Clay Pit

Reporting a Discrimination and Civil Right violation against Clay Pit Mill Creek, WA 98012 · Tel 425‑337‑9600 · Fax 425‑338‑4600. The owner or Manager did not give his name. Refused to serve my order that was taken today over the Phone at 12:12pm. After quite a few argument the elderly man appeared to be the Manager or Owner of this place refused to server my order. I am perusing this complain with the Office Of Attorney General Of Washington State. This place does not have a BBB endorsement

This is one of my go-​to places for Indian food especially for lunch buffet. This ambiance is relaxing. Haven’t had anything off the menu so I can’t say much about it but the lunch buffet menu is pretty diverse with lots of choices. The service were nice and efficient. And the price wasn’t bad at all for lunch.

Clay Pit sits in the middle of the Mill Creek town center with a very inviting, warm, and nicely lit establishment. I took my date here on a Tuesday night expecting to avoid a Friday/​Saturday night crowd and we did just that. Although arriving at 6pm, we didn’t get our food till almost 7. The place wasn’t busy by any means, perhaps they are understaffed? Before entering further into the review, this was my first time having Indian food, so I’m not entirely sure about the authenticity of the dishes.
I was curious to see what their crab cake was like so I ordered one as an appetizer, much to my surprise it was actually really well done. The outer cake was cooked into a crispy /​browned exterior which added some texture. Doused with lemon & a creamy ‘green’ sauce (tasted sort of minty) the crab cake was very enjoyable! Does it rank as a front runner for the best tasting crab cake? No it doesn’t, but it certainly gave other cakes a run for their money. I highly recommend it as an appetizer (or if you aren’t that hungry, the main course!)
After we had waited for almost an hour we received our main dishes. My Chicken Daal was served on two plates, one with the chicken /​sauce (lentils, herbs & tomatoes?) and the other dish was a heap of white rice with some spices. My S. O ordered the Tomato Butter Chicken which arrived all on one giant plate. An arrangement of rice, chicken wrapped into rolls stuffed with spinach, cheese and mushrooms. Finally it was layered with a somewhat sweetened tomato-​y sauce.
I would say that the food was really well done, great tastes and not too spicy. However my only real complaint would just be the bad service, it was slow and we basically felt like we had been forgotten. I would be more inclined to order out than eat in next time.

Let me start off by saying that their food is amazing. I am crazy about spicy food, so I ordered the tomato butter chicken curry, 6 star for spice. The curry was very flavorful and delicious. It only comes with four pieces of chicken, which at first i thought was very little… but in the end i ate more of the soup than the meat itself. SO i would rate the food ⁵⁄₅
As for the customer service… I would rate it a ²⁄₅.
My boyfriend and I walked into this place and no one greeted us. We were basically standing at the door for about 10 minutes. The waiting area, which are just about 2 rows of maybe 6 chairs (no space in between, so you cant even sit behind) against the windows. It seemed very crowded. And I was almost ready to walk out. Until a server asked how many for a table. I’d like to point out that it seemed like he was scattered, but was the only one that had manners so i guess that was a plus? Anyways, we were sat at a table shortly after, the woman who took our order seemed a bit rude. I ordered 6 stars spice, since she said it was the spiciest and i made a little joke but she just stared at me like she hated my response. She didnt even ask my boyfriend what he wanted, but instead just stared at him waiting for him to order. The friendliness level at the moment was clearly at its lowest.
The food then came out about 30 minutes later…
Our wait time was pretty long, service was not so great but food was great. If you want to try good food and you dont mind dealing with the wait and poor service, I would say come here.

