Clay Oven Restaurant & Bar

This is one of my very few favorite places to go for Indian. I’ve only been here three times (would be more often if I lived closer), the first time being a little over a year ago. I order the lamb ja frazie (spicy) with naan each time I go and it never fails. I tend to be very sensitive to gamey tastes, but the lamb here has no trace of any gaminess and is tender. The friends that I’ve brought here have also expressed how much they enjoy the food.
The service deserves more than five stars. Nikki has been my server each time. And although it had been about 7 months between my first and second visit, she still remembered my order, not to mention the order of my friend who was also with me that first time! She is always happy to assist you and it is clear that she desires to provide customers with a wonder dining experience. A big thank you to Nikki! I will be back :)

We went to this restaurant on a Saturday night. The restaurant was not too crowded for a Saturday night, so we were seated as soon as we arrived. We chose to be seated outdoors, thanks to the nice weather we have been seeing.
They have a good selection of wines and beer. We just ordered Malbec and it was a good choice.
They bring out the food menus, and this was a rude shock. It is astonishing how they can have so many spelling mistakes on their menu. I wish this was not the case!
We ordered 2 portions of onion bhajji, malai kofta, mixed vegetable korma, paneer makhni, vegetable biryani, rice pilaf, onion naan and chilli naan. The food was not the best, but it was not terrible either!
All of us have a fetish for spicy food, and told them so. They got the spice levels upto our taste buds.
I would not go back to this place unless I am in Livermore and they are the only place open.

Amazing! We order the veggie samosas, two delicious dishes, a side of rice, and the garlic naan and everything was so good. My boyfriend doesn’t usually like foreign or spicy food and he loved it. I’m a huge Indian food fan and I was so impressed. I wish I had found this place sooner! Their menu is also super vegetarian (I’m a vegetarian) and vegan friendly! If you’re unsure about what to get, just ask your waiter for advice.

Love coming here. Service is the best. Nickie and Sabrina are the best! Food is always authentic and fresh. Tonight was quite busy but they both always stop by and check in on us! Food is just great. Fresh authentic and tasty. awesome food, great company, and just the most friendliest service! They actually take time to talk to you! Love it keep up the good work Sabrina and Nikki’

Omg where to start. I’m so so glad I gave this place a shot! I’m a die hard Sansar fan, but alas, clay oven was like the only resturant open really late on a weeknight so I succumbed for my hunger and satisfied my ravenous hunger for Indian Food. I ordered online which was nice and easy and straightforward. When I went to pick up my meal I noticed that the place was set up really nice! Very intimate and cozy and inviting! I wish I would have gotten the hostess’s name because she was amazing. Super friendly and welcoming. Excuse my ignorance but she didn’t look «Indian» i thought she looked more Chinese so that made for some cool conversation while I waited for my food. Turns out she is in fact 100% Indian lol anyway I ordered the Saag Paneer. It was delicious. You cant really go bad with Saag Paneer. It was profusely seasoned but not sodium logged. Just plain delectable. The fish pakoras were out of this world. I had never tried them made with salmon before but I actually like it better! I also ordered the Kheer. Omg best Kheer I’ve ever had. The perfect ending to a heavenly meal. It wasn’t goopy and glutinous, it was just the right texture and sweetness. So much depth of flavor with notes of cardamom and other spices with a nice crunch from crushed pistachios just as it should be. Plus they threw in a free side order of rice and side sauces, a spicy mint one and a spicy sweet tamarind one too. Both where awsome on the pakoras and rice! I’m definitely going to share my love between Sansar and Clay Oven from now on! Prices weren’t bad either, I got enough to stuff 2 – 3 for $ 20!

