- Restaurants |
- Nightlife |
- Shopping |
- Movies |
- All
Clay Oven
Category: Restaurants Indian Indian [Edit]
500 Haight St(between Fillmore St & Steiner St)
San Francisco, CA 94117
Neighborhood: Lower Haight
(415) 255-2000
- Hours:
Mon-Sun 10 am - 11 pm
- Attire:
- Casual
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
- Takes Reservations:
- Yes
- Delivery:
- Yes
- Take-out:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Good For:
- Lunch, Dinner
- Alcohol:
- Beer & Wine Only
33 reviews for Clay Oven
Review Highlights
"There Chicken Tikka Masala was amazing."
(in 5 reviews)
"Definitely try their garlic naan as it may be my favorite..."
(in 3 reviews)
"...include chicken tike masala, chicken tandoori, rice and nan."
(in 5 reviews)
Loading...
33 reviews in English
-
Review from Alvarito M.
San Francisco, CA
2/12/2011
I eat in this place once in a while and I do like it. Even though they order the food from the place down the block, the food has always been at the right temperature and consistent flavor. Im sure there are more authentic places in the city but this place has the right balance for my taste. The service is good and friendly so any place with good service has 1/2 the battle won.
My last meal include chicken tike masala, chicken tandoori, rice and nan. The prices are a bit high and as I expand my Indian palette, I'm sure I'll abandon Clay Oven, till then, I'll continue to be a customer.
If you're new to Indian food, looking for a comfortable atmosphere, friendly service, then this place is for you.
Peace! -
Review from Lauren D.
Plano, TX
7/3/2011
Extremely long delivery time. Estimated was 1 hour, arrived 1:25 later. Ordered from grubhub.
I'm not an Indian food expert so I'll do my best to describe what was lacking.
Goat Cheese Nan - The bread was stuffed with something equivalent to a powder. If you put goat cheese into one of those dryer machines that sucks all of the liquid out of it..this is what would result. Goat cheese should not be crumbled and dry like this.The meal only got worse from here.
Cheese Pakora - Sure sounded like a nice safe order...deep fried cheese right? I'm pretty sure what I actually bit into was a piece of flavorless tofu deep fried with mint & citrus seasonings with the worst batter I've ever tasted. Did not even swallow what I bit off..it was that bad. How do you mess up cheese? That was not cheese...no way it could be cheese.
Rogan Josh - For 14 bucks you'd think that this would come with rice...or something. It was okay. I ordered it mild and it was definitely spicy. I'd say it was the equivalent of a standard chicken wing marked as "hot". I was fine with it but I know a lot of sensitive mouths that would have hated it.
Still hungry now since I really don't want to eat any more of what I got. -
Review from Tiffany B.
San Francisco, CA
3/16/2011
You guys, for all that is holy and right with the culinary world, do not eat here. My dramatics are not due to the usual complaints of poor service or nasty food - no, it is far more nefarious. You know when you find out that your good friend from junior high is not only pregnant but also a raging meth addict and you start second-guessing how things can take a crazy turn for the worst? Yeah, it's like that with Clay Oven.
About a year ago, this humble strangely-spacious Indian restaurant opened, and I enjoyed the every couple nights a month I would drown myself in their butter chicken and coconut lamb - sopping up the last of the plate with naan - happily content with average but filling Indian flavors. Suddenly, I began to see lots of shuffling back & forth between this corner spot and the far more delicious Indian Oven just down the street. I came to find out that the chain-restaurant owners of Clay had bought the other Oven. Okay, sure. That's fine. Smart, I suppose to 'eat up' the competition. For a while... no big deal.
About a month ago, I came in for another familiar dosage of their food. The place was empty (not a problem, I don't need a crowd to enjoy) and it looked like one guy was waiting tables (urm - whatevers, as long as the food gets to me) but after I ordered not only did I realize that this guy was partially deaf (now, I don't mean this as an insult or a knock against the hearing impaired... but I said "co co nut lah-mb" about three times before he got it) but that the FOOD CAME FROM THE OTHER OVEN. Like, the kitchen down the street.
After our order was placed, literally, my order was placed at Indian Oven. The waiter picked up the phone and audibly ordered our meal. About fifteen minutes later, a different waiter came through the front door with a couple large brown paper bags. Then began arranging the food onto dinnerware. Swear to Vishnu, I almost walked the fuck out.
