Clay Oven has become one of the regular restaurants we visit in downtown San Mateo. We keep coming back for the tasty food, friendly service in a pleasant environment. A full bar is also available. read more

This my girlfriend and I's go to place for Indian food in San Mateo. All we need is the chicken tikka masala and garlic naan to satisfy our tastebuds! read more

I've been a loyal customer here for many years. I love their food cause is very authentic Indian cuisine. The lamp curry is awesome. Service is excellent. Owner is very friendly. Highly recommended. read more

Clay Oven - Dining area - Indian Near Me - San Mateo, California

This place is one of the best Indian restaurants I've ate at in a while. The Punjabi chicken was my most favorite curry. The garlic naan was fresh and thick. Our waitress was very kind and made sure we had everything how we like it. She also made some really nice recommendations like the Punjabi chicken which was very very tasty. read more

i ordered the Vegetable Korma and it was delicious! the spinach naan was amazing too. i also tried the mango lassi for the first time and it did not disappoint! the staff were some of the most attentive and kind people i've ever met! if you want amazing service and delicious food this place is worth checking out read more

Clay Oven - Indian Near Me - San Mateo, California

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I often go here late at night when most places have closed. They stay open till 10pm. I especially like the saag paneer. Whatever I get I add the garlic Naan, it tastes like it was freshly baked. The soups are very good but if you're really hungry you'll need more than one, they're small. The food is pricey but you're paying for the late service and, isn't everything expensive now? The service is very friendly and helpful. I want to try their Chai but I'm always there late at night and it's traditional Chai, it will wake you up! They also have kaapi (coffee) if you're not a tea drinker. It's also very strong. If it's prepared with the care of the other items I've had there, it's got to be good! If you're out late with a group, this is the place to close if you eat late and want to hang out after hours. My group often plays credit card roulette, shuffle credit cards and the one that gets picked pays. It could be pricey here, but you won't be complaining about the quality of the food, it's constantly great!. read more

This is an ok place. I had it a couple times before. Not bad but if you have it delivered. You might want to reconsider it. Best if you pick it up yourself. Let's go back a bit. We ordered their food here and there before. Most time we ordered in because of rain or bad storms. I hate it most time they are not on time. Most of their drivers are not great with addresses. They get confused of where the front of the building and they often go towards the back. I waited close to an hour and a half and nothing. I called the guy at Clay Oven trying to see what is going on. Told me order already left. Ok.....well so I waited about 15 more minutes. Mind you it's almost 8pm and I ordered it since 6:06 pm. Wtf is going on with them. I also may never know. Called again since now it's 8:09pm. I am beyond aggravated and hated the fact that the restaurant never even apologized or give explanation of what was going on. Finally I called customer service at Grub hub. The driver finally called while I was on hold. He was in the back of the building. I am telling you that they are not great at finding address. Now for the food. I asked for medium spicy and it's spicier than medium. So you can imagined that we are not fond of our food. We ended up not finishing our chicken tikka masala. Threw it away and I am sure I will never eat that spicy ever again. Also their rice have this clove spice that if you eat it or accidentally chewed it. It will messed up your tongue and numbs it. Do whatever you can to avoid eating that. Not exactly my favorite place but it is what it is when you have zero options on Indian food in my area. read more

Delicious food!! Service was smooth, prompt and correct. Ambiance calm, clean, very pleasant. read more

We ordered the chicken curry and shrimp vindaloo. Both were pretty good and very flavorful. But the chicken curry or butter chicken is not as creamy or buttery as other places. We also ordered garlic naan, which was soft and fluffy. We got the main dishes Hot and they turned out to be very spicy, almost too spicy. I like spicy but I almost could not eat it so I would order the food medium spicy next time. Fortunately I also ordered a mango laasi, which helped :) read more

Will definitely be back here. We ordered saag paneer, fish tandoori, chicken tikka masala, garlic naan, plain naan, kheer, gulab jamun, and mango kulfi. Everything was delicious. Soft lighting and comfortable seating. Compliments to a great server, Karan! read more

As a working paramedic in 911 and being a foodie is super tough. But Clay Oven has always made it work for me and their food is absolutely delicious. Their butter chicken is always on point and is my favorite dish to get. The people working there are super friendly and always make it a point to make the experience great. 100% would recommend if you want Indian food in San Mateo! read more