This used to be my most favorite Indian buffet in the entire Seattle area. I used to make the half-​hour trek north just to come here for lunch. It’s been about three years for me and it’s unfortunately gone downhill since.
1) The buffet selection has been reduced to that of an average Indian buffet. It used to be more generous.
2) The service is hostile and scattered.
— My friend and I waited at the entrance to be seated for a few minutes. During that time, we got irritated looks from the staff without acknowledgement. There was no sign that said «please seat yourself» so we continued to wait until a cranky waitress seated us.
— Cranky waitress gestured to the center tables. I asked to be seated at a booth because I was visibly pregnant and thought it would be more comfortable. She nodded and pointed to the booths. She came up behind us as we sat down and haphazardly put utensils and napkins on the table. Like, just put each of them in a pile in front of us where the forks and knives were laying right on the table and the napkin was thrown on the top instead of making sure the utensils were on top of the napkins. Then she scurried away.
— My friend needed a second napkin. We couldn’t flag anyone down so she got up and tried getting the attention of a staff member from the center of the restaurant. One server just mumbled something, pointed to the back of the restaurant, and wandered off. My friend was confused and continued to stand there. He never returned, so she sat down at the table. Five minutes later, another staff member returned and put one napkin in front of her and ran off.
3) Things are haphazard, passive-​aggressive, and possibly unsanitary.
— The bowls have a little sign in front of them that say «Please only use bowls for soup and [something else I can’t remember].» But not sauce. Okay, thanks.
— The feet of both my water glass and my plate were broken and chipped.
— I saw one staff member wipe down the buffet plates sitting on the top with a rag… and then left it on one of the plates. Perhaps that cloth was dedicated to cleaning plates but it certainly didn’t look like a sanitary choice to those of us eating in the restaurant.
So I’m sorely disappointed and I’ll never be going out of my way to return here again. I give it one extra star because the food is still tasty.

It used to be so good. Now the service is lackluster, indifferent, nearly hostile.
The delicious food deserves better.
Suggest to your friends to just have the lunch buffet from now on if you all need Indian food. You serve yourself.

Everything is good here. The owners really care about their business and put effort to make sure they know what’s going on in the kitchen and on the floor. The owners often serve and wait tables and are very sincere and involved in the operation of their restaurant.
Going here is such a treat– everything is good and everything is generously portioned.
Funny, i am a young girl who just got off work waiting for my take out food once and I ordered like a pro because I know exactly what I like.
An Indian woman also waiting for a pickup was like «is this your first time ordering Indian food? Because that’s reeally spicy what you just ordered.»
I was like «I know? I order it all the time.»
Kinda funny.
I guess she didn’t expect a young girl to know about delicious food. Indian food is the best food.
Especially here.

NEVER EVER GO TO THIS PLACE .
THEY DID NOT HAVE A HIGH CHAIR SO WE SAID WE WOULD WAIT UNTIL A BOOTH IS AVAILABLE SO WE COULD PLACE THE CAR SEAT SAFELY. The owner was trying to push an empty table with chairs and asking the waiter to join chairs for car seat (totally unsafe). When I requested the owner for a booth, he shouted GET OUT. Literally these were his words, when my wife tried to ask him details he tried to shove her out. We want to file a complaint regarding this behavior and the awful treatment we received. Fellow Unilocalers please help if you know a proper channel where we could register a complaint. Thank you

The first time I came here, I had to wait a very long time for my food to be ready, but the food was good. I always order take-​out here, even though the inside of the restaurant is very nice. Curry is just an eat-​at-​home kind of meal for me.
The waitstaff is always nice over the phone and in-​person, but it always seems a bit chaotic. The last time I ordered, I had 3 separate meals for 3 different people and when we opened the take-​out bag, we realized the staff failed to mark what meal was what. There was a paneer tikka masala, a chicken masala, and a paneer korma. As a vegetarian, it would have been bad had I accidentally ended up with my friend’s chicken masala. We had to thoroughly examine each dish to distinguish which meal belonged to which person.
Instead of giving us separate rice for our curries, they filled one standard sized take out box with rice. There was not nearly enough rice for each of us to have enough for our curry. I ended up eating half of my plain curry with a spoon.
The food is pretty tasty, so I will probably give Clay Pit another chance, and hopefully things will improve.

