apple & dill dressing, these gnocchi were some of the best I’ve ever tasted. Smooth, creamy and absolutely delicious.
Third Course: Tartiflette.
Featured alongside barbequed broccoli, pickled walnut and reblochon cheese, this one looked like a piece of art. The acidity of the dish was striking when compared to the previous course and really brought home the planning when it comes to these menus. Each dish and the order in which it comes has a distinctive part to play.
Fourth Course: Risotto du Crozets.
Risotto covered in hen of the wood’s mushrooms, truffle and pesto bianco. On reflection, this one is probably the least favourite of the dishes I tried, but that isn’t to take away from it at all – it was definitely tasty. The entire experience raised such a high bar that it was the one dish that seemed to dip a little compared to the rest.
Fifth Course: Potato & Fermented Black Garlic Cappelletti.
Alongside roasted hispi cabbage and champagne vinegar dressing. This dish was the perfect penultimate end to the meal, comforting as hell, like a hug on your way out the door. Cabbage and winter, name a more iconic duo.
Sixth Course: Snowballs.
The clue is in the name, coconut and pistachio parfait balls in a passionfruit caramel sauce and some chargrilled pineapple thrown in for good measure. The best thing about this dessert was the little orange ball on the plate that I assumed to be fruit, then the next thing I knew I took a bite and the entire thing burst in my mouth like a Solero water bomb – weird but wonderful.
In the end, I couldn’t have been more complementary at the end when our waiter asked me how everything was. An experience that was completely new to me absolutely delivered and while not every course was 100% for me, it’s a fantastic opportunity to try something a little different.
I will definitely be going back to try it out when the menu flips again. Using my keen detective work I spotted a load plaque above the kitchen pass featuring old menu themes and a few we haven’t seen yet – Childhood being the most interesting one. Any restaurant that’s brave enough to turn potato smileys and beans into a tasting menu will be getting a visit from me most weeks.
Tom is the Mens lifestyle editor here at The Daily Struggle. Interested in Mens health and fashion, theater and eats copious amounts of cheese toasties when he thinks no one is looking.