Clay Oven - Indian Near Me - San Mateo, California

I will not go to this restaurant any more in rest of my life, even not in my next life. It is shelter in place time, we want to help restaurants in the neighborhood. We ordered a lamb curry dish and other dishes for lunch and gave 25% tips for the take out. When we got home, we realized that it was not lamb, but chicken. We called the restaurant. The guy on the phone (the same guy who took the order and handed our food to us) insisted that is was lamb. We told him that we can sent him a picture of the dish to show that the meat is chicken. he refused the offer, instead, he insisted that we have to send the dish back for him to examine. It is the first time for us to encounter so unreasonable person who runs restaurant. Don't go, unless you are prepared for unpleasantness. read more

Excellent food and friendly staff! Chicken Tikka Masala and Garlic Naan is the best comfort food!!

Made a delivery order for 2 online. Order included: Papadum, Nan, Raita, Paneer Makhni, Mattar Paneer, Vegetable Pakora, Rice Pilav. Food delivery was top notch--delivered early & still warm. Flavors were complex, creamy, savory, & delicious. There was plenty of food for 2 people, with enough for leftovers. My only complaint is about the Vegetable Pakora--the texture was tough enough that I feared chipping a tooth just taking a bite! The flavor was so good, but man, it was hard to chew. Overall, a great experience & I would definitely order from Clay Oven again. read more

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Older man, possibly the owner should be more polite when dealing with People. Also the food was late because they didn't start making until I got there. Taking my money to other businesses read more

Food was fantastic. Service was absolutely wonderful. The waiter and the chef checked in to see about the food. Nice quiet restaurant and very decent pricing. Highly recommend. read more

We have been going for the buffet for many, many years. Best quality and value on the Peninsula. But since buffets are on hold for now, we decided to try takeout. Ordered the Thali dinner and the Assorted Basket of Naan and Gulab Jamun for pick up at 6:30. Arrived a few minutes before and food was bagged and ready. Got home about half an hour later and food was still hot enough to eat. Very well packaged, and there was enough for the two of us to have dinner for two nights. Now we're just deciding what to have next week. read more

Delicious food and reasonable prices. Had the Chana masala and chicken saag. Great service, too.

Overall, good food! . Our favorite is the Kashmiri naan & Punjabi fried rice. Many dishes vary in taste, but mostly good enough. They have a nice selection of naans. All in all, I would recommend this place to someone looking to try some decent Indian food. Added bonus, they do free delivery! read more

Ordered delivery twice - on average, if you order 5 things, they'll miss 2 and 1 is wrong. Also ordered pickup once and it's the worst experience ever. Walking into the restaurant at pick up ready time but no one's there. waited for 10 minutes and still no one there. Walked away just don't eat there it's a trap. read more

The Tandoori Chicken, rice and Naan bread were awesome. Orange sauce, green sauce, and sweet brown sauce over the rice with the Tandoori and Naan bread is a great mixture thank you guys for an awesome lunch!!!! read more

Clay Oven - Tandoori Chicken - Indian Near Me - San Mateo, California

Back to disgusting . This place should just go out of business already. The quality and quantity of food is embarrassing.

The food was delicious and the service was charming. This is a good choice for Indian food at reasonable prices.

The review is for a la carte (dinner and takeout), have not tried their buffet. I can't believe I haven't written a review yet :) Love their food, and get it a couple times a month. I like their Palak chaat and pakora appetizers, and my favorite entrees are malai kofta, bhindi (okra), and baingan bharta (eggplant). Mr. Janak there is really friendly and makes you feel welcome. The ambiance is nice too. Thanks for some good food, please don't change your recipes ;-) read more

To call this the worst Indian food in the bay area - would still give more credit than due. Have never found Indian food inedible until now. We ordered 6 dishes from here. Every single 1 was beyond edible. Aloo paratha had no salt, aloo Gobi had too much salt. Biryani was abysmal and stale. read more

I've ordered takeout here with my girlfriend and her family many times, both before and during Covid. Every single time they get the order wrong, either missing items or just plain wrong items. I normally wouldn't mind, but today I wanted some Lamb Tikka Masala. The ticket on the bag was correct. The order wasn't. Instead of my lamb tikka they sent vegetable curry, which is way cheaper than the lamb. And we ordered 2 butter chickens, one mild and one spicy, and a malai kofta medium. Nothing hotter than mild came. Disappointing.. read more

Delicious. By far the best tasting Indian food in the Peninsula area (Millbrae, Burlingame, San Mateo)

