Crystal Charcoal Restaurant

I've never ordered a takeaway here but the sit down meals are better than average for a kebab cafe.  I would recommend the adana kebab and the guvech (lamb and aubergine stew).  The iskender kebab used to be very nice but I haven't had it for a while.  I've never thought the donner kebabs look very nice but then they never do, do they?  Food comes with salad, bread, olives, pickled chillies and chilli and yoghurt sauces included in the price. 

Only 4 stars as the prices have gone up recently and portions are getting smaller (in line with food and energy prices no doubt) and the service is variable.  Also they stopped making my favourite aubergine kebab a year or two ago!

Food comes with rice, chips or kuskus (ie bulgar wheat) but you have to ask for the kus kus specially as this isn't mentioned on the menu - which is a bit weird.  The serving girls used to be appalling at getting this right too and the food would always turn up with rice and then they'd have to bring you some kuskus too.  They've got a great deal better recently and haven't got my order wrong for quite a while.

All in all a decent cafe for lunch if you're very hungry in Holloway Road.

a mobile phone was lost in this restaurant and the proprietors refuse to allow access to the footage to confirm who took the mobile phone

AVOID this dishonest restaurant!

This is a great place to get an amazing meal for a very affordable and reasonable price which u will enjoy to the max! It is the best kebab shop in the world, i go there very often and i absolutely reccomend it to everyone. You should definatley have a try, you should judge unless u give it a go... just pop in one day its at 522 holloway road n7 6jp... they are also on facebook as crystal restuarant : http://www.facebook.com/pages/Crystal-Charcoal-Restaurant...

Considering that I am 100 percent sober 100 percent of the time, it's no surprise that kebabs don't constitute a regular part of my diet.

So in the early hours of this morning when someone suggested venturing all the way up to Holloway for a kebab, I was hesitant to say the least. He extolled Crystal's virtues at length , I asked him was he sure and his rapid riposte was: "I'm George Bernard Shaw".

So off we went. And I can happily report that at 10.40am the next day, after only 6 hours sleep, I still feel ok. The meat last night actually resembled and, would you believe it, tasted like meat. Not much to ask I know, but usually my first concern with the kebab world is that I'm not sure what I'm eating, when and what it was when alive and if it even if it ever was a breathing, animate being. The rather succulent meat that I plumped for also came wrapped in flatbread-style pita rather than the ubiquitous oval shaped number and was equally appealing in its freshness.

I wouldn't go out of my way, but if you're in the area it's worth a punt.

This is the one of the worst kebab shop in london,
i have been there they serve me something look like kebab, no taste, dirty salad, rubbish staff,
i will never go there again
james

So as mentioned in a previous review, me and the humble kebab have reconciled and are working out our problems. I had heard that the kebabs here were great and that this venue had even been mentioned on the bbc website.

I had a large lamb kebab…and it was alright..nothing more nothing less. Tastewise the kebab was probably worth a 3 and so this certainly won’t threaten our fragile relationship. What I didn’t like was how the large kebab seemed to come into a small pitta…which they then wrap up in paper kind of like subway do with their sandwiches. It doesn’t work here though because firstly its hard to get at your kebab, you can’t just unwrap it completely because the pitta is far too small to contain all the food. This also means that close to the end you just have lots of loose salad and meat, covered with sauce. I valiantly tried to eat some of this mush…as the front of my jacket will testify, but soon realized that I was bested.

So they lose a point on presentation basically. Kebabs can be messy at the best of times, so trying to cram way too much into a tiny pitta is not helpful.

I live within walking distance to the one of the best kebab houses in london. I can be sure that this is true I am greek and I know a good kebab I tell ya!! My friday/saturday night isnt complete without a visit( normally drunk) I do try call them on the way so I can have mine ready when I arrive but they never pick up the phone!! They are sooooo busy so I never mind and as soon as I walk in the door they greet me with smiles and get my usual chicken shish ready, whether you want to eat in or take away amazing food absolute great value. It must if you are passing through this part of North London sadly I will be moving south of river very soon.

The kebab, I think holds a place in late night London life, something to feed your starving body after a large night out. Generally I avoid kebabs like the plague. Quality is often suspect, and those elephant legs of meat by-product are a fearsome sight indeed.

Not at Crystals, no. Crystals is what every late night kebab restaurant in the UK should aspire to!
Superb quality food, and if you sit down, a very affordable, healthy meal (around £5) can be yours. With a choice of (very well made) rice or (very well made) pita, complimentary sides and salads. This is what dining in the unholy hours of the early morning should be about! In fact the shish kebab I had the last time I went there was probably the best shish I’ve ever had. Well in London at least.

It’s open 22 hours a day, situated on Holloway Road so if you live in North or North East London it’s usually on the way or a small detour on the way home.

Pros
- superb quality food
- very affordable
- open 22 hours a day
- staff are very friendly and welcoming

Cons
- busy, busy, busy

Cant believe Im reviewing a kebab place but this place is special. There is always a queue out the door for their food, the kitchen appears spotlessly clean and the food...oh the food!
Couldn't help noticing this establishment listed on the bbc as one of the worlds best kebab shops! http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A124534
Its true by the way