Indian Clay Pot — Restaurant in Lake View Township

This is an UPDATE to my previous review (below). Since then, the owner contacted us and offered to have us come back and have another meal that he would help prepare and make sure was just right. It was an extremely generous offer, and I would like to emphasize that no matter what I ultimately thought about the food, I was really impressed by motivation he had to improve our experience.

So, back to the food: we ordered a couple new things and a couple of the same things as the first time to see if they were improved. We got the chili gobi, which is fried cauliflower in chili sauce. I believe this is a sort of Indo-Chinese dish; it definitely has a Chinese type of flavor to it. I thought it was really tasty and addictive. We re-ordered the same meat samosas from the first time, and they were so much different than what we originally had, I'm starting to think we might've just received the wrong dish the first time. These were full of meat, so that was great. We also got lamb saag, which was tasty, and re-ordered the chicken kadai. The owner made sure to clarify what we did/didn't like from the first time. Our biggest issue was lack of spice, so he spiced it up for us and that improved it a lot. I think it was also just a better batch this time, as the consistency of the sauce was thicker and more like what I think kadai should be like.

I will note also that for us (being people that have lots of experience with indian food), the experience was different than those who don't have as much experience or just don't like spice. I can't blame the owner for catering to the tastes of the neighborhood as a whole (that is to say, mostly non-Indian customers).

OLD REVIEW: I am really surprised at the discrepancy between what I read about this place in the reviews before going, and my experience there. I have a few different categories to comment on, namely Service/atmosphere, taste (objectively), and authenticity.

Service/atmosphere: The overall space is nice and clean, and we opted to sit in their cute little back patio since it was a nice day. However, 2 main things bothered me. The first is that the atmosphere was as if we had come in before they were even ready to be open, even though they had been open for an hour when we got there. The staff were sort of milling around aimlessly and still setting things up. When the hostess asked a server to take us back to the patio, she looked annoyed and proceeded to keep up a very strange attitude throughout the meal: some mixture of confusion and distaste. We were really trying to be nice, so I don't know what her deal is. There was a guy helping her out that was more accommodating and kind though.

Taste: the overall taste of the food was fine. There was nothing appalling. The best thing I tried was the chicken biryani, which had a nice flavor and chunks of chicken. This brings me though, to point 3.

Authenticity: One of the dishes I tasted was the chicken karahi. I am not an expert on Indian food, but I have tasted many versions of karahi, and let me tell you one thing it should be: spicy. The dish we got was literally sweet and nothing like what anyone who has had karahi more than once would expect it to be. I was very confused about that. I also tried a samosa that is supposed to be mostly filled with meat, and I could barely find a bite of meat in it. So those were disappointing.

Overall, I feel let down by this experience. All the reviews talk about how accommodating and wonderful the service is, and how true and authentic the food tastes. I felt like I wasn't even in the same restaurant as those reviews. Bad...

Ordered an appetizer with a side of rice that I told her I wanted as a main dish and asked for it to be brought out with my daughter’s food. They still brought it out as an appetizer. When I reminded her I wanted it as a main meal I was told well your rice will be out later. I told her I wanted my food together and I would like it all to be warm. She repeated that my rice will be out in a little while and it should be warm then. She couldn’t understand the concept of bringing all the food out at once because this debate went on for another 5 minutes. I just gave up. They brought out the rice 5 minutes after the debate so about 12 minutes after they brought out my appetizer and yes it was cold. So I just talked as my daughter ate her warm food. When it came time for the bill she as if everything was good. I just looked at her and the cold food that I hadn’t touched and she asked again if everything was good. I told her, like i told you the appetizer was cold by the time the rice came out. She then offered to reheat it for me. I told her that’s what I wanted you to do 20 minutes ago, my daughter is finished with her food and we are ready to leave. She then asked if I wanted a to go box. So along with that and serving warm water with no ice I was kind enough to offer one star due to customer service. My daughter’s meal was good so I’ll give them...

Went to Clay Pot from a recommendation from a friend. I love food of different ethnicities and I’m fortunate to live by Indian Village on Devon so I don’t have to travel too far to enjoy some authentic Indian cuisine. Clay Pot is on another level. From the first bite of our appetizer with green chutney, you can taste the “made from scratch” deliciousness. I ordered the lamb masala and my wife ordered the shrimp saag (sp?). Man!, the food was so tender that it melts like butter in your mouth. I have no clue how they made the lamb so tender. I don’t think I even chewed the food. I just let it melt inside my mouth. It was incredible! They tailor the spice to your tolerance. I love spicy food but today, I really just wanted flavor and Clay Pot did not disappoint. My wife loved her dish as well. The spinach was velvety smooth and shrimp were tender and plump. Texture and flavor were spot on. Add the friendliness and prompt service by our waitress, Key - and Sai even came out to make sure everything was ok- Better than ok! It was a pleasure talking with him and knowing the genius behind this amazing food. Please thank the rest of your staff on our behalf. We know it’s not just a couple people making this restaurant work smoothly and deliver great dishes. So even though we live close to Devon, Clay pot is our new favorite for...