What’s your guilty pleasure? Having conducted some research amongst friends, I’ve realised what deviants they all are. From a Fray Bentos pie eaten from the tin when the wife’s away to Hula Hoop sandwiches on white bread, marshmallows on chocolate digestives in the microwave to cold curry….the terrible admissions went on and on.
None of which sound particularly fetching, and yet, as always, Six By Nico takes the theme, runs with it, and produces something exceptional. This is certainly the case with the Guilty Pleasures menu which runs until September 1.
If you haven’t been to Six By Nico, it opened recently on the top of The Westgate and serves six courses for £50, changing its menu every six weeks to keep us on our toes.
Last time I went it was ‘The Chippie; REVIEW: “A roller-coaster ride of gastronomic dexterity’ We try ‘The Chippie’ menu at new Westgate restaurant Six by Nico! which introduced me to the fine dining concept with great aplomb.
But as so many guilty pleasures are associated with late nights, chip shops, kebabs houses, grazing, and midnight snacks, would it be very different?
Yes and no. No, because the staff (Maya must get a mention)are still as exceptionally cheerful and professional as ever despite being swept off their feet – the place was heaving when we arrived, and has been since opening by all accounts. The decor is also hugely amenable – that indoors/outdoors Moroccan/Mediterranean vibe providing the perfect setting. And for those who might feel stilted somewhere fancier, it’s a really attractive space where people find hugely comfortable.
Plus, you don’t have to pick through a fancy menu with complicated ingredients, which can be really intimidating, but here it’s the meat and fish or veggie/vegan option, so the hard work’s already done for you. Very clever when you think about it.
By theming the menus on his own memories, Nico ensures there’s an air of nostalgia about each one which everyone can relate from a summer holiday or seaside trip to childhood favourites, ensuring the food is also hugely evocative.
For example, the ‘Cheesy Beano‘ – two cheesy bean croquettes with scamorza mozzarella (my favourite), roasted tomato ketchup & Hendersons Relish from the nibbles menu, the inside of the croquette soft and unctuous, the outside crispy, but it tasted like cheesy chips and beans; the same density of potato and bite of bean, settled on a smudge of deep, fruity, brown sauce and a dab of ketchup. Despite it dexterity, it still reminded me of hungover breakfasts at work as a junior reporter.
The gauntlet had been thrown down. Next the Breakfast Muffin, (Salsiccia Bon Bon, Hash Brown, Aged Cheddar Royale, Truffle Emulsion & Egg Yolk Jam), which equates to sausage, hash brown, egg and cheese but here is taken to the next level, although quite salty, the egg yolk jam was a highlight,
Then the Loaded Potato Skin – lyonnaise potato terrine, smoked bacon jam, chive emulsion and whipped creme fraiche, a far cry from my first ever cookery attempt aged seven, which was inspired by the Why Don’t You TV show.
Even the Mac & Cheese was given a facelift – served here with a Cauliflower Couscous, Jalapeno Gherkin Ketchup & Pickled Golden Raisins.
Fish lovers may not have like the sound of the Fish Finger Butty – but it was a picture perfect piece of coalfish, accompanied by barbecue gem lettuce, smoked tomato caviar, crispy mussels and toasted brioche.
Nico’s fried chicken crispy chicken thigh, NFC crumb, baked celeriac, charred corn, black garlic emulsion and chicken jus gras was a blatant KFC rip off but arrived with some more upmarket accrouments, if again rather salty.
The vegetarian accompanying menu mirrors its carnivorous cousin so well that you scarcely notice the difference, although I’m not sure the baked celeriac is something I’d rush to late at night to quell the hunger pangs. But credit must be given for offering an equally as ambitious and daring menu to a group of diners so often side-lined.
And what restauranteurs fail to realise is that if you don’t provide for the veggie/vegans of this world, whom are growing mightily in number, the whole party will go elsewhere.
For me it was the pudding that shone, even though the Warm Cookie Dough offering (see min pic) didn’t sound particularly appealing – more like something my kids would order. And yet it delivered in all its sugary, ostentatious glory – the hazelnut and chocolate cookie scattered with naughties, the sweetness offset by the raspberries which lifted off to a bowl of , caramel cremeux with a vanilla espuma, like a scented custard. Very clever.
All of which came to a grand total of £50 a head, actually a bit more because the croquette was £8 and we had a bottle of rose, but still a really memorable night out because Nico certainly understands the power of nostalgia and the concept that food is theatre.
Guilty Pleasures is at Six By Nico at Oxford’s Westgate until September 1 followed by Shanghai from September 2-22. https://www.sixbynico.co.uk/oxford/guilty-pleasures/
