Clay Oven

This was one of the only neighbourhood kitchens open late on a Sunday, which was much appreciated. Our karahi chicken and jalfrezi chicken were good, and the portions of naan and plain rice were large. Service was fairly good. The space is large and feels roomy, and I didn’t think the décor was a turn-​off, as some others mentioned. There were older paintings on the ceiling, which I found interesting. All in all, we would return.

Wasn’t impressed when we first arrived as the place has a very stale and obsolete feel (and smell) to it. Chairs are battered, the tablecloth are old and stained, just not a nice first impression.
Then the food arrived and HOLY MOLY. I didn’t even used to like Indian and now I’m secretly wishing we could eat there every day. We ordered two butter chicken and it was massive and delicious, pillau rice was top notch and the papadum and naans were perfect too.
It’s not a place where I would go eat with friends but it’s right in front of our house and perfect for an impromptu dinner out when we’re fancying Indian.
Despite the poor-​ish first impression I am positive we’ll go back.

DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT order delivery from Clay Oven! Hands down, the singularly worst restaurant experience ever. Placed a simple (two dishes and some rice) order at 6PM, food arrived at 7:15 after the driver got lost on the way over. Pay the driver £20; he leaves, and I then pull out my food only to find that the wrong dishes were delivered. I call the restaurant — they tell me they’ll call the driver and the correct food will be sent. 45 mins go by, no food, no driver. I call again. The host tells me it is on the way. 35 minutes pass, no food, no driver. I call again. She seems surprised I haven’t received my food, says she’ll contact the driver and call me back. Repeat process several more times. Make my last call at 9:45pm, different person answers, he says he’ll look into it and call me back. 20 minutes pass, no call. I try calling the restaurant again, and now they do not answer their phone. I give up. I have never dealt with such dishonesty and such horrible service. If you’re smart, you’ll avoid this place.

Overall experience ²⁄₅.
I was not impressed at all with the buffet they have on Sundays.
For £9.95 per person they give you 5 options to choose from and it wasn’t impressive.
The 5 items in the buffet:
–Weird rubbery chicken looking sausages
–Deep fried potatoes and cauliflower
–Chicken in coriander
–Lentils that tasted like mexican refried beans
–corn and cashew nuts
Sides: salad, naan, mint yogurt, a green sauce, and spiced onion i believe.
Drinks not included. Expensive and small portions. No refills.
Usually when you think buffet you think more than 5 options to choose from and usually it includes more dishes with actual chicken or some kind of meat, but not this buffet as it only had one edible choice. You didn’t know what anything was until you tried it, and beware if you have allergies… you don’t know what you’re eating!
Service was indifferent. You were constantly watched and every time people would go up to the buffet some one working there would be standing behind you just staring at you. It’s odd.
What really pissed me off is that they didn’t give you new plates when you finished with your old plate. That’s really not professional to me. They expected us to use the old plate with old cold food on it that we left there for a reason (because it wasn’t edible) to get new food to eat? Makes no sense.

Went there on a Sunday. Waited for 15 minutes till the waiter came to take my order! Food was average. definitely not coming back.

Having eaten here several times over the years hadn’t visited for quite some time. Until recently. A dozen or so of us went along fairly late on a week day evening and found the staff to be friendly and welcoming even though several members of our group were rather louder than they should have been. Thankfully before they became too loud the other diners had finished and left. The service was efficient and the food piping hot and everyone enjoyed their meals. The hottest chicken vindaloo I’ve ever ordered was just perfect for me and my friends pretty much cleared their plates too!
The bill was accurate and we were happy to leave a 10% tip on top as service wasn’t included. The background music was pleasant but not intrusive. The ceiling painting along the middle of the restaurant is amazing!
My only niggle with the Clay Oven is that the ladies toilets are rather cramped and probably not suitable for disabled people whereas the restaurant itself has decent enough disabled access.
Food and customer service wise the Clay Oven is definitely worth a visit.

This place was pretty packed when I came here a couple of Saturday’s ago. There was a lot of indian people so that is always a good sign. Since London is famous for it’s curry, I came to check it out, see what Ealing has on Brick Lane!!! The curry was very nice, my friend got a chicken curry that i feeded off of with my naan and i had some of the chicken tikka masala which was nice as well. i ordered the chicken tikka thinking it was curry, NOPE… just pieces of chicken with onion! Went great with my rice but def needed to take curry from friends to make it more tasty. The vegetable curry was nice too. The naan was okay, brick lane is better in my opinion at the place i had it. Sad they only had sweet or salted lassi. i wanted mango or some other flavor.
Service was good with one server and so-​so with the other, because he was very. how should i put it…“fierce”. Some kids came in with costumes asking for money but the server hopped right on that and went to shoo them away or they were calling the police so that was good to know that they are fast on reacting since they are probably used to it. No service charge from what i saw, portions were nice, or as normal as it can get. Everything was hot and lovely and i would love to go back for more curry.