I used to be a big fan of Clay Pit. Both the lunch buffet and dinner menu were always terrific. The service was good and the owners were welcoming and friendly.
Unfortunately, something has changed in the last year. The service is not good, the food quality has slipped, and the once friendly owners appeared to be constantly agitated in dealing with staff and customers. Clay Pit is a place I’ve always enjoyed and even though I noticed the decline, I continued to go in hopes things would return to what they were.
However, my last trip a couple of weeks ago will be the last trip for a long time, if ever. The owners and staff seemed generally annoyed having to work customers. I also witnessed a number of questionable food handling practices with the buffet that turned my stomach.
Sorry to see a once great place take a nosedive like that. Maybe the owners will take a vacation, relax, and regain their passion for their business.

I’m a fan of Clay Pit because if its consistency and overall quality. I have no idea if it’s authentic, because I’m not an expert on Indian food, but I enjoy it.
I do think sometimes people have the tendency to expect super authentic «ethnic» food while at the same time expecting their server to speak perfect English and adhere to all American customer service standards. It’s time you let that go, if that sounds familiar. There are restaurants that can pull off that kind of dichotomy, but often you take the good with the (not necessarily) bad. I got off track a little there, but just know that while the service at Clay Pit may not have an overly friendly and proficient attitude, you’ll get what you need when you need it.
It might come as no surprise that as an Indian food newbie, I order the butter chicken masala every time I go. So sue me, it’s effing delicious. Just know that they take spice levels very seriously here. So if you order a five, it’s not coming out «white boy» five like a lot of places; it will kick your ass if you’re not careful.
All that said, I think they could improve their take-​out process. I can handle the fact that they can be a little short on the phone when you place your order. However, the pickup process is a bit of a mess. They will put all the to-​go orders randomly on some extra chairs near the front of the restaurant. When someone comes in asking for their order, the server has to look at every single bag to try and figure out if it’s ready. I’m surprised I’ve never taken home the wrong food, but the food is always correct and perfect when I get it home. So maybe my complaint about the to-​go orders is minor or unnecessary, but it feels very disjointed when you go through it.

Wow — these guys are arrogant and have no interest in serving a customer. I called in to place a to-​go order and I asked — «What chicken curry would you recommend?». And the answer I got back was — «There are so many chicken curries and I don’t have time to tell you all of them. Go to
and decide and then call me.» And he hung up the phone. I was dumbstruck — these people have no etiquette of how to treat customers! I was asking for a recommendation not a laundry list of curries and even if I did, he is not doing me a favor — I am his customer!
I have dined at the restaurant a couple of times before and the food is mediocre. And the only reason I even considered ordering was because it is close to where I live. Even during those two occasions they acted like a bunch of snobs. I have no idea which world they live in, but I am driving down to Woodinville or Bellevue to get some good Indian food rather than deal with this ridiculous demeanor.

The first time we visited it wasn’t for the buffet lunch and it was very good. This time around we had the buffet and the quality didn’t seem the same, a little less than the dinner (fresher). The service was spotty as well. We had no napkins, asked for them, didn’t get them and asked again. Then we ordered a mango lasi and that took a couple of requests as well.
It was a decent but nothing spectacular experience.

Stopped in for lunch today. I was seated almost immediately. Ordered Kasturi Chicken extra hot instead of going for the buffet. Food arrived quickly and tasted amazing. Drink was always refilled quickly. I’ve been here often and the service has gotten much quicker over the years.
Some folks seem to expect the standard chain restaurant «Hi, my name is XX and I’ll be taking care of you today» and de-​rate an establishment if they don’t get that type of canned service. The fact that this is a family run restaurant and the service isn’t like that is quite refreshing.
Bottom line: Good eats and good service!

All you can eat Indian buffet including delicious naan and mango pudding for under $ 10?! Sign me up at least once! I guess and other sign ups would be redundant since it’s all you can eat…
The Gobi Manchurian is without a doubt the best dish I’ve ever had at an Indian restaurant. slightly sticky and mildly spiced the sweet undertones of this deep fired cauliflower could turn a carnivore into in herbivore if only for 1 meal. Everything else is pretty standard but having the option to get a little it of everything makes a huge difference.
The service here is good, they mainly clear your plates and keep you hydrated (which is important when you are trying to stuff as much in as possible). The place is always tidy and gets busy around the usual lunch rush so plan accordingly!