As a business, why-oh-why would you allow for an almost-always empty piece of real estate to front as a restaurant, with a functioning kitchen and bar, to become some hollow cave to lure more diners to merely receive a delivery order? Not only a waste of space but a total slap in the face to all who want to sit and eat.
The food has suffered the price in this process as well, because nothing was as delicious as I remember it. Clay Oven is an insult to every hard-working restaurant owner and I am embarrassed to have it in the neighborhood. Shiva needs to get her butt over to Lower Haight and get all death & destruction on this place.
Okay, I'm done now. -
Review from Carlos S.
San Francisco, CA
2/25/2011
I ordered for delivery via grubhub and found the experience... well less than satisfying. I've ordered from here before and the food was mostly fresh and pretty good. However the second time not so good
My order was over an hour late. I called the restaurant 30 minutes after the estimated delivery time and a fob with broken english told me, "a food on the way". When my food did arrive I didn't think the driver deserved a tip. From his car he called me and then when I didn't answer left me a voicemail and then knocked on door he pointed out the order indicated I would tip cash. I reminded him I am paying for service and that being an hour late is no way to earn a tip. He said yea yea an hour I know, but it is part of my salary. I tipped him and had to yell at him to go away and let me eat, since he seemed to want to explain why my food was an hour late. I really didn't care. Service is horrible. Great food if you don't mind ordering a pizza first while you wait for it. -
Review from Hasan S.
1/24/2011
FOR DELIVERY:
Being right up the street, Clay Oven beats out the competition in the area for Indian cuisine; the others just plain suck.
Ordered the samosas, tikka masala, naan, rice and a coke to split with the gorgeous Kallista = $25.00
Samosas, I suppose, are hard to keep krispy (even though they are just right down the road) so they came just a bit soggy - but they were large and in charge filled with deliciously spiced potatoes.
Tikka masala was ok, a bit runny for my liking but was spiced just right.
The naan was on the smaller side and the rice was delicious.
Delivery was very quick - about 18 minutes. -
Review from Tom R.
San Francisco, CA
9/1/2010 1 photo
When I order food I expect it to be delivered within 45 minutes unless otherwise informed so when I called back after an hour it was to cancel the order. The guy I talked to assured me that the food was in transit and since my card was already charged I gave them the benefit of the doubt. Unfortunately I was already hungry when I ordered so after waiting another 20 minutes and I still didn't have any food I was very cranky. I called again and said "I'm hungry, where's my food! This is ridiculous!" The guy said the driver was almost at my house. I walked down to my door and just stood there for ten minutes until the driver showed up.
The food tasted fine even if it was a little over priced but 90 minutes and two phone calls to sort out a delivery is absurd. I will never order food from Clay Oven again. -
Review from Jason B.
8/16/2010
Clay Oven could learn a thing or two from their distant cousin Star India over in the Richmond (http://www.yelp.com/bi...). For starters, if you are going to price your chicken dishes in the double digits with no sides, at least feed me for a few days. Your portion barely made a meal. And perhaps go a bit lighter on the oil. From the looks of the glistening sheen in the container holding my chicken in (oily) tomato sauce, I could be found guilty of hazardous waste dumping when I poured the excess down a drain outside. Sorry ocean creatures.
Ick (and overpriced). -
Review from Brent S.
San Francisco, CA
11/17/2011
We sat down to eat there and they brought us to go food from a different location.
-
Review from Michelle R.
San Francisco, CA
5/30/2011
Clay Oven is great when you eat at the restaurant, and horrible for delivery. Some people just shouldn't offer delivery if it will be two hours late and absolutely cold. That being said, if you want to eat there, it is fantastic.
-
Review from terra r.
San Francisco, CA
10/23/2010
I love Indian food and am also a creature of habit.
I get "one thing and one thing only" when I order Indian
(Paneer Tikka Masala)
I'm a vegetarian and this creamy dish satisfies my belly in ways I can not even begin to explain, I just love it... I also happen to live in the lower haight where Tikka Massala lives in wild abundance and this is the best Ive found on the block.
The olny problem is this place is always empty. They have recently been bought out by Indian Oven which is always ridiculously busy. The food there is very good as well but there is something about this place ( its like the crack I believe are also in sandwiches from Ikes) that just keeps me coming back.
Mostly I just want people to know that just because the place is empty doesn't mean its not delicious. The service is impeccable and they don't charge you extra for the tasty little sauces like Roti does. They serve you Papadom with every meal as well as yummy rice pudding for desert.
