Côte

Amazing food and really nice staff! Had the garlic prawns for started and lamb rump for main — hard to find anything that was wrong with the dishes other than would have been nice to get more prawns… Although I left extremely full so probably a good thing!
Hint — get in before 7pm to get there 2 or 3 meal deals… Very cheap for the quality you get!

lunchtimegood atmosphere, tasty steak and excellent service.

Actually writing about the Cote in Highgate Village. We have been there several times now. Staff always cheerful and most helpful.
Although they seemed a little short staffed last evening (1.8.12) all staff were still really attentive and caring.
Excellent food, well presented.
Mitch

a group of us were supposed to meet a browns for drinks, but when we got there, they told us the kitchen had a flood and had to kick everyone out. wtf? since half the party hadn’t shown up yet, we decided to stay nearby and go next door to cote. we got here around 7, so the restaurant had plenty of space, and the hostess let 4 of us take a table even though we said we were just getting drinks.
as more of us showed up, she was nice enuf to take us to the back to a larger table, and we ended up ordering some apps. we got the grilled prawns, olives, garlic bread, crab mayo, breaded calamari, and chicken liver parfait. the portions were actually bigger than i expected and very sharable.
by the time we left, the restaurant was full and crowded. i’m glad the hostess was so accommodating to let us stay despite not ordering a full dinner.

Cote is the epitome of a London mid-​range restaurant chain. It provides an above average upscale casual ambiance with solid but unremarkable food. For a chain, it’s actually one of the better ones you can find. It’s a good place if you are looking for a quick bite in the neighborhood — Cote’s consistency is arguably it’s best quality. You will always get an average to above average meal here at a reasonable price.
This particular branch used to be a bar/​night-​club called Playtime, and I admit Cote did a rather nice job transforming the place into a French style bistro. Much like its brethren in Soho, Cote Islington is a fairly large restaurant, so it’s unlikely you’ll have to wait long for a table, always a plus in my book.
Cote heavily promotes its Poulet Breton — basically a flattened char-​grilled half-​chicken served with chips (see the pic I posted). It was good but not great. Tasty but I didn’t remember it after eating it. The steak frites is actually a better choice.
All in, Cote is 3 stars for being consistently solid (count how many times I used to word average to above average in this review), but not a place that I would go to if I wasn’t near Islington Green.