The Clay Oven
• #349, 3132 - 26 Street NE. | Calgary, AB | T1Y 6Z1
Average User Rating:
7.62/10
7.62/10
Recommended by:
83%
83%
Sort Reviews by:
"perfect place"
GORD
User Rating
8.67/10
8.67/10
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"The best food but the worst service"
Albert
January 2010 — "Clay Oven really is one of a kind. The service is so bad but the food is so good that you will often endure however bad the service is. I don't mean that the service is bad in the way that the server yells at you. But it's not unusual to wait over an hour and a half for your food or to be ignored by the servers. Last time I went, a few friends and I decided to pre-order our food so that the food can be ready to eat when we arrived at the restaurant. However, pre-ordering didn't seem to make a difference, since we proceeded to wait another hour after we arrived. We weren't too mad though because when the food arrived, it was totally worth it. It's just that good. Every dish comes hot and is unique and delicious in it's own way. I highly recommend Clay Oven but I recommend you go in with an open mind and expect bad service but great food in return."
User Rating
7.17/10
7.17/10
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"Good Lunch Destination."
Keith
January 2010 — "Came here for lunch, at the behest of a friend of mine, who hasn't stopped talking about this place for weeks.
He kept talking about how cheap it was to eat the lunch buffet, and how good the items made for it are.
He was right. There might not be a better Indian lunch buffet in Calgary.
The day we went there they were serving a variety of dishes. I tried almost everything: butter chicken, pankora, naan, tandori chicken and beef curry, just to name a couple of the dishes.
The butter chicken was pretty good, but the tandori chicken and pankora was awesome. The fact we went there at 11:30, and the dishes were quite fresh probably had something to do with how good everything tasted.
The service was good. Our plates were cleared very quickly, and the waitress was friendly.
All in all, a great place to grab lunch. Just make sure you go early, or you could be waiting to grab a table."
User Rating
7.67/10
7.67/10
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"Excellent Curries"
Jason
November 2009 — "This has got to be some of the best curry I’ve had. It’s a little hard to find as its in a strip mall tucked in behind where the old T&T Honda Dealership used to be located on 32nd Ave NE. Once you do find the place, you walk into to a dimly lit small restaurant. We didn’t have reservations and the restaurant did not appear to be too busy on the particular Saturday evening that we decided to go. We came with a large party with about 3 other tables in the restaurant. After looking at the menu we ordered quite a few dishes to share, highlights include the butter chicken, beef vindaloo and the wonderful Naan bread. The naan bread appears to be fresh out of the oven, nice and hot and coated with a tasty Garlic flavoring. The combination of the naan bread with the curries was fantastic. They offer you various levels of spice, so if you cant handle it being to hot, they can easily accommodate you. Prices were on par with other restaurants ranging in the $12 to $16 range. The only improvement I would like to see is some increase in the portions they provide and perhaps their speed of service. Though the place was not busy at all, we had to wait quite a while for our food to arrive. In the end it was worth it for the taste, but would be even better had it gotten to our table sooner. "
User Rating
7.83/10
7.83/10
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"Delicious Lunch Buffet, Bad Service"
Susan
October 2009 — "I decided to try out The Clay Oven lunch buffet with a coworker on a weekday. There were quite a few empty tables when we arrived. The buffet had no lights over the food so I was afraid that the food would be all cold. But this was not the case. This is actually one of the best Indian lunch buffets I've been to. The food was actually hot and tasty. The spices were just right. The rice pudding dessert was also very good. It would be nice if they could put some lights on their buffet so you can see the food, but at least they label the items. My main complaint would be the service. When we arrived, the waitress seemed like she was too busy talking on the phone to her friend to seat us or give us any water. The service was just bad throughout the stay."