Food is decent but the staff is extremely rude and unprofessional and surprisingly even for take out! The restaurant is just surviving because there aren’t other Indian restaurants in this area. We have never seen such a bad service and behavior in any restaurant — it feels as if they are doing a favor by serving us food. We were actually asked to leave our food and come to the register to pay, as if we would run away. That too during buffet. The staff has even asked us that only take 1 naan at a time! This is just horrible. Even while takeout, they are literally shouting at you over phone.
Seriously, if there was a way to give 0 stars, I definitely would.

Food is okay and comparable to other Indian places.
The staff is pretty rude and down right unprofessional. The plates are always missing in buffet and no breads for long time. Even after asking for several times, all the calls went for deaf ears.
The owners are setting up an example for rudeness there. As a sample we asked them to split the bills and handed over two credit cards, the lady reacted furiously and commanded to give one card at a time because she gets confused (in two cards).
Except for the okay food, nothing looked worthy to spend a penny there.

I would give ZERO stars but Unilocal will not allow it…
The management is terrible, the service is awful, ebverything takes forever.
Seating in a 30% full restaurant took 15 minutes…
Appetizer of samosas took another 15 minutes to show up.
The entrees showed up 30 minutes later after we noticed a table seated after Us Got food already.
We got the naan after the entrees…
And apparently if u want food in a timely fashion you should call and order ahead.
Oh and to top it off I spoke to a woman who orders take out, she was ignored until I was approached severe minutes after I entered. She mentioned that the staff here was rude and ignore anyone they aren’t familiar with.
The staff is generally inattentive and uncaring of their guests comfort or enjoyment.
If another Indian restaurant opened up with a slightly nicer staff and faster service, Clay Pot would be empty.
It’s a shame…

My first impression when we walked into the restaurant was «wow, there are a lot of eastern Indian folks here!» That is typically a good sign when you walk into an ethnic restaurant and there are many folks of that particular ethnicity dining there.
I started off with a cucumber salad. The dressing is comprised of yogurt, olive oil, mint and a few other things. I really, really enjoyed it! I don’t believe I’ve ever had anything like it before but I would certainly have it again! I also got a mango lassi. I really thoroughly enjoyed that. Often times when you get mango drinks you have a vague flavor of mango but not the full bite that comes with a really good mango. This loss he had the full bite of really delicious fresh mango!
For my main course I had a lamb vindaloo. I had them make it at their maximum spiciness! I was hoping for a good «head sweat!» It came close, but not quite. My nose ran just a little, my eyes watered, again just a little. But no full on head sweat! I suppose next time I should ask them to fix it as spicy as they eat it!
All of all, I enjoyed my meal. I would return again. Everyone else in the party also enjoyed their meals. My daughter, who is a vegetarian, especially loved eating Indian food. Indian food tends to be compatible with vegetarian diet.
My father and my stepmother each had the mango lamb curry. They were significantly further down on the spice scale than mine. However they really enjoyed their meal!
A good time and a good meal was had by all.

Sad tidings! Wasn’t overly impressed with Clay Pit, and that’s a shame, because Indian is my favorite cuisine.
Came back here about a year after my initial visit. That particular visit was memorable because we ordered our food medium, and it was spicy! I don’t work in the area anymore, so being in this area is a stretch, but I wanted to give it another go.
Place was packed on a Wednesday night. Didn’t have to wait too long to get seated, but once we were seated, we sat for a good 15 – 20 minutes before making obvious unhappy eye contact with the staff. We ordered vegetable samosas as an appetizer and chicken tikka masala (mild to medium this time) and garlic naan for entrees.
We were given complimentary papadam with dipping sauces to snack on while we waited. The vegetable samosas were nothing special but decent. The tikka masala was tender but not very flavorful, which was disappointing because the sauce looked amazing. The garlic naan was very good; buttery with lots of garlic flavor.
Overall, not super jazzed, but the food is legit, although the service was lacking. The staff coming by with water did an excellent job, but our waitress didn’t pay much attention to us or refill any paid drinks. The manager/​owner seemed to be trying to keep things moving along.
Probably still the best place to eat in this shopping center!