Appaling service. Bad attitude. Untrained staff.
Garlic Naan arrived burnt the first time around, was sent back. The Head Honcho, a knob of a baldie, comes over to tell us I do not mean to be rude, but if you send the Naan back a second time, we will take it back. He seemed to have been hired right off the street. Sure enough the second Naan was half-​baked, we called the waiter, asked him to bin it and charge us for both Naans since they seemed to be hard up for money. We only had starters and left. The bill had £2.65 for 1 Naan. No surprise we will never go here again.

I eat often at Clay Oven. As mentioned the service is OK but friendly enough. I think the food is fantastic also and usually go for the lamb tikka masala. Try the garlic prawn starter which is to die for and I’m not a fish liker. The atmosphere is relaxed and the décor is not too in your face. I like to sit near the floor to ceiling fish tank by the bar. Just to mention that Clay Oven also cater for events and I has them at my wedding. Everything was organised well and they invited us to a dinner & dance to sample a selection of food to help us choose. On the day the event went without a hitch although the catered food was a bit spicy in comparison to the restaurant food.

The Clay Oven is honestly a needle in the haystack. I was initially hesitant about coming here, but I’m definitely glad that I did! When we walked in we were greeted immediately, and sat down at a nice table. The ambiance is nice — dimly lit and calm. The menu is pretty large, so there’s definitely something to suit your palate!
The Chicken Tikka Masala was really creamy and the chicken was tender, but the sauce was a little sweet. It was still very very delicious. The Chicken Korma was just alright — your standard curry. The naan was amazing! I highly recommend the garlic naan and roti. Surprisingly enough, my favorite dish of the night was the egg pillau. All together, this was a fabulous Indian experience.
If you’re in West London, I highly suggest this place. It’s great!

Agree with the previous review about the Butter Chicken! It’s fantastic! The service is good and there are some staff that have been there for decades — so if you’re a regular, you feel quite at home. The manager seems to be quite focused and attentive which is probably why it’s stood the test of time with so much competition around. It’s not a ‘curry house’ not an Indian restaurant, but something in between. You can also hire the back section for private parties for up to about 80 people which is really good. The only thing I would say needs some work is the choice of desserts (I hate the plastic looking fruit filled with ‘ice cream’ selection that Indian and Chinese restaurants seem to do!) and choice of wines.

This is one of my favourite Indian restaurants and I have been enjoying the food here for years. It is your ‘local’ Indian if you are looking for a great meal without an expensive price tag, or grabbing a takeout. Do a great mixed grill and butter chicken and always love their lassi. Staff are really friendly and there is a nice atmosphere.

I’ve eaten here a few times.
Food: You will be pleasantly surprised at the large selection of dishes to suit all tastes. Very good and flavor ful.
Interior: warm ambient atmosphere surrounded by impressive Indian wood panel carvings.
Events: has banqueting facilities, offers private dining, and regular dining.
Good for lunch, casual dinner with friends or family or any celebatory event.
Service is generally good, better if you have an event compared to just when you are eating in. Can be lousy on some days though.
Overall –good experiences with a couple of bad ones, but generally good consistent service and food.

This is the best Indian restaurant in west London. Excellent staff, clean interior and vast menu choices leaves many reasons to go back time and again.
Once again, I can’t recommend this highly enough… Worthy of a sixth star.

I have been eating here for the past 12yrs. IMHO it is Ealing’s best Indian. For eating in, takeaway or private function, it serves up wonderful food, at affordable prices.
The staff are long-​term, recognise you when you visit (and you recognise and know them) and are friendly, knowledgeable, helpful. quick and polite.
The food covers much of the Indian/​Asian continent and can be ordered to taste Want you’re dish a bit hotter, spicier, less Ghee, whatever? You only have to ask! The chefs are talented and deliver dishes which are as pleasing to the eye, as they are to your mouth.
My favourite — The Karai Gosht is great and the portions are generous and filling. I have tried many of their dishes and never been sorry.
They have a number of private suites for parties, weddings. christening and such like. At weekends, there is often an Indian wedding being celebrated in the back rooms, with music that lightly filters through into the restaurant. But it never seems intrusive.
There seems to be a small number of on-​line detractors, however, one only has to visit the place to see a packed house nearly every evening. Its one of Ealing’s best, and its been there since 1983. Its got to be doing something right.
Minus points — Toilets are too small for such a large place. Drinks are somewhat over priced.