Claypot Asian Food Kitchen (McMahon) — Restaurant in Calgary

How do you rate a restaurant that had some amazing food but ruined your night with their terrible service?

My husband and I visited Claypot Kitchen over the weekend. It was my birthday weekend, and, as someone who enjoys Asian fusion, I was really looking forward to the meal.

We arrived per our reservation and the hostess was kind enough to let us move to another table that was not as close to the kitchen. The lighting was perfect and the projections really set the tone for the evening.

We picked the smoked beef brisket bao for starters. The bao was fluffy, the meat perfectly tender and the spiced aioli brought everything perfectly together. The Five spice pork noodle and Mala spicy chicken breast, shiitake mushroom claypot rice were the mains. The noodles reminded us a south Indian style pork curry with the right meld of the five spice. The Claypot rice was flavoursome — the chicken was juicy, the shiitake mushroom brought the umami, the rice was crispy from the heated claypot — and perfectly finished with the right amount of spice that hits you in the aftermath.

We finished off our meal with the mango coconut pudding, which was delightful, and the lava cake.

This was where our experience started to go downhill. Given the amount of food we ordered, we had eaten little less than half of our claypot rice. Our waitress offered to pack up the remainder food as we ate our dessert. With no sign of our doggy bag after our desserts, we enquired about the package. Our waitress looked a little flustered and told us that she would check on it. She came back with the bill, but still there was no sign of our food. Assuming she would hand it over shortly, we paid our bill and she once again disappeared into the kitchen. This time she returned with the news that our food may have been trashed.

What annoys me are two things. One, almost half of a dish that we paid for was thrown out. Two, she chose until we paid the bill, including a tip, to tell us that the food was junked.

I'm just so disappointed at how the evening, which had so much promise, ended. Truly, I was looking forward to finishing up the Claypot as a late night meal...

My friends and I ended up here for dinner last night because we couldn’t get into Juree. The one good thing about this place was that no reservation was needed.

My one friend and I both had the clay pot with lobster and shrimp. My second friend was eager to try their homemade noodles and ordered a beef dish with very mild spice. The waitress’s reaction to my friend finding it too spicy was comically rude “Oh wow, do you eat spice every day?”, she asked.

I specifically asked if they had gluten free soy sauce. I was told no but that the sauce that came with my clay pot was gluten free. They brought my clay pot before they brought my friend’s clay pot. I dumped in the sauce and dug in. A minute later, they came with the second clay pot and said it was for the person with the gluten allergy. The waiter genuinely thought I was going to slide over a dish that I’d started eating to my friend! I mentioned that I’d been told the sauce was GF as long as I didn’t add soy sauce. I was then told the sauce IS soy sauce. There was NO offer to make me a new dish since they messed up. EXTREMELY IRRESPONSIBLE.

The food was really not very good. My friend with the noodles said her mouth was on fire. The dish itself was not very warm. The prawns in my clay pot were just plain prawns out of a bag. No flavour, no flavouring.

The service was worse than the food. After our table was cleared, we waited almost 30 mins for anyone to return (there were only two other tables and at least three staff). Eventually, we were quietly asked if there was anything else we needed. No offer of the dessert menu. After paying, we sat and chatted. About 15 mins after paying, our original waitress, who had been passing our table but ignoring us for the last 45 mins, came over and offered me more tea. I assume she had no idea that we had paid our bill.

All the staff here are young and inexperienced. Unfortunately, this restaurant is not worth a second...

Before I get into this - I must say this is an underrated and must try gem in Calgary and one of the better dining experiences I’ve had in YYC! It is such a vibe inside, my friends and I stayed for 2hrs after we finished eating just chatting and talking it was just so comforting and nice. As for the food, I’d want to try the whole menu after what we tried because WOW the plating and flavour combinations were perfection.

Here’s everything we tried:

GRILLED & BRAISED PORK SPARERIB ($27): Bokchoy, Fregola pasta, Shimji Mushrooms. So much flavour and the Fregola pasta was delicious, I’ve never had this and it was super good. The pork was perfection and tender.

PRIME RIB CHIMICHURRI ($37): Fregola pasta, Shimiji Mushrooms, Mix green, Asian Chimichurri sauce, demi jus. Incredible, the prime rib was tender and fatty but the perfect amount and the flavours of everything just paired so well. I loved the veggie component of every dish it really elevated the flavours.

ASIAN STYLE SLAW ($12): pickled daikon, romaine, red onion, cucumber, carrots, seaweed, sesame oil, garlic, black vinegar, fried starch noodles.. So fresh and good, the dishes are quite flavourful and a salad like this was the perfect palette cleanser.

DONGPO CHICKEN WINGS (1 LB $14): 1lb of chicken wings with a ginger garlic sauce, black vinegar, fried scallions, ginger. Flambé with Er Guo Tou (Chinese liquor) at the table. These were our favourite! They’re so crunchy, juicy and flavourful!

SZECHUAN DAN DAN NOODLES ($16): Pork Stew Sauce, Sesame Sauce, Szechuan Hot Sauce Cucumber with Hand Made Noodle. Wow another incredible dish, so much flavour in this!

We tried the Deep Fried Milk & Castella for dessert!

We were truly obsessed with the execution and flavour of every dish - what a good spot! For the price as well, the flavour and quality of...