If all restaurants offered bite-sized dishes the world would be a much easier place for me. And that’s probably one of the reasons why I love the Asian cuisine so much because they know how to share, so no more post-ordering regrets (this is a big thing for me – I always order and want someone else’s plate instead!).

In Japan they like their after-work pub-like places with a menu of small dishes for snacking while drinking. As of last month London has its very own izakaya bar: The Woodstock Kushiyaki Bar is located off Oxford Street near Bond Street Station. Ahead of my Japan trip I was lucky enough to try some of their things out. Because who can say no to casual drinking and freshly grilled skewers to get you in the mood for a trip?

On the menu you’ll find over a dozen skewers: Kushi Yaki – grilled options like chicken breast, ginger pork belly, and for the adventurous there are the chicken hearts and liver. And Kushi Age – fried skewers like beef katsu, soft shell crab, courgette tempura and even fried avocado. Stand-outs for me were the beef fillet, courgette tempura and fried avocado – the latter two came with some spicy but addictive dipping sauces too.

My pick to drink was the flowery Shindo Uragasanryu sake, but there were a number of other sakes, as well as Japanese draft beer, shochu, umeshu and Japanese whiskeys, and hot drinks like matcha latte, matcha green tea and sencha green tea.

I could rattle on and on about the place or I can show you these photos and you can wonder why you aren’t dragging your colleagues to this place already.

I was invited but all views and photos are my own.