This is primarily a North Indian style restaurant. It's just an average place. I usually get a take out or food delivered from here when I'm too lazy yet crave for something Indian. Curry Dishes: Of all the dishes, their curry dishes are decent. Spice level is generally mild to medium. Don't ask them to make it spicy which will result in a red curry full of chilli powder lol. Tip: Their curry dishes go well with naan than rice. Rice Dishes: Don't try their biryanis, they are a joke. On the other hand their Punjabi style egg fried rice is very good . The service is on the lower end. No one ever smiles at this restaurant. I feel very depressed whenever I visit this place. read more

I ordered chicken tikka masala, fish tikka masala, 2x garlic naan, and rice, for pick up and it took 30 minutes around 8 pm on a weekday. Overall, the experience was 3 / 5 and a couple things would have vastly improved my experience. The restaurant is nothing to write home about, but it might satisfy your craving when other restaurants are closed. The good parts were the curries, to a point, and rice. Unfortunately the person taking my order didn't ask for spice level, so I ended up with mild by default when I would have preferred medium or hot. The rice was nice and fluffy. For the naan, it was disappointing all around. There wasn't enough garlic or butter, and it came out a tad burnt. I want to come back a few more times to try more items at the right spiciness. read more

This was my go to. Was! Quality and service has gone down. Well service was always bad. Quality of food not good. Found another spot with waaay better food, a cool owner and more food for your buck, but quality food. Not this garbage they serve here. read more

It was ok the guy he was rushing for order taste was not that great this was my first and last time they don't have chaat vegetarian options in appetizer read more

Clay Oven - Mango Lassi - Indian Near Me - San Mateo, California

Great food and great service. We love going with friends since you order family style. The food is never too spicy, even for friends who don't like spice and a great place to have kids, friends and family try Indian food for the first time. read more

Basmati rice - bland, no saffron and a few dehydrated peas. Lamb Tikka Masala - the curry was decent, but the lamb was grilled not cooked in the sauce, and very much overcooked. Plain Naan - good and not drenched in butter. Mango Lassi - tasted like pre-made but good overall. **ordered take out** read more

Came here with my family and the service was amazing. the workers are so nice and friendly and the food was delicious! Definitely will be coming back. read more

Delicious authentic place, if you're craving for good Indian food this is the place to go. We ordered one appetizer, 3 main course and 2 glasses of wine, u was surprise it was only $55,00 I definitely recommend this place. read more

We came to eat the buffet during lunch. I had some of the tandoori chicken and it was RAW inside! When we tried to tell the waiter and he brushed us off. We told him again and he said he was going to talk to the chef. The entire time he avoided our table. We will never return to this place! read more

Clay Oven - The RAW tandoori chicken - Indian Near Me - San Mateo, California

Consistently delicious. I've been ordering takeout at least once a month for most of the pandemic. Their lamb and chicken tikka massala dishes are delicious. Garlic naan is fire. Well done, and I will continue to come here. read more

Back again at the Clay Oven Indian food on Clement St. I love the food here! Aloo Gobi, saag paneer, chicken coconut curry, everything is delicious! The naan is so fresh and a must have. Come one come all! read more

Don't come to Clay Oven as much as I used to; the food is pretty rich so I save it for indulgences but what an indulgence it is! Everything is so, so good. The service is much better than the last time I reviewed. They have a fantastic wine list at very reasonable by the glass prices and we're still ordering the same three dishes! They're just so good together and Clay Oven makes them exactly the same every time. It's my favorite comfort food. read more

Usually I don't give 1 star to anyone, Here is the reason, This is my second time here, If you are eating in a Indian restaurant at least 2 out of 8 dishes should be 10/10, That is their specialty 3 should be 7/10 and 3 should be 6/10, Let's start Naan delivered to me was uncooked like Pita bread, Tandoori chicken also baked it's ok if baked in oven but at least should have marinated well it totally flat no salt pepper Butter chicken also same sauce was not fully cooked no taste Chana Masala is like cooked in water with added chunks of onion and turmeric color Chicken curry is also like Chana masala it was a horrible experience Dessert Gulam jamun look horrible old didn't even gave a chance Kheer was also uncooked rice in simple milk, kheer should be smooth rice should dissolve in your mouth they were like leftover rice boiled in milk garnished-with cashews Only thing that was delicious was ice cream that was manufactured outside, Wasted $13.04 cents, Hope owner is looking at these reviews talk to your chef read more