User Rating
7/10
7/10
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"The Best Butter Chicken"
Mary
May 2009 — "This tiny restaurant is hidden in a strip mall in the North East. One would never know by its exterior that the East Indian food is spicy and delicious! It has only a handful of tables but that means that the service you get is attentive but not intrusive. The food is fresh and their butter chicken creamy and aromatic. From my limited experience with East Indian food, it was very authentic and each dish was very distinct from the next. I particularly loved the piping hot fresh garlic nan bread! I must say though that the dishes appeared a tad small for the prices. I recommend going with a large group so you can order a lot of dishes and can try everything out. All in all, good food, okay prices, and pretty good service. If you’re willing to pay the prices and can get a lot of people to share, give it a try."
User Rating
7.83/10
7.83/10
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"Great curries, even better naan!"Jenn
February 2009 — "Ended up having dinner here after our intended destination in the little strip mall closed earlier than expected. Couldn't have picked a better place though. Food was excellent and our server was very helpful and patient. We had a completely different experience that some of the others who have posted here.
Started off with a couple of the giant bottles of Indian beers (Kirin, I think), shared between the three of us. They were cold and promptly brought to the table. Perfect! Also had the parantha bread, stuffed with potatoes and meat for an appetizer. It was a bit heavier than we had expected, but tasty.
There really is a much larger bread selection here than you get at most Indian restaurants, so we ordered several kinds: chapati, parantha roti (not stuffed this time) and garlic nann. All the breads were good, but the garlic naan was the standout - huge and light and amazing. The one piece would have been enough for the three of us.
Saag paneer, lamb gorsht and chicken karahi were the main courses. Portions were generous for the price, spiciness was just right (for my tastes, anyways) and they didn't skimp on the meat. There was enough food left over that we each had lunch the next day and I enjoyed it just as much as the first time.
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User Rating
9.50/10
9.50/10
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"Still the best!"
Seattle transplant
May 2008 — "I've been going to Clay Oven for over an year now and both the quality and service have been top notch! I'm not sure what happened with the reviewers below, but I've never seen behaviour like that any of the times I've been there (too many to count). The staff and owner have both been pleasant and the food has been consistently great. They do get busy on the weekends and food can take some time to arrive at those times. Overall, there isn't another Indian restaurant in Calgary that can even come close to the Clay Oven."
User Rating
9.50/10
9.50/10
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"POOR SERVICE -WE LEFT"not coming back
April 2008 — " Well the family went to the Clay Oven for dinner - we first waited at the door while the employees chatted at the bar. After sitting and ordering our food we waited over one hour and still no food. And they were not even busy, three tables were done and leaving one other table and us. We were told over and over again only 10 more minutes. Three other parties came after us - who knows how long they had to wait because we walked out after waiting over one hour. And when we left it wasn't like the employees asked why we were leaving - because they did not want a scene infront of the three tables that came after us. "
User Rating
3/10
3/10
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"food was good once upon a time......."mal
June 2007 — "we were regulars here, loved the place, but have recently been disappointed. the food quality, which is what makes a restaurant worth going to has deteriorated. we even were regulars for take out, would drive alll the way across the city to pick up dinner. lately our take out orders have been opened at home to find food that is charcoal burnt and unedible. one we contacted the restaurant, they responded angrily at us and said that they would refuse to even look at the burnt food if we brought it back to the restaurant. sad to say it, but clay oven fan no more."
User Rating
3/10
3/10
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"Excellent food"Wayne
February 2007 — "My wife and I have been there many times and always delicious. We have been to most indian restaurants in the city and this one is the best. Best bang for the buck around as far as Indian goes. When you order a meat dish you actually get more than 3 or 4 pieces. Good service and great food.. You won't be dissapointed."
User Rating
9/10
9/10
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"Absolutely The Best Food"Duane
October 2006 — "I ordered takeout from Clay Oven and the food was best Indian I had tasted. Phenomenal flavours and I have eaten at many Indian restaurants here in Calgary. I am going to order from there again tonight!"
User Rating
8.67/10
8.67/10
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DescriptionThe Clay Oven is family owned and operated. The food is carefully prepared and slowly simmered, providing customers with authentic Indian cuisine. Vegetarian dishes are available.
Location Information#349, 3132 - 26 Street NE.
Calgary
AB
T1Y 6Z1
