Clay Pit

Nothing special. When you ask for spicy they do give you tons of spice. The food was rather bland for indian food.

** CLOSED **
Sign up on the shuttered windows says it will soon be replaced by a Mediterranean restaurant named Istanbul Café.
I knew that lack of a liquor license would bite them in the ass. Shame. I was in the mood for some curry today — called the # and it was disconnected. Went over to check it out and… you know the rest…

The Clay Pit is back! After a sad year or more of wandering in the lackluster Indian food wilderness, I discovered my favorite Indian restaurant (formerly on barrington) reopened in Beverly Hills. Awesome! The big question: is the food as good? Resounding yes! Not only that, they seem to have expanded their menu, especially with more and tastier veggie options.
Only letdown is that they no longer serve lunch buffet. The space is too small. Instead, they have an all-​you-​can-​eat lunch special, which I haven’t tried yet. In some sense this is even better since it’s made to order, but may lack the variety. Shall see!

This place is called Clay Pit and it is the pits. Empty, lifeless, and surely has a very short life span. We went because we had a $ 25 voucher and for 2 people, who ate a very modest amount, with no alcohol (because they don’t have a license) the bill came to $ 75. If the food had been even reasonable this was way too high — however the food was awful. I’m from London and we know about Indian food. I know LA is «Indian Food challenged» but these guys need to take up a new profession. Go somewhere else — anywhere else.

The soggy papadams, the peanuts they claimed were almonds, the