Clay Oven

This place was really empty on a Tuesday at lunch time. They do have a buffet which makes my heart happy. I love to be able to try a little of this and a little of that. The food was good. The staff was pleasant. The price was good.
I read some reviews saying the lunch buffet was under $ 8. Nope, it is $ 9.35 or something like that. Still a good deal.

Our first experience here was beyond exceptional. We were the first to arrive at noon, so the buffet was hot and fresh. The wait staff were very friendly and attentive. The owner was present and also made an effort to come around and ask us how our food tasted. The environment was clean and brightly lit, and very child-​friendly. The food was delicious and had just the right amount of heat to it. The price for the lunch buffet was extremely reasonable and we plan on taking family and friends here in the future!
So glad this (re)opened! Hope it stays!

Never use Clay Oven for catering. He came 3 hours late and ruined our party. Guests were hungry and some people left without eating. Horrible!

Bland. Went in for dinner on Sunday night and we were the only ones there. Started with chicken pakora mad they tasted expired. The batter was lacking any flavor and tasted like saw dust. We went with the non vegetarian platter. I drool for good tandoori chicken. No flavor and was dry and rubbery. The kabob was actually over flavored with salt. The chicken tikka was also dry. The only saving grace was the butter chicken. That’s why it was 2 stars instead of 1. It wasn’t great but it was edible. The worst part was that the servers didn’t even know the menu. Overall, everything tasted like it was pulled off the afternoon buffet line and served for dinner. Not sure if they have a buffet on Sunday’s even. Hmmmmmm.

A great place for their lunch buffet! I stopped in Sunday afternoon and it was very quiet. It was my boyfriend and I and only a few other patrons, mostly sitting by themselves with Bollywood music videos playing on a tv. The selection was pretty great, and pretty tasty. They also bring out a basket full of naan and a sizzling plate of chicken. A great deal!

We were one of two tables on this particular night. The dining room could use a remodel, not that its disheveled or dirty, but could use a fresh designer’s touch. we ordered a chili paneer which came out on one of those sizzling hot plates. That item was actually quite good! the paneer and veggies were seasoned well and not too oily. The paneer makhani on the other hand was meh… if i feel that i can make it better at home then why go out to eat? The tandoor is the highlight, if you come here to eat, order off the tandoor menu and you’ll be good! I also think take out would be a smart idea.

I am usually fairly easy to please. Just deliver what I order, do it in a respectable time, make sure the portions are fair, and DON’T DECEIVE ME! I ordered take out from here recently, as I have many times in the past. I will say their tandoori chicken is pretty good, as is their chicken biryani. So, I called in my order for pick up and was told it would be ready in twenty minutes. I showed up a half hour later and was told, «it’s almost ready.» No worries, I’m patient. My food comes out in a brown paper bag, I pay, and head home, famished and awaiting the moment I can get at it. I get home, open the bag, and see that they gave me only 5 pieces of tandoori chicken as a full-​order, when it should have been 8. I called them back, and the «manager» apologized and asked me to come back with the order, which wasn’t going to happen.
If you order takeout, I would suggest checking the order before you leave.

Decent food. Nothing too great about the quality of chicken/​lamb curry I had there. Although the tandoori was good, the rest of the item were only okay.

I was in a pinch. Had a function at work and told people I’d bring samosas. But this far from Devon and tons of mixed reviews… I figured I’d give this place a shot being a stone’s throw away from me.
Answering what was probably their first phone call of the morning, whoever answered sounded nervous at first, but then yelled to some other employees in the background that I needed 40 samosas by 1 that afternoon. By the time I went to pick them up, they were still hot, he threw in some papad as a bonus, and had everything tightly wrapped so nothing would spill. They were pretty good too, but excellent service. Will be back to dine in some time!