Spur of the moment on a Saturday to dine out, we found Clay Oven in Livermore and headed over, arriving around 6:00 PM with no reservation. Parking is on the street, as the parking areas flanking the restaurant are for patrons of other businesses (I got towed once, too expensive to want to go through that hassle again!). I parked in the free Livermore Public Parking Garage, only a few minute walk from the Clay Oven. The path takes you right past Cream, an ice cream sandwich shop that is very popular.
The Clay Oven has a spacious deep interior with a bar in the adjoining room. Well-​appointed, chairs and booth seating comfy, lighting soft, all contribute to a calming space. Wash rooms are in the back of the dining room on the right.
Fairly quiet but for the Indian kinda’ Bollywood music being played, so you can carry on a conversation across the table without shouting or leaning in.
Service was friendly, efficient and polite, from start to finish. Chilled lemony water on ice brought quickly and ordering took place without feeling hurried.
We were brought a basket of Papadum, a crispy flatbread, along with a green chutney sauce that has some heat and another that looked and tasted like barbeque sauce. Not special, but okay to munch on while awaiting the appetizer and main course.
For four of us, we ordered Goat Cheese Nan off the Bread menu for an appetizer. To us, it was just a Nan that has a flavoring of cheese, as the cheese was more infused in the dough than what you might find in, say, a quesadilla or Mozzarella cheese breadstick. While the menu states «Nan stuffed with homemade cheese», our Nan was more flavored than stuffed (with cheese).
After the rather average Papadum and Goat Cheese Nan, we were sucker punched– the main courses were excellent and one of the reasons we go to restaurants!
Main courses included Tandoori Chicken (delivered steaming hot on a bed of chopped onions with lemon juice added onto the serving dish by our server), Lamb Tikka Masala, Kashmiri Lamb, and Lamb Saag, with double orders of Rice Pilav (arrived in one large serving dish) and Pratha (buttered, multi-​layer whole wheat bread).
Meats were chopped/​cubed and plentiful in thick and well-​seasoned sauces and served in bowls, with rice and breads ordered ala carte.
The standout was the the Lamb Tikka Masala over rice or scooped up with Nan or Pratha. Ordered medium spicy, more like mild to me, but delicious in the thick Tikka Masala with a wonderful creamy buttery/​salty taste and hearty chunks of lamb– I couldn’t stop eating nor telling the rest of my party how good it was!
The pickiest diner in our group had the Tandoori Chicken and she enjoyed the flavor and said it was tender and not dry.
The Kashmiri Lamb and Lamb Saag ordered mild seemed to be quite similar in taste to my untrained palate– probably because both contain «creamy spinach» per the menu– but the Lamb Saag had noticeably more heat.
That said, we enjoyed everything in front of us.
The gracious server was not at all intrusive, refilling water glasses quickly and without spillage, and very knowledgeable of the dishes she served.
After we finished dinner, we were treated to individual cups of Kheer, a dessert of basmati rice, milk, sugar, milk, crushed almonds, topped with pistachio and served cold.
We had leftovers of each main course, for which we were given plastic containers and a chinese style medium-​sized box of rice– nice touch!
Only drink was a soda pop with the tab coming in around $ 79 before tip. We’re used to spending about that amount for a party of four in the East Bay Pleasanton-​Dublin-​Livermore area in similar restaurants, so considering the overall dining experience, it’s a very good value when you want to kick it up a notch from a franchise restaurant.
The fact that everyone liked all four of the main course dishes ordered means it will be easy to decide where to go when we want to dine at an Indian restaurant in the East Bay.

We had butter and velvet chicken and seekh lamb, all of which were good. Portions were a little small for the price. A previous review said naan and rice were included which is not true. Nice environment and service was nice enough. should be $$$!

Love this place — good service and friendly staff. I have been here for the lunch buffet and dinner. Great deal for the buffet for sure. Dinner — we had lamb vindaloo and sag paneer (spinach). I asked for spicy and they do spicy for sure. Vegetable Samosas are the bomb — the sauces they serve with them are to die for. Great place for Indian food in this area.

My husband and I were walking down First street and stumbled upon this gem! Amazing Indian cuisine, great atmosphere, and superb service! The Host guided us thru their menu and her recommendations were spot on… along with the pairing of wine and my husband had Indian beer. Perfect evening! We will be back (again and again)!

Wow. I have super high foodie standards and lean toward clean eating and organic with unique tastes. This place fit the bill. A great location with friendly and engaging service provided by our waitress Sabina! She was the best but with the great food, healthy tastes, it went over the top for me. We ordered a salad, raita, rice for the base. Then we added chicken tikka kabob. Then went with deeper spices and flavors of India by adding the mixed vegetable medium spice (5 – 7) and then the Bengan Bartha eggplant dish at spice (8 – 10 of 10) scale. The mixture of textures, graded spices and flavors was wonderful with if you are into it, super healthy choices. This place is up on my top 20 favorites now in the bay area.

