The Woodstock

When you hear of a place called ‘The Woodstock‘ in London, I’m not quite sure you’d immediately think of Japan.

In fact, I’m not quite sure you’d think of Kushiyaki. But I’m here to set the record straight, now whenever you hear of The Woodstock, all you’ll be able to remember is a delicious Japanese pub. Deal?

The Woodstock is a quaint little pub, located just off Oxford Street. Forget about your conventional London style pub, The Woodstock is incredibly modern. It’s based off of Japanese pubs known as pit-stops for a quick catch up over a pint and a bite on your way home from work.

We turned up on the earlier side, so we started with the place to ourselves before everyone else filtered in.

We took a seat, eager to try out the cuisine.

First, they brought over complimentary Japanese style iced-tea cocktails. These were an absolutely sweet treat. I savored mine to sip throughout the evening, but J drank his pretty quickly. They’re really good.

We had a fantastic waitress too, who helped us make our selections for the evening. Considering this is a pint and bites pub, we decided to try out the Japanese beer.

The Kirin Ichiban was great. We both would highly recommend ordered a pint of this when you visit. It’s light, but flavorful… and we may have even ordered a second round later on.

Moving onto food. We’re big fans of edamame, so we ordered that to start, along with the Wagu Beef Sliders with Spicy Tomato.

You can’t go wrong with edamame. But I want to rave about the sliders. You wouldn’t imagine heading into a Japanese pub specifically for these, but you need to. These burgers were cooked to perfection and bursting with flavor. I’m a huge fan.

After indulging in our starters, our skewers arrived. This is what The Woodstock is known for. The skewers are simple, straight to the point dishes.

There are two types of skewers that you can get. Kushi Yaki are the grilled skewers. And the Kushi Age are fried skewers. We wanted to try both, obviously.

Our grilled skewer choices? Salmon and Chicken.

The salmon was absolutely melt in your mouth incredible. It’s probably my favorite of the bunch. However, the chicken breast was still a winner.

As for the fried skewers… we had the soft shell crab and the pork.

Loved the crab! It was really tasty, crunchy and I may have popped some of the hot peppers on top of it to make it extra spicy, and extra good. As for the pork? I’m not a massive fan of pork in general, so this was a dish I left for J, and he really enjoyed it.

We definitely had our fill of skewers and starters, and I think it was the perfect amount. Each portion of skewers comes as a pair, so it’s ideal for sharing a number of dishes with a date, friend, or whoever you take along! (Or hey, keep them all to yourself, like the salmon. Mmmm…)

Overall, I’ve discovered that I’m a massive fan of Kashiyaki, and Kirin Ichiban beer. And I’m spreading the word, you need to go try it.

Kelly xoxo

The Woodstock
11 Woodstock Street
London W1C 2AE
02074994342