WORST restaurant experience of my life! The dish I ordered was made completely different from the place I normally order from. Thought I would try something a little closer. Bad idea! I placed my pick up order and told the man over the phone that I was unable to pull up the menu, I asked if they had the dish I wanted and they did. So I ordered it and went to pick it up. When I ordered I asked if I could get jasmine rice as well.
I went to get my food. The man was not friendly at all but I didn’t think much of it. Just took my food and went back to work to eat it. I opened the food and poured it on the rice. I took one bite and realized that it was practically ALL onion. I HATE onions!!! The dish at other Indian restaurants did not have a TON of onions. I could not eat it. So I called and told him I do not like it because there were way too many onions. He was rude but eventually said they would remake it. This is where the fun begins!!! So I take my food (now in one container because I poured it on the rice) back to the restaurant. I walk in and he immediately starts being rude. He laughs at me and tells me this is my fault because I didn’t say no onions, and I should have seen it on the menu. I explained I couldn’t pull up the menu, he then got 2 inches from my face and started yelling at me so hard he was spitting on my face! He told me I ate the food because it was only in one container and where was the other container huh! He went to the back yelling and screaming. Came back with the dish and practically threw it at me. I said I needed rice and he once again got in my face and screamed at me. Then proceeded to go to the kitchen and come back with a Dixie cup of rice! I put my food down and said this is a joke! And went to walk out. A customer looked at me and asked me what was going on. I explained to him what happened. I went to leave and the manager chased me out of the restaurant yelling and screaming. WOW! all because I asked for no onions!!! I cannot even believe this happened to me! Worst customer service EVER! I would not recommend this place to my worst enemy!

Best lunch buffet in schaumburg area under 10 dollar and it’s family own business they all so nice with service also

We walked into the Clay Oven & the place was completely empty at 11:15am. But I saw the buffets were just being brought out! The food was streaming out of the kitchen, fresh & hot & I was inebriated with the delicious smells of lentils & curries & tandoori! I filled my plate to the brim and ran to sit at my table and chow. Just as I was eating Saag and curry with lentils, the owner brought steamy samosas and buttered Naan. I felt totally engrossed in this mixture of flavors that I traveled far away from wherever I was just before. I found myself in food Nirvana. Seriously, I’m going back on another day, really early, when the place is empty and at least an hour free.

Pretty less than average Indian Food. Not everything on the menu is always available. Choice of beverage is limited. The biriyani is quite bad. Lamb and chicken preparations tasted stale and probably been heated up too many times. Disappointing evening dinner.

5 stars for fair priced lunch buffet. On a Monday? Are you kidding me?
Chili chicken
Butter chicken
Chicken curry
Lamb curry
I’m just glad the owner isn’t a Pakistani. Pakistani people have ruined Indian food.
Indian food service is not a convenience store. It is a privilege.
If you want poop Indian food, go to the paki run Indian restaurants on devon. Except viceroy and Abu ruchi

Had dinner. Tried it in spite of some reviews on Unilocal.
They start by Papadum and sauce; great flavor. Ordered Butter Chicken, Karahi Chicken, rice (have to order rice separately — not included with the dishes) and Naan. Loved all of it. Excellent flavor and good quantities. Have tried Butter chicken at many restaurants; this was one of the very best. Have heard they have good Chicken Tikka masala — will try it next time.
Décor is good; not a hole in the wall. The waiter was the owner. Very courteous. Overall very good experience. 4 stars for the service and décor; 5 stars for the food.

Things I found questionable:
1) Appearance of restaurant made us uncomfortable, the place seemed dingy, outdated and seats and tables were in poor condition.
2) Food tasted stale, was presented poorly, and lacked the flavor that you’d expect from indian food. (I’m an indian, so I eat this cuisine often)
3). Our waiter was the owner, who didn’t know if they used zabiha meat, made poor recommendations and took significant time in checking on us, bringing the food, taking our check, etc (the place had 2 other customers)
We went here based on the reviews but were most disappointed as this was one of the poorest experiences we’ve ever had.