This place is superb!!! From the moment I walked in the music had my head bobbing. The staff is great they had great recommendations and the food was amazing! If you are looking for great Indian food don’t pass this place up.

We ordered for pickup one time and the food was delicious. My fiancé is usually the type of guy who likes to stick to food in his comfort zone. However, after moving to Livermore and being right near downtown… he decided he would try Indian food.
I loved everything we got (unfortunately I can’t remember what we got, because this is a long overdue post), but I do remember him loving the rice and the garlic naan.
On top of it all, he said the people were really nice when he went to pick up our order.
Will definitely try again next time.

huge nice decorated space. seats were too soft. very friendly service.
shrimp masala was creamy and a nice mix of spicy and sweet. shrimp was juicy and fresh. chicken was very tender and flavorful. 4.5 stars.

This place is my favorite go to place… I totally love that they delivery. I love it!!!

Ordered late over Grub Hub and was disappointed with the lack of interest in our business. They need to turn off their on-​line order earlier if they send out incomplete orders and do not seem interested in correcting their mistakes.
I could not find rice on their menu, but they included a review that referenced complimentary rice included with the order. We were delivered 2 orders with NO RICE! They also did not include any dressing to use with the Cucumber Salad.
When I called the first time a woman answered and she said she would send out rice, but then a man called me back and asked if we really wanted the rice. I responded yes and then he told me the delivery man had already left. The food was not that great to put up with the mediocre service. We will be going back to Ashoka Indian Cuisine in Pleasanton where they treat everybody like family and the food is great.

Stopped by this place on our way back from a road trip. We were a total of 12.
For the food i would give a 4 star, but –1 for the lady who took care of us. She wasn’t very welcoming. Although she gave us everything that we wanted, the way she spoke was like a teacher ordering her kids to eat well.
Only if she was a bit polite, this place deserves a 4-​star!

Great food, tasty and full of flavor. I had the fish tikka masala and it was delicious and generous in the portion (it was so big I couldn’t finish it!) My husband ordered the chicken tikka kebob and again was huge in portion and super delish!
Our service was impeccible, and we never ran out of water!
If we weren’t moving to Hawaii, this would be a favorite place to dine in.

4.5 star lunch buffet, but dinner is a little pricey.
The spread at the buffet includes:
Rice
Naan
Saag paneer
Lamb curry (my favorite)
Chicken Tikka Masala
Tandoori chicken
A couple varieties of pakora (fish, vegetable — can sometimes be lukewarm though)
Salad bar
Oranges (always so sweet)
Chai (!!!)
Dessert
+ a few other vegetarian and meat options that I’ve forgotten the names of

I haven’t been all that impressed with Indian restaurants since moving to the US but Clay Oven is definitely among the better ones.
The Vindaloo could do with being a bit hotter but overall both my Husband and I found it to be pretty good. The Chicken Pakora’s came out really hot and crispy with a bit of heat to them and the Chapati warm and thick. The Curry itself comes with a side of Rice and was a large portion with soft white meat Chicken.
Inside the restaurant is nice with lot’s of seating and white tables cloths, staff are friendly too.
I have a regular Indian place I go to in the town over from where I live but I’ll definitely check this place out again.

After having a bad experience at the Livermore Cinemas across the street we came across the street to a Indian restaurant called Clay oven. Really nice place, lots of room, great atmosphere.
For the appetizer we ordered the Cheese Pakora. Indian cheese with 2 dipping dishes. Very tasty!
Wife ordered the Chicken Tikka Kabab. Seared onions with what looked like a large full chicken breast cut into cubes. Again very tasty!
I ordered the Lamb Korma. Lamb cooked in a mild cream sauce with nuts. 3 for 3! Everything was very tasty.
Dishes came out with a bowl of white rice & a plate of Nan.
Got the rice pudding for dessert.
Friendly service from waitress and host. Found a new place for date night!