"Leytonstone High Road is filled with unlikely shop-fronts — Lithuanian chain pubs and Romanian bakeries; a certain Thai restaurant. Red Camel is another, a rarity: a destination takeaway joint. Run by an Afghani couple, Farishta and Ackbar, from Mazar-i-Sharif, this brightly signed, small space serves excellent and homely food. Choose from small cushions of lamb shish and koobideh, spiced with cumin and chilli, and gossamer thin-skinned mantu stuffed with lamb mince and topped with yoghurt and chickpeas, to expertly cooked aubergine and okra stews and huge plates of long-grained Qabily pallow, rich with lamb fat. Things may run out, but this is the sort of place where Farishta might disappear for half an hour only to reemerge with a completely fresh batch." - Jonathan Nunn