The best restaurants serving Japanese food in Highgate Haringey London

We went for dinner on a Thursday night. We called to ask if we could go at 21:30. They said ok but flagged last orders were at 21:45 and they close at 22:00 (not sure how they could expect anyone ordering and eating in 15 minutes unless they have a bowl of lukewarm soup). We had ordered by 21:35 and left at 22:09. The speediest £100 they have ever seen. They made it clear from the start they didn’t want us there, obviously concerned about risking of closing a few minutes later than usual, despite accepting our reservation. The service was short and rude, but the cherry on the cake came when I asked to use the toilet and their answer was: sorry, no, we have just cleaned it! Never again.

Having recently moved to the area, Cocoro was one of the first places I wanted to try - I loved the idea of combining a Japanese restaurant and deli. We tried a donburi and chicken katsu curry and were impressed: great quality of food and amazing portions, especially on the curry. The only downside was on another occasion I ordered to collect, and the miso soup had been sitting in the bag with the sushi for a while so warmed up the sushi slightly.