Since we moved to the Holloway Road just before Christmas, we've eaten at the Crystal half a dozen times. It's open 22 hours a day and is always heaving - mainly students from the University of North London, and as it's our local, I had decided not to spread the word for fear of never getting a seat again.

They bring a complementary dish of chilis, carrot and olives, with dips, so you don't really need a starter. Most of the mains are around four quid, and with them you get a big bread basket and a good salad plate. The table gets a bit crowded at this point. We usually have Ayran to drink (yoghurt, water, salt) at 60p a glass. The portions are vast, I've never yet cleared my plate; the meat falls off the bone; everything is fresh because the turnover is so high, nothing hangs around for long. Then they bring complementary paklava. We never manage to spend more than £4.50 a head.

So why did I decide to review it after all? I just wanted to tell you the following story: On February 15th, L, T and I returned from the march tired, hungry and dehydrated, stopped off at the Crystal for buckets of tea, heaps of kleftiko, kebabs, etc and headed home. Half an hour later L missed his wallet, and without much hope, returned to the Crystal. Holloway Road is not a posh area, and the Crystal is the kind of place to give the average Daily Mail reader the willies - cheap, open all hours, full of young people, predominantly male, ethnically diverse. L had left his wallet on the counter, someone had handed it in, the staff had put it away and handed it over with a smile when he came back for it. They didn't make a big deal about it, as they might so in the posh suburbs, it was simply normal behaviour.

But please don't go there, it's way too popular as it is. Approved. DM 03/03/03