Living in Schaumburg as I do, I’ve always felt it a terrible waste that I have never been to any of the many certainly fine Indian restaurants in the area. Though I have eaten Indian food a few times, I myself am basically an Indian food novice and my family has tended to be Indian food phobic, so it has been a hard sell. Based on the favorable reviews here on Unilocal,I have especially had my eye on Clay Oven for a while, and today I finally got my sister to stop in here with me!
Our outstanding lunch experience began with us trying to get in the front door. Apparently we arrived 20 minutes too early for lunch (lunch buffet begins at 11am on weekdays, but apparently not until 12pm on Saturday and Sunday). Realizing that the restaurant was not yet open we were prepared to go off and kill some time elsewhere, but this wound up being unnecessary as one of the friendly restaurateurs noticed our plight and let us in early.
We were promptly seated at our booth with a smile and two glasses of water. After setting the carafe down on the table as well we were furthermore offered buttered or unbuttered naan in addition to tandoori chicken. I wasn’t sure how much this extra food would add to the $ 7.95 per person lunch buffet price, but decided to spring for both the naan and the chicken since this was my sister’s first Indian food outing. As it turned out, both were included in the price of lunch!
Since we arrived at opening time (or really, before opening time) we were expecting the buffet food to be warm and fresh and we were not disappointed! Everything was ridiculously well-​spiced and delicious. If you are afraid of spicy food, proceed with caution, but for us it was perfect. My sister at one point during our meal remarked, «I wish I could go tell my past self that I LOVE INDIAN FOOD!» She also downed most of the basket of naan and raved about the chicken. The mattar paneer was also a standout hit. The only thing that I didn’t love was the «cham cham» dessert (much too sweet for me), but otherwise I was very impressed with everything.
Now that my sister has also seen the light we are already conspiring to get our parents to go back here with us. If you have any interest at all in Indian food in general or in this restaurant in particular, I would highly recommend the lunch buffet. It is a good opportunity to sample many different things and to just get an overall great meal with friendly service.

All you can eat Indian buffet for $ 7.95 for lunch! Their lunch buffet is from 11am-​3pm Monday through Friday and 12−3pm on the weekends. The buffet has a good array of options with and without meat plus some dessert options. I know they had Chicken Tikka Masala and Butter Chicken, both of which were very tasty.
A special touch at Clay Oven is they bring out the Tandoori Chicken to your table sizzling and fresh to you. We all Ooohed and Aaahed and dug right in. Delicious chicken.
They had a couple of desserts including Gulab Jamun which was enjoyable.
I’m not an Indian food aficionado by any stretch of the imagination however I found all the food to be very tasty (as did my coworkers) and the price is right. It wasn’t overly busy for a weekday afternoon but had a good showing of people.

I have a secret (or not so secret) obsession with Indian food, spicy Indian food to be more specific. Clay Oven over delivers on both fronts.
My coworkers and I had a simultaneous hankering for some serious Indian eats, so I let Unilocal do the talking (of course) and found that Clay Oven was pretty close to our office.
Their $ 7.95 lunch buffet offers a nice variety of dishes that are a little more spicy than many other buffets that I’ve tried (and I count this as a good thing). I didn’t realize that my dining companions were spice averse, but they agreed that Clay Oven walks that fine line between spicy and «oh my gosh, the insides of my mouth are melting.» I say that there’s enough spice in their dishes to warm my belly and put a smile on my face, but I’m pretty sure my stomach came with a fireproof lining (so don’t take my word for it).
Also worth noting, one of my coworkers is vegetarian, and she still felt like she was going to have a food baby because their offerings include quite a few veg friendly dishes.
My two favorite dishes were the saag and the goat curry (with naan; I chose not to fill up my stomach with rice). The samosas were pretty delicious too, as was their green mystery sauce (I’m not sure what it was, but it was sort of spicy & herby… and I put it on their potatoes as well as on the salad). I’d say skip on the overly cheesy gulab jamin, however.
I will definitely be getting my next Indian food fix from Clay Oven!

What better way to celebrate the end of a fabulous half-​day of work than to treat myself to an Indian buffet for lunch? My go-​to for Indian buffet is India House, which is great, but I wanted to try something different (and more affordable). So after searching and reading the reviews on Unilocal,I made my way to Clay Oven.
I felt welcome from the moment I stepped inside. The servers were friendly and helpful. The décor is lovely without being over the top. Lots of delicious food: butter chicken, vegetable curries, spring rolls, rice pudding, dough balls, all of it was lovely. And a deal at $ 8 (not including drink, taxes, and tip, of course, but still — much healthier and cheaper than McDonald’s)!
I know where I’m going when I’m craving all-​you-​can-​eat curry! :-)