NNTP-Posting-Date: 4 Dec 1999 06:41:09 GMT X-Newsreader: Microsoft Outlook Express 4.72.3110.1 X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V4.72.3110.3 Xref: pale-rider.INS.CWRU.Edu austin.food:6397 Heather R. wrote in message ... >Can anyone tell about The Clay Pit restaurant on Guadalupe? I love >Indian food, and I pass it occasionally, but have never been in. We've been there twice. We like the unpretentious atmosphere. The service has been excellent. Last time we went, they had started a little jazz nightclub upstairs, so the music was good too. But be careful if you have a gringo tongue like mine. The last time we were asked if we wanted our food mild or spicy. Out of kindness to me, Todd ordered it mild. It arrived so hot I couldn't taste it anything else about it! Lynn
Austin, TX
the Clay Pit - been there?
NNTP-Posting-Date: Sat, 04 Dec 1999 11:26:25 CST Xref: pale-rider.INS.CWRU.Edu austin.food:6400 the lunch buffet is somewhat limited. Compare to Bombay Grill on Bee Caves (great variety and selection) and Taj Palace by Highland Mall (Great variety and selection AND authenticity). I mean, for a gringo, the value of an Indian restaurant is the buffet, right? You don't want to order something and get this bowl of green minty spinach puree, do you? The buffet (and the restaurants know this) allow the cautious American palate to choose from the strong Indian palette of tastes, abandoning the minty purees in favor of tandoori chicken, which is very similar to other chicken preparations in that it tastes like chicken. DLS wrote: > > Heather R. wrote in message ... > >Can anyone tell about The Clay Pit restaurant on Guadalupe? I love > >Indian food, and I pass it occasionally, but have never been in. > > We've been there twice. We like the unpretentious atmosphere. The service > has been excellent. Last time we went, they had started a little jazz > nightclub upstairs, so the music was good too. But be careful if you have a > gringo tongue like mine. The last time we were asked if we wanted our food > mild or spicy. Out of kindness to me, Todd ordered it mild. It arrived so > hot I couldn't taste it anything else about it! > > Lynn > >
NNTP-Posting-Date: 5 Dec 1999 16:59:49 GMT X-Newsreader: MT-NewsWatcher 2.2.2 Xref: pale-rider.INS.CWRU.Edu austin.food:6436 In article , Heather Robinson Someone wrote: > Can anyone tell about The Clay Pit restaurant on Guadalupe? I love > Indian food, and I pass it occasionally, but have never been in. I went there once for dinner. It was expensive and the food was bland. Maybe I ordered something bad, everyone else seemed to enjoy their dish. I like that Indian place on Burnet road a lot more and its cheaper.
NNTP-Posting-Date: 7 Dec 1999 04:12:49 GMT To: Heather Robinson X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.05 [en] (Win95; I) Xref: pale-rider.INS.CWRU.Edu austin.food:6406 We've been in a couple of times...I could make a meal of the Naan (sp?) ...soft warm flatbread cooked on the tandoori oven. We're not experts on Indian food, but have enjoyed both our meals there. (The beef vindaloo last time was almost too hot for my tastes, but after the shock I enjoyed it.) Heather R. wrote: > Can anyone tell about The Clay Pit restaurant on Guadalupe? I love > Indian food, and I pass it occasionally, but have never been in. > > Thanks > H
NNTP-Posting-Date: 7 Dec 1999 02:34:55 GMT Xref: pale-rider.INS.CWRU.Edu austin.food:6405 In article , Heather Robinson Someone wrote: > Can anyone tell about The Clay Pit restaurant on Guadalupe? I love > Indian food, and I pass it occasionally, but have never been in. > > Thanks > H I think it looks quite pleasant but I am indifferent to the food. It is very middle of the road. It tries to be somewhat creative and a bit inventive a la Tabla etc. If my shaky memory serves, I may have read a review that suggested that the chefs may in fact have come from there or have some relation to Tabla. To my taste, there is too much of a sweet thread running through the food. I have also found this occasionally in Thai/Vietnamese foods - they try to balance heat/acidity with sweetness and go overboard on the sweet element. (Thai Noodle House on Guadalupe for example also exagerates the sweet element) I have had two negative experiences: 1) I got a lassi which was made with yogurt that had a "bad fermentation" i.e. it tasted more like "ripe" Limburger or Livarot (exageration of course) than a simple clean yogurt taste. I sent it back and they came back with more of the same. For a restaurant that is trying to be a cut above this is incompetent beyond belief. Having grown up in a house where yogurt was made at home I can understand it can go off ocassionally. To serve it to a customer twice in a row is unpardonable. 2) Bad service in the form of an incompetent waiter. He did not bring Nan out with the meal, he barely visited the table and on his rare visits would apologize and say the kitchen was "making it fresh". While this was happening another more competant waitress had no trouble keeping her tables plied with Nan. Finally he brought out the Nan with profound apologies with my bill!! The restaurant was not busy, so no excuses can possibly be found. I would recommend visiting it grudgingly, because it is slightly more distinguished in ambiance than the average Indian place. On the food front it is not worth seeking out. Roland
NNTP-Posting-Date: Mon, 06 Dec 1999 22:38:05 CST Xref: pale-rider.INS.CWRU.Edu austin.food:6408 > Heather R. wrote: > > > Can anyone tell about The Clay Pit restaurant on Guadalupe? I love > > Indian food, and I pass it occasionally, but have never been in. > > > > Thanks > > H My husband and I both really like it both in terms of food and atmosphere. We have sampled most of the Indian restaurants in town, and some of them seem to fall in the "comfort food" variety (Star of India, Mr. India Palace,) which is not necessarily bad...I mean, you know your buffet will have saag paneer and malai kofta, and it all tastes pretty fine and filling. Taj Palace is a cut above these places in terms of quality and variety of flavors. (Two visits to Sarovar have been ruined by *completely* indifferent service, so I can't really tell you our take on there!) The Clay Pit is almost in a different category...the spices seem more adventurous and their flavors more uncommon. Their saag paneer is, for example, much more "spinachy" than in any other restaurant in town (which in my opinion is a good thing.) They also do some very tasty things with nut purees on their meat dishes, and their tandoori stuff is again different, but quite well-executed. (and, as a non-Indian food aside, their calamari is absolutely the best I've had in Austin!) Also love their stuffed naan - especially the cherry nut. Sounds odd but it's a meal and dessert in itself! However, I will admit to having two or three of our early visits really tainted by bad service...so bad that I even wrote them a letter of complaint! We gave them about four months to straighten things out, and our recent visits have been error-free and pleasant. Margaret
User-Agent: slrn/0.9.5.7 (UNIX) Lines: 19 Xref: pale-rider.INS.CWRU.Edu austin.food:6412 Heather R. wrote: >Can anyone tell about The Clay Pit restaurant on Guadalupe? I love >Indian food, and I pass it occasionally, but have never been in. It's "Indian-style" food, for want of a better description. That's not to say it's bad--the mussels appetizer is quite good for example--, but it isn't the place I go to when I get a craving for Indian food. Right now, I alternate between Little Bombay and Sarovar (weekend buffet). The first serves Indian "fast food" (idli, dosa, vada, etc.), and is completely vegetarian. Sarovar can have pretty bad service, but the last three or four times we've gone there for the weekend buffet, they've been quite attentive (water on time, etc.), so hopefully they are improving (haven't tried them for dinner for a long time after a pretty bad experience with service).