Clay — Restaurant in Nice

I went to this restaurant for brunch with my daughter — and before anything else, let me say we definitely recommend it for the food, which was absolutely delicious. The reason I can’t give it 5 stars is the following. We had a hard time choosing from the menu (everything looked so good), so we each ordered two dishes. I had the eggs benedict and an açaí bowl, while my daughter chose the avocado sandwich and pancakes. When a young waitress brought our food, she handed me my plates and, speaking as if to herself, said in French (clearly and loudly, assuming I wouldn’t understand): “Madame est gourmande” — “The lady is greedy.” I was a bit shocked, but decided not to make a fuss so as not to spoil the moment with my daughter. A little later, she came back to check if she could clear the plates. Since we hadn’t finished, we said no. Again, as if speaking to herself, she remarked: “Vous mangez vraiment trop” — “You really eat too much.” At that point, I couldn’t ignore it anymore. It became clear this was her little “game”: mocking tourists under the assumption they wouldn’t understand. I spoke to her directly and told her I had heard and understood everything. She denied it, so I asked to speak with someone else. The owner (probably) came over and was very kind. Unfortunately, I don’t think he fully understood my explanation — I wasn’t clear enough on the fact that she had been talking to herself and not having a conversation with me. He explained that her comments might have been meant humorously, and that perhaps I was being too sensitive. He added that the girl was very young and quite scared now, which made me feel a bit sorry for her, so I decided to let it go. Later, she came back to our table. I truly thought she was coming to apologise, and I would gladly have accepted it. But instead, she continued to deny saying anything at all. So, in the end: excellent food, a kind owner, but unfortunately an unpleasant service experience with one waitress. Hopefully she has since stopped playing this "dangerous" game as some tourists actually do...

I hate to leave a bad review, but we were left disappointed with our brunch at Clay which we were so excited for. We ordered at around 10:10am on a sunday, and whilst it was clearly a very busy morning (which we completely understand), we watched table after table receive their food and drinks despite having arrived and ordered long after us. We were about to ask our waiter for an update after 30 mins of nothing, when we saw a staff member who appeared to be one of the chefs come out of the kitchen and start pointing at our table. He spoke to some of the wait staff and it was clear they were confused and had lost our order. Not sure why it was the chef, of all people, noticing that something was wrong. After some more time our waiter came over and said there was a mix up, and that he needed to take our order. We repeated our order and again waited more time. The food was delivered (with one item also being incorrect). The benedicts and french toast were good, but the bagel was served cold. It also wasn’t actually a bagel, but was a brioche bun instead, so be careful if ordering that. Our coffees then finally arrived once we were mostly through our meals. No other staff members spoke to us until we asked for the bill and they told us to pay at the front. They then gave us the wrong table’s bill at first, until we pointed it out. We didn’t necessarily expect any sort of compensation for losing our order, but an acknowledgment/explanation or apology would have been nice. I’d love to be able to give Clay another go as I’m sure it may have been a one-off bad experience, but unfortunately this was our last morning of a three month visit and we won’t be...

We came here for brunch and, first of all, I have to say the staff were absolutely delightful warm, friendly, and genuinely welcoming. Sadly, the organisation left much to be desired: there was a certain… charming chaos about the whole operation. I don’t usually mind waiting if the food is good, and in this case it really was worth it. That being said, I cannot ignore one small but deeply irritating detail: my husband’s friend and I ordered the exact same juice, both priced at an eyebrow-raising 6€. His glass arrived generously filled to the brim, while mine looked as though it had suffered a tragic evaporation incident on the way from the bar. The flavour was lovely, don’t get me wrong, but if one is paying a premium for juice, the least one should expect is the full measure. However, this is not what ultimately pushed my rating down. The real issue and the only thing keeping me from giving fewer stars is the charm of the gentleman serving us was the restroom situation. Only one toilet for what is clearly a sprawling and busy café. I waited in line for an agonising 15 minutes, watching my brunch grow colder by the second. By the time I returned, what should have been a warm, comforting delight had cooled into mild disappointment. It breaks my heart that a place with such potential is held back by poor infrastructure. For the love of your customers (and their brunch), please install another restroom. Still, I would recommend the healthy juice, provided they fill...