Restaurant group Six by Nico has opened a new 327-square-metre restaurant on East Parade in Leeds, its first Yorkshire venue.

Founded by chef Nico Simeone, it offers diners an affordable six-course tasting menu inspired by a theme, destination, or concept. The creative tasting menu changes every six weeks, each with a different theme, inspiring the name Six by Nico.

Its present menu is titled Cooking 'The Chippie', with inspiration drawn from what can be found in the local fish and chip shop.

It is an ingenious concept and one that could prove popular, as it is well priced; the tasting menu on its own is £39, and for an extra £30, wines are matched to each course. I had the wine pairing, and it was certainly worth it and a highlight of the experience.

I was attending on a preview day, and that is important to state because of some of the comments I will make through this review.

The overall ambience is lovely, and the space is superbly kitted out, making use of a building that had not been used for a number of years. Inside, the stylish decor and ambient lighting impressed; however, the overall experience was slightly tarnished by the noise. Six by Nico was full to its capacity with 72 guests, and I, like my guest, struggled to hear each other, let alone any of the team serving the table, and vice versa. The team had been well briefed, and each individual was enthusiastic, but it was lost by having to constantly use the refrain "pardon".

As an aperitif, the 'Sea Side Spritz' (£8.50) was stunning—lemon, Earl Grey, Prosecco, and Samphire—perfectly refreshing and something special as well as a talking point. Lying across the glass was a small wooden spatula with a green powder that fizzed up when mixed into the drink.

There are snacks too at £7.50 if you are ravenous: sourdough bread and shellfish butter with a black pudding scotch egg complemented with piccalilli and a rapeseed emulsion.

Nico Simeone said: "We pride ourselves on originality - Six by Nico is founded based on a carefully curated and ever-evolving tasting menu, which combines different ingredients, flavours, and dishes, drawing inspiration from Yorkshire, the UK, as well as abroad."

So it was on to course 1: 'Chips & Cheese, parmesan espuma, curry oil and emulsion, and a crisp potato terrine. Think of the chip shop experience as a tray of carbohydrates covered in melted cheese, and forget it. This, as you would expect, was more refined and, like the rest of the dishes, offered something different. This included a crisp potato terrine with a rich flavour but not to the extent of being too strongly flavourful, and unlike a fondue, it was not heavy.

It set expectations for the following five courses.

Course 2: 'Scampi': Brandade, dill emulsion, gribiche, spring peas, beurre Blanc, served with an Italian (Veneto) Prosecco DOC Cavallieri Reali Extra Dry Spumante, Terre Cevico. The creaminess of the wine added depth to the course. The crispness of the brandade was delightful, the dill emulsion was not too strong, and the peas added a splash of colour - it immediately became my favourite.

It is a tasting menu, so the courses are sensibly portioned, and in course 3, 'Steak Pie': 24-hour beef shin, burnt onion ketchup, mushroom duxelle, and ‘Meaty Salsa' were served with a French Bordeaux Rouge AOC, Xavier Jaubert. It was an agreeable red, sourced as a superb accompaniment to bring out the flavours of the meat dish.

Despite the beef being well-cooked, the flavours combining well, the crunch of onions offering texture, and the mushroom duxelle adding its own personality, it didn't wow me as much as I thought it would, so I looked forward to the 'Fish Supper: Scrabster coley, pickled mussels, confit fennel, samphire, and beer emulsion, all matched with a superbly delicious Gavi DOCG Aureliana, ViteColte.

As a lover of fish, it is my preferred option every time I go out and should have been the pièce de résistance. However, I found the fish to be slightly overcooked, and the various flavours did not sparkle, although the pickled mussels were great.

What could follow? 'Smoked Sausage': a trio of pork, apple, crispy crackling, salt baked celeriac, and choucroute, and once again, the wine was a winner. Romanian wine is fast becoming a favourite.

As Nathan Lane our wine correspondent tells me, we Brits are getting more adventurous in our hunt for good value quality wines. The wines of Greece, Montenegro and Croatia are enjoyed by people on holiday and when they return home. Now, Romanian wines are gaining recognition for their quality and value.

With a rich winemaking tradition, Romania's diverse terroir and favourable climate offer ideal conditions for producing crisp and juicy whites to robust reds. They will no doubt be appearing on a supermarket shelf near you over the coming months. Put aside your concerns and give them a try, especially the crisp whites, like Solo Qunita Branco or Pinot Noir.

If the fish course had been disappointing, the smoked sausage also dampened my enthusiasm. The chefs were trying to be too clever with the theatrical presentation. When it arrived, the waiters pulled off a transparent lid and let the white smoke dissipate. Maybe it would have worked if the food had been more than lukewarm. It would have been nice to have crispy crackling, and the apple did not offer anything in the way of flavour.

However, the kitchen pulled it all back at the end with the 'Deep Fried Mars Bar' chocolate pave, Irn Bru sorbet, and deep-fried mars bar.

What a treat! Well-presented and delicious on the palate, subtle flavours were superbly light, and as for the dessert wine paired with this dish, an Italian (Piedmont) sparkling wine, La Sera Dolce Essenza Frizzante, Malgrá, supremely complemented the dish, rounding off the gastronomic experience with a sophisticated fine dining feel.

The waiting team had been well briefed and had learned their lines, although if you take them off script, they get a bit lost. I asked for a digestif recommendation, and it threw them completely one of a small number of examples.

But setting my quibbles aside, the concept is excellent, as is the food.

The highlight was the wine pairing, with fine attention to detail, and ten out of ten to the sommelier for a fine job.