Mother’s day has just gone by and I took my mum to Six by Nico in Fitzrovia, I’ve been wanting to go for a while but didn’t have the right occasion to. Six by Nico is a six course tasting menu that changes every six weeks, I’ve seen themes like Peter Pan, Alice in Wonderland and they seemed so fun but my mum isn’t a huge fan of experimental meals so when I saw they had a Tokyo inspired menu it was perfect.

We started the meal with an Aperitif they called Sakura, it was Gin, Cherry, Ginger and Lemon. I’m not so great handling the taste of alcohol really, I’m the type that needs something sweet that just doesn’t taste like alcohol honestly but this was really good, sweet and crisp. Course 1 was a Chicken Karaage, is crispy chicken thigh with Togarashi (a Japanese spice blend) and Oroshi Shoga Ginger. Normally I’m really not keen on pickled Ginger, this however was a really good sharp contrast to the crisp salty chicken. Course 2 was the Tempura, a crisp Enoki Mushroom with Pickled Daikon a & Ponzu. I’m a big fan of Enoki mushrooms so this was right up my street, really crisp and not greasy at all.

Course 3 was the Okonomiyaki, it was a pork & prawn pancake with Okonomi sauce and Japanese Mayonnaise. This was a good dish but it felt quite salty, the kimchi with the Okonomi sauce was a little over powering. Course 4 was the Ramen, a Miso Sea Bass, Tokyo Turnip, Shimeji Mushroom, Egg Yolk Jam and Kombu Dashi. The star was the Miso Sea Bass which was beautifully cooked but everything else felt far too much, sour, salty, and sweet all over the place, I wasn’t massively impressed with this I’m afraid.

Course 5 was Tonkatsu, a Panko Pork Cutlet, Glazed Belly, Cabbage, Hokkaido Pumpkin & Yakitori Ham Jam. This was definitely one of the best dishes, the Ham Jam was really intriguing actually, all the elements really came together with that creamy pumpkin. The final course was Strawberry Candy, a White Chocolate Parfait, Matcha Cake and Candy Strawberry. This was the best course by far, the Parfait was smooth and not overly sweet, the Strawberry Candy was crisp and the perfect bit of sweet. The Matcha was quite weak but actually for me it worked because I’m not a big fan of Matcha really.

Overall a great experience, the meals were clean and hearty but was quite salty across the menu. I’m not sure I’d do it again but it was definitely worth a try, I think their next menu in London is Lisbon at their Fitzrovia branch and Marrakech at the Canary Wharf branch.