We approached Six By Nico with some trepidation. A six-course tasting menu for £45 sounded too good to be true and as we headed into town, we wondered what the catch would be. Spoiler, it’s not the décor. Blessed with the high ceilings of a former bank, the restaurant’s cool and comfortable with great lighting and a buzzing open kitchen.

The USP at Six By Nico is that themed six-course tasting menu that changes every six weeks, and until 16 November the theme is Space. There were optional extras outside the tasting menu like an aperitif called Launch Sequence (£11) – a zingy elderflower, salted cucumber cordial and prosecco number, plus a couple of nibbles to kick things off, one of which was up there with our favourite dish of the night. Pommes Anna Chips (£9) – think of the 15-hour crisp layered potatoes that went viral during lockdown served with parmesan cream and a hint of truffle. Perfection.

If we talked you through all six courses, you’d be here all day. Trust us there were no bad dishes, just some we preferred more than others. Every course was inventive, exciting and a bit of an experience. For instance, a dish called Black Hole was eaten wearing headphones and an eye mask. Everyone looked crackers but it was great fun. Biopack – smoked ham hock and chicken terrine was delicious in its own right, but the chefs pushed it further with 12 garnishes ranging from a punchy mojo verde to an intense black garlic ketchup and even grapefruit. Still no catch.

We sampled the cocktail pairing (£40) and the wine flight (£30) which was fun to try, and our waitress was very knowledgeable about the wines particularly, but in truth, next time we’d go for the aperitif followed by a nice bottle of wine. On the subject of staff, everyone we met seemed happy to be there from the lovely manager, Dan to the person that took our coats. It was infectious.

The restaurant was packed which on a Wednesday night doesn’t happen much in Birmingham right now. The clientele was varied in terms of age range – a father and young son, date nights, groups of mates, older couples. Since we couldn’t find a catch, we concluded that this price point and level of experience might just be the hospitality sweet spot.