The Afghan Kitchen in Islington is worth knowing

?If you like unusual food, and you're not bothered by rather spartan decor, the Afghan Kitchen in Islington is worth knowing.

It's a tiny place - it's not even like eating in someone's front room, more like eating in their cupboard under the stairs! And it can get frenetically busy on weekend evenings, with staff often looking rather hassled. You may end up sharing a table, too - or having to queue.

But you won't get Afghan food in many places, and it's remarkably good value too, with main courses around seven quid or so - you can get out of the place having spent ?40 for two, or a bit less. Yoghurt, spinach, pumpkin are key notes in this food, with huge slabs of poppy-seeded Afghan bread. It's real soul food, strong on colour and strong on flavour.

The menu is short and never seems to change; lamb and spinach stew, chicken with yoghurt, pumpkin stew, stewed aubergines. 8 dishes all in all - of which four are veggie, so if you or your friend don't eat meat,it's a good choice for an evening. You eat sitting at one of the plain wooden tables, in a spare, whitewashed room - upstairs or downstairs, the effect is the same.

There's a wine list, I've been told, though I've never bothered with it. That's not really what you go there for. The food's the thing - and the food is great.

And where else will you get to eat Afghan in London?

The Afghan Kitchen, 35 Islington Green (Angel tube) N1 8DU