Discussion of Robin Garr's Clay Oven Indian review

[Robin Garr]

Clay Oven fires up Indian goodies
LEO's Eats with Robin Garr



Ponder this: An Indian cooking technique based on clay pot principles as old as civilization can generate temperatures up to a roaring 900 degrees F. That's hot enough to put even your neighborhood pizza oven to shame, and it's even hotter than your home oven gets when it's self-cleaning at full-blast and locked up for your protection. Happily, you can sample food kissed with primal fire in the cylindrical clay oven called tandoor ("Tahn-DUR") at quite a few local Indian restaurants.

I'd suggest a trip to Clay Oven Indian Restaurant in Middletown, which takes its name from the iconic oven. You can't see its tandoor from the dining area, but management assured me in a follow-up phone call that they have a smallish one back in the kitchen.

I can testify that they know how to use it: The other day we ventured out to Middletown, where Clay Oven sits in a sizable storefront space just a door or two west of Kroger, and enjoyed an Indian meal about as good as any I've had in Louisville.

What's more, this was the $8.99-per-adult lunch buffet. Allow me a word about that: In general, all-you-can-eat buffets pretty much jumped the shark in the 1970s (for American food) and in the '90s (for Asian buffets). Buffet service? Ick! Buffets make corner-cutting easy, and nobody is impressed by buffet pans loaded with tired, congealed and picked-over fare.

But show me a restaurant that handles its buffet with competence and pride, keeping a good variety of pans fresh, hot and tidy, running in hot food frequently and keeping an eye on things, and I am so there, ready to tie on my bib and hunker down for a lavish lunch ... and, very likely, to go back for dinner, which I hope to do at Clay Oven very soon.

Yes, this is a very good Indian restaurant, joining my current favorites Bombay Palace and DakShin (and, on good days, Taj Palace and Little India Café) as tops in town for Indian fare.


Read the full review on LouisvilleHotBytes,
http://www.louisvillehotbytes.com/clay- ... an-goodies
and in LEO Weekly:
http://leoweekly.com/dining/clay-oven-f ... an-goodies

Clay Oven Indian Restaurant
12567 Shelbyville Road
254-4363
http://clayovenlouisville.com
http://facebook.com/clayovenlouisville
Robin Garr's rating: 88 points

Will have to check this place out!! We love Indian buffets, however I have noticed a slip in quality lately at our usual standbys to be quite honest. At more than one place recently, all I taste is salt, salt, and salt.

I've been waiting for a review. Thanks for the heads up. This is in my office neighborhood and I look forward to trying it out.

[Robin Garr]

I've been waiting for a review. Thanks for the heads up. This is in my office neighborhood and I look forward to trying it out.

Glad to be of service, and to spread the wealth around, note that several others, particularly Mary Anne, contributed info to an earlier discussion about Clay Oven before I got there:
viewtopic.php?f=1&t=21060&p=160288

I could be a little bit biased here.....BUT, I did have lunch there, with a friend of mine, that works for a competitor, and has no vested interest... We both agreed, that this was the best Indian cuisine we've had in Louisville.....we both LOVED it. Very fresh flavors, that run deep into each dish, the goat was as tender as I've ever had. Check this place out.

[Robin Garr]

Very fresh flavors, that run deep into each dish ....

Yerp, that's what sealed the deal for us too. The names of the dishes may be familiar, but there seems to be some exceptional skill in the kitchen.

It's by my office too- thanks for the heads-up! Love to have another interesting lunch option near- by.
Deb