It usually runs me around $20 bucks for entrée, rice and nan (a bit more than Nan and Chutney, and Roti) but when I'm in the mood to spurge or take a friend for dins this is where I go. -
Review from Mike T.
5/18/2010
I so wanted to like this place as I have given them multiple tries. I think they are a victim of the recession and there being 4 Indian/Pakistani restaurants within a 4 block radius.
Where do they excel? Decor and waiter service. The Decor is the kind of place where you want to take a date and enjoy the ambiance. It's the nicest Indian place in the area.
The biggest issue has been the freshness of the food, which with Indian food is pretty akin to one of the most important factors in taste and quality of Indian food.
I'm guessing the freshness is bad because they make the most popular dishes in bulk. The only problem is if they are not getting a lot of traffic (which has been the last 2 times I have been there), the food becomes stale especially the rice and naan.
When I ordered takeout, the food was the best. Lunch buffet was ok, but I still got the it's been sitting awhile feeling and I showed up for lunch around 11:30-11:45am. My latest experience with delivery was really lacking. The price is very reasonable but not when the food has been sitting.
If the decor & waiter service is important to you, give it a try but ask for a dish that is unique enough they don't batch make it and make a special request on the naan and rice so that you get it fresh.
Oh, tried to order takeout one time and they didn't answer the phone after multiple multiple rings. They did call me back (even though I didn't leave a message) but by then I had already ordered elsewhere. -
Review from claire s.
San Francisco, CA
7/19/2010
The food here is good. Nothing exceptional, but completely edible.
The service here is what brought down my rating. It's one thing to have an attentive server/busser - but it's completely unacceptable for dishes to be taken before you've clearly finished eating. That's what happened to us, not sure if it's happening to everyone... -
Review from Anjali V.
San Francisco, CA
Updated - 2/4/2010
1 order: Chicken Tikka Masala
1 order: Hyderabadi Veg Curry
1 order: Seekh Kabab
4 pints: Kingfisher beer *on tap!*
1 order: Plain Rice (seasoned w/ peas, spices & cilantro)
2 orders: Cheese Naan
1 order: Spinach Naan
1 order: Raita
------------
Total: $78.42 (not including tip) - split btwn 3 ppl.
********************************
Ambiance:
A bubble of beauty in Lower Haight's trendy/grungy background: dim lighting, warm & polished interior decor, Moghul-esque paintings on the wall (further entrenching desi-exotification factor), linen table-clothing action w/ (real!) single red roses in stainless steel vases.
Service:
Polite & attentive, but there were 2 servers on the floor, both of whom were waiting on us - don't know about ya'll & everyone's got a personal preference on this, but I just need 1 server, thank you kindly.
Food:
Delicious. My friends & I asked for spicy, and we got spicy.
NB: What *not* to get: samosas. The filling in the ones I had here lacked flavour. It's a desi appetizer people - I don't care what else it lacks, the one thing it cannot lack, is flavour. Sadly disappointed.
Food Presentation:
Cheesy & adorable. The rice came in a bucket. A cute lil' brass bucket. I even warned our awesome server Sujit that I was gonna walk out with the darn thing. Holy Adorable-ness. The kebab dish came on a sizzling hot platter (love it when resto's do that). The curry (CTM) came in a mini brass 'karahi' (wok-esque). Cute, again.
-------------------
Verdict? Fallen star because of lack of affordability for me and my recession-scarred pockets. Everyday expense, this is not. By all means check it out & enjoy the delightful atmosphere & adorably yummy food - but be prepared to dish out the $ $ $.
Food for thought:
Got, 1st date on...Craigslist? - Expense it on Stoopid-Cupid's tab ;)1 Previous Review: Show all »
-
1/26/2010
Lower Haight Desi Joints:
- Rotee
- Indian Oven
- Naan 'n' Chutney
and now: Clay Oven
(formerly "Raja… Read more »
-
-
Review from Evan M.
San Francisco, CA
1/24/2010
This is the new Indian place on Haight and Fillmore. It replaced Raja Cuisine of India, the sketchiest of the three indian places within block. The new place is a much more upscale, white tablecloth place, with prices to match (much like the similarly-named Indian Oven half a block away).
We ordered samosas and a couple curries. They were very good. My girlfriend ordered the Chicken Tikka Masala mild, and it came out very mild. I ordered the Rogan Josh medium, and it came out quite spicy (although not ridiculous). I also ordered garlic naan, which was not very fresh, it tasted like it was made much earlier in the day. However, it was 9:00 PM on a Sunday night, so maybe it would have been fresh a few hours ago.
