The most amazing Industrialised Fine Dining Experience: Six by Nico

Six by Nico offers an incredibly affordable industrialised fine dining experience in central London, located along famous Charlotte Street in the heart of Fitzrovia. Since we’ve been free from the Covid jail, the Londoners filling up all the restaurants and pubs again. And yes, we are no exception! Last Saturday, we gathered up with our couple of friends in front of Six by Nico for an ‘industrialised’ fine dining experience.

I learned about Six by Nico last year during lockdown when one of my Insta-friends posted about her experience here. It’s a really cool concept. The chef, Nico Simeone, designs a themed-six-course tasting menu everything six weeks for thirty-ish quid. Get it? “Six” by Nico? It’s ingenious! And they are busy, very busy! We only managed to reserve a table for 16:45 and the restaurant was still full! He has restaurants in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Liverpool, Manchester, Belfast, Dublin and recently opened up another one in London in Canary Wharf! So if you are in any of these locations, pay them a visit and you can thank me later! 🙂

I will warn you though, don’t expect the ‘fine dining’ service. They have completely industrialised the experience. I found the experience a bit overwhelming, to be honest, but the food makes up for it. Our theme was “Once Upon a Time”, more on this later. But each person gets a mini booklet that explains the theme, the menu and recipes for some of the dishes on the back! The whole concept is really creative and super cute. It literally took me back to my childhood, once upon a time ago.

Whilst I was trying to understand how everything works, a waiter abruptly came over and mumbled something about snacks or drinks or just the menu. I could use a bit of explaining and an introduction to the menu and concept given it was our first time here. I was trying to ask him how it works, but he swiftly moved on. It was pretty noisy, so gave him benefit of the doubt that he didn’t hear me. Anyway as I said don’t expect fine dining service, nor ambience, here. This is all about fine dining on the fast lane!

Once the kitchen got the green light, each course came rolling out, one after another. I reckon they could turnover a table within an hour! Very industrialised. I guess they need the volume to offset the low cost. Don’t expect to do too much talking during your meal. But if one of your guest is a a slow eater like me, then you can chitchat while he/she tries to finish each course promptly. Needless to say, I was head-down food-to-mouth most of the time… *facepalm*

Flicking through the menu trying to figure out how it works — Flicking through the Once Upon a Time menu to see how it all works

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So what do you wear to this industrialised fine dining experience?

The Guardian describes the restaurant as “a neglected All Bar One”. I thought that is a little harsh. But it does have open pipes running along the ceiling. The restaurant has a very contemporary and rustic feel with fancy lightbulbs hanging off non-disguised beams. A bit raw and industrialised yet cosy and trendy.

So what do you wear? The dress code they order is “comfortable”. So wear whatever you want basically. Just be comfortable! My dress code however is elegant, always. So I wore a simple all-black outfit. My current favourite is this black Tory Burch cashmere jumper with the cutest sequin elbow patch. I paired it with these Ponte trousers from Ralph Lauren. I am loving this look this winter. Simple, elegant and comfortable. The embellished sleeves really elevates to the whole look. I did not feel overdressed at all nor underdressed.

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What does Maltida, Paddington Bear and the Ugly Duckling have in common? A Once Upon a Time themed Six by Nico’s industrialised fine dining menu. Obviously! I really enjoyed this theme. Each course symbolises each storybook. Reliving my childhood memories, which definitely feels like it was once upon a time ago. Linking each bite back to those children story books. It was rather nostalgic. Not to mention each dish was beautifully presented and delicious on the palette.

Snack dish, Farmer Bunce's Liver & Doughnuts — From the snack menu is Farmer Bunce’s Liver & Doughnut – Duck liver mousse filled doughnut. The duck liver was exquisite!

First course, potato with creamy soup — First course: Oliver Twist, “Please sir, Can I Have Some More”. Confit hasselbak potato, hay baked potato mousse line, preserved wild garlic & pickled onion. So you finish the top, then you say, “please sir, can I have some here”, and you lift the plate up to this mousse.

Second course - XO marmalade & truffle — Second course: Paddington Bear – Sourdough bruschetta, ox cheek ragu, and mushroom XO marmalade & truffle that is to die for! They have provided the recipe for marmalade. So will be attempting this one day!

Third Course baked tandoori carrot — Third course: Maltida – “Hey Dipface, Have a Carrot”. Whole baked tandoori carrot, carrot remoulade, carrot top pesto, saffron pickled carrot, citrus goats curd. The most frustrating about this dish is the knife was so blunt that I couldn’t cut through the carrot!

Trout dish with smoked bone velour — Fourth course: Danny, Champion of the world. Let’s go Trout Poaching – sea trout, smoked bone velour & dill dressing, artichoke, sea herbs, bergamot gel and salted cucumber

Duck breast dish with pickle walnut, salsify, pear and fig — Fifth course: The Ugly Duckling, The Most Beautiful – Duck, leg Boulanger with pickled walnut, salsify, pear & fig. The duck was just cooked to perfection!

Rose dessert with smoke — Sixth course: Last but by no means least is Beauty and the Beast dessert. The last rose petal – Mascarpone creme, rose, hibiscus & rhubarb, lemon chocolate aero. It was literally a rose in a glass dome of smoke. So yummy! Nice and light.

So what do you think of a children’s storybook themed fine dining experience? Would you visit Six by Nico for an industrialised fine dining experience? Let me know in the comments below.

By the way, he has also released a Home by Nico during the lockdown, where you can order a pre-prepped meal box for a cook-at-home experience. Last year, we got a Chateaubriand Experience for our lockdown anniversary and it was exquisite. It came with everything you’d need with clear instructions and super easy to execute.