Yakitori Near Me in North Finchley: Nippon Izakaya's Neighborhood Skewers

Nippon Izakaya is situated at 843 High Road in North Finchley, located a convenient ten-minute walk from Woodside Park Underground station on the High Barnet branch of the Northern line. North London has long maintained a thriving Japanese expat population centered around Finchley, Barnet, and Golders Green, and Nippon Izakaya was established to serve this tight-knit community with honest, unpretentious Japanese home cooking. The exterior features traditional dark cedar wood paneling, sliding paper screens, and a red paper lantern that casts a warm glow across the sidewalk as dusk settles over Finchley.

Unlike trend-conscious central London restaurants that impose strict 90-minute table limits, Nippon Izakaya operates with the generous hospitality of a Japanese neighborhood eatery. Guests are encouraged to linger over carafes of warm house sake and order skewers in steady increments. The grill chef monitors the charcoal grates continuously, ensuring that chicken skewers are served piping hot straight from the embers alongside freshly shredded green cabbage leaves drizzled with sesame oil.

Every evening around 6:00 pm, the robata grill at Nippon Izakaya is brought up to cooking temperature using premium lump charcoal that delivers a steady, enduring radiant heat. The grill master places chicken skewers directly across iron grilling bars, turning each bamboo skewer every twenty seconds to achieve even color without drying the lean meat. Salted skewers receive a final dust of roasted sea salt and fine sansho pepper just before leaving the hearth, releasing a fragrant, citrus-peppery aroma as they land on the table.

Beyond the signature £4.50 chicken skewers, Nippon Izakaya features a broad array of chicken and robata specialties. The chicken teriyaki costs £9.50, featuring pan-seared chicken thighs finished with an unctuous, ginger-spiked teriyaki glaze. To begin the meal, guests frequently order the chicken gyoza at £5.90, which are pan-fried to a crisp golden base while keeping the minced chicken and garlic chive filling steaming hot. The traditional Japanese fried chicken (tori karaage) costs £5.90, seasoned generously with garlic and soy and accompanied by Japanese Kewpie mayonnaise.

If you crave noodles after your skewer course, the kitchen prepares chicken yaki soba and chicken yaki udon for £10.90, tossed on the teppan with sliced cabbage, onions, and tangy brown sauce. For a warming soup dish, the Chicken Curry Ramen at £10.50 combines rich Japanese curry broth with springy ramen noodles and braised chicken slices. The comprehensive menu also features fresh sashimi platters, nigiri sushi, and signature maki rolls like the London Bridge roll, allowing tables to mix skewers effortlessly with fresh raw seafood.

Vegetarian diners are well catered for with skewers of charred shiitake mushrooms, grilled sweet baby peppers, and skewers of firm tofu basted in sweet soy glaze. The kitchen also turns out piping-hot agedashi tofu cubes resting in umami-rich broth and vegetable tempura platters featuring kabocha pumpkin, lotus root, and sweet sweet potatoes encased in feathery batter.

For dessert or a palate-cleansing finish, Nippon Izakaya offers green tea matcha ice cream and sweet black sesame mochi, providing a gentle sweet note after an evening of rich, savory skewers. Staff are always happy to pack leftover skewers in foil takeaway boxes if you over-order during your visit.

The dining room at Nippon Izakaya is intimate, welcoming, and entirely devoid of West End pretension. Wooden booths offer privacy for multi-generational families sharing large platters of skewers and sushi, while compact tables near the front accommodate pairs and solo diners stopping in for a quick dinner after commuting from central London. It is common to hear Japanese spoken across the room, with staff greeting regular guests warmly and remembering their preferred sake bottles and seating spots.

The beverage list complements the savory izakaya fare with imported Japanese beers on tap and by the bottle, including Asahi Super Dry and Sapporo. Chilled carafes of Junmai sake, warm house sake carafes, and refreshing shochu highballs with lemon are readily available at accessible neighborhood prices. The unhurried pace makes it an ideal setting to order multiple rounds of skewers as the evening unfolds.

The dining culture at Nippon Izakaya honors the traditional rhythm of Japanese salaryman relaxation. Groups of local professionals and families from the surrounding Finchley suburbs often order two or three skewers per person at a time, allowing them to eat each item piping hot off the grill rather than letting food cool on large communal platters. Between skewer courses, diners share steaming bowls of edamame sprinkled with flaky sea salt and plates of homemade pickled daikon to keep the palate refreshed.

Nippon Izakaya maintains reliable service hours seven days a week. The restaurant opens Monday to Wednesday from 12:00 pm to 10:00 pm, Thursday and Friday from 12:00 pm to 10:30 pm, Saturday from 12:00 pm to 11:00 pm, and Sunday from 12:00 pm to 10:00 pm. Because of its steady neighborhood patronage, Friday and Saturday evenings can experience brief waits between 7:00 pm and 8:30 pm.

The restaurant also provides a popular takeaway and delivery service, packing skewers and bento boxes in thermal containers to preserve crispness. Ample on-street parking is available along High Road and adjacent residential side streets after 6:30 pm.

If Nippon Izakaya is completely booked on a weekend evening, drive or take the 102 bus twelve minutes south to Eat Tokyo Golders Green at 14 Finchley Road (NW11 0EH), which provides two-piece yakitori skewers for £6.50 along with generous bento selections. Another excellent alternative is Jin Kichi in Hampstead at 73 Heath Street (NW3 6UG), located fifteen minutes away for robata-grilled skewers over charcoal.