We asked for our leftovers to be boxed, and they were happy to do it, but they put my girlfriend's and mine in the same box, which was very inconvenient.
Finally, for those of you out there who dislike cilantro as much as I do, *everything* came garnished with a handful of the evil weed, so make sure you ask them to leave it off. -
Review from Adriana K.
San Francisco, CA
5/20/2011
i ate the chicken curry and my boyfriend had chicken tikki massala. I loved it..the delivery time wasn't too bad either. It was kinda pricey but good good food
-
Review from Shane J.
San Francisco, CA
4/12/2010
Great dishes, plenty of spice, modest prices, impeccable service.
This is a great new spot for Indian in the Lower Haight. I have to say it has taken the place of some of my old favorites. -
Review from Robert S.
San Francisco, CA
4/6/2010
I came in on a whim for the lunch buffet. The food was pretty good but the staff seemed to have a confused protocol for handling customers as they come in. There were some weird moments of awkward stares before they showed me to a table.
The food itself was pretty good, the offerings in the buffet were somewhat limited though.
I would cone back again as the price was reasonable forthe quality of the food. -
Review from chris m.
Seminole, OK
1/26/2010
Got take out there last, night.
They were SUPER SUPER extra helpful and nice, made some yummy custom whole wheat nan on request.
All in all very tasty, have to properly eat dinner in one night to give real judgement. -
Review from Dave B.
San Francisco, CA
4/5/2010
A nice dinner at a decent price. I'd love to be more descriptive but this meal was exactly what I expected. I wasn't pleasantly surprised, nor was I disappointed. I came in. I sat down. I ordered Indian food, and it was cooked and brought to my table. It tasted pretty good.
Extra points:
- nice looking interior
- excellent garlic naan
Minus points
- noticeably slow service
- our vindaloo (which we specified "spicy!") was exceptionally mild -
Review from Erin L.
Mill Valley, CA
12/14/2010
Again, referred by a friend to take my sister for her 19th birthday. We were excited to try some Indian goodness and were very pleased with each of the three entrees we ordered. It was very tough to only pick three as there were so many options. We had a coconut milk/raisin curry chicken dish and two vegetarian ones: cheese with tomato cream/peas and cauliflower and potato curry - everythind medium spicy. Definitely try their garlic naan as it may be my favorite yet. I'd give five stars if their prices were a little lower - not too competitive for SF.
-
Review from Joshua W.
3/22/2010
It's a common disappoint for me to order food "extra spicy" only to receive tame bland food. Well I can happily report that this capsaicin junkie has found his new favorite indian delivery joint. Everything I ordered was prepared exactly as I requested and was spiced perfectly. Delivery was prompt (around 30 minutes right at 7pm), and the quantity of food was plentiful. I'd say it was a LITTLE more expensive than it should be, but not so much that I'd order from a different place. I'll look forward to ordering from Clay Oven again the next time I get a hankering for some tasty indian food.
-
Review from russ w.
San Francisco, CA
8/26/2010
I order delivery from this place whenever I get the itch for some Indian food. It has always hit the spot (I usually get Rogan Josh, Coconut Curry, or Chicken Tikka Masala). The food always arrives at my house hot and delicious. I think the prices are a little high but for the convenience of delivery I pay it.
-
Review from babyroo j.
Emeryville, CA
7/22/2010
We ordered Keema Paranthas. Keema is a spicy ground lamb mix. BTW, I am Indian so I know exactly how it's supposed to not taste, or look!
Our paratha had a SLICE of meat inside it!!!!!! It was a salami paratha!!!! And disgusting!! When we asked the waiter what had happened to our order, he repeatedly yelled 'That's Keema" "That's Keemaa" "That's Keeemaaa" LOL
They offered to replace the meal and then 3 more staff members came and stood around in a group and stared at us and whispered while we finished our meal. And mind you, we were the only ones there, adding to the awkward creepiness of it all. Yikes! -
Review from Joe F.
Oakland, CA
8/30/2010
This place is too expensive for what you get--which are tasty enough dishes that are light on the meat. Rice sauce and nan, with lots of mark-up. Somehow our party of four managed to ring up a bill of $91 for three entrees and a few orders of nan - and that was for take out. For my money this is middle-of-the-road Indian food that costs top-shelf $$$. No thanks.
-
Review from Rupa P.
San Francisco, CA
2/4/2010
Excellent Indian food. I hope the quality will continue to stay consistent. There Chicken Tikka Masala was amazing. It was probably the best I've ever had. The shish kabab's were fantastic too. It's an upper scale Indian restaurant, so its a bit pricey but worth it. It's also a good place for a birthday dinner or a date.
-
Review from Alison B.
San Francisco, CA
12/19/2010
Short story: This restaurant straight up ordered our food from a different indian restaurant, made us wait 45 minutes to get it, and it was way overpriced (tasted good but i would have rather had the same stuff for way faster at a $10 buffet!).
Long story: A group of friends and i walked into Clay Oven for dinner on a rainy Sunday evening. There was one couple there just finishing dinner, and one waiter working. Seemed weird, but it was Sunday night, so whatever. We ordered our food, chit chatted, but eventually we realized how hungry we were and looked at our watches - we had been waiting over 30 minutes!! (not even our appetizer had come out). we continued to wait patiently and then bizarrely a guy came in, dressed as a waiter, with a take out bag. weird. suddenly our food came out of the kitchen! everything except the entree and naan for one of our friends. he waited....finally his chicken tikka masala came, but no naan. we asked for it, turns out the guy forgot to put it on our order, so he goes and makes a phone call, then 10 minutes later guy number two comes in with a take out bag again, and there's our naan! WOW. The food was good (especially considering how hungry we were) but definitely not worth the wait or the cost! -
Review from Elaine Y.
San Francisco, CA
1/30/2010
Salty food got me salty.
-
Review from Sean R.
San Francisco, CA
3/7/2011
Called in a phone order and was told it would be 40 minutes for delivery. After an hour I received a call to confirm my address and was told the food was close. 30 minutes after that I received another call saying the driver was 2 minutes away. 30 minutes after that I had enough and called to cancel (2 hours after ordering). The driver had the nerve to try to force me to accept delivery saying he had just parked and was near my place. I refused and he starting throwing out insults over the phone and claimed he had to commute too far....which was only 3 miles. I will never order from here again.
-
Review from Shwin S.
San Francisco, CA
2/6/2010
Atmosphere ok, but the food is testament to the truism that beware of any place that serves over fifty dishes on the menu, because there is a good chance you will be eating thawed foods or old reheated entrees. None of the dishes come cheap either, just like the other Haight white-tablecloth Indian oxymoronic cousin, Indian Oven. Humble and minimalistic Rotee down the street beats both places hands down with its limited offerings prepared fresh right in front of your eyes, and leaves both your tummy and your wallet happier.
-
Review from Samuel W.
San Francisco, CA
6/19/2010
Cold bland Naan tasted like it was left over from the lunch Buffet. Bland tandoori. Overpriced. Only plus was a very tasty Bhindi. Great choice if you like eating bland leftovers.
-
Review from Vincent W.
San Francisco, CA
2/20/2010
this is new in the area. stopped for a usual snack for me - dal soup and some pakora (spinach).
it was great. large servings of each, tasty.
it was obvious fresh (not chopped frozen) spinach was used in the pakora.
the mint and tamarind chutneys with the pakora were very good.
look forward to going back to try more veg food here
{{after a few visits back, i had to take a star away. nothing is ever bad, yet is has been very inconsistent between visits}}
this is now a defunct business...still there but directs you to Indian oven. -
Review from Carolyn E.
Pacifica, CA
3/26/2010
Great food. My husband and I enjoyed everything we ordered. We are not locals but would definitely make the trip into the city to eat this yummy food again.
-
Review from Erin L.
San Francisco, CA
3/12/2010
My delivery order took over an hour and a half - and I live about 7 blocks away. OK - it was lazy of me to not just go and pick it up, but I never anticipated it would take so long. The real problem, however, is that when I called them to check on my order (twice) they kept me on hold for at least ten minutes (a clear indicator that they f-ed something up and have to investigate whether or not my order was even placed) and when I tried to plead my case the man on the phone just kept talking/yelling over me - literally he just kept repeating "10 minutes! 10 minutes! 10 minutes!" as soon as I started to say anything. The driver also demanded a tip and told me to F*** off! Seriously. I get that things get backed up and orders take a while, I'm even understanding that you make a mistake with an order, but own up to it! Don't pretend nothing happened and definitely don't be rude to me because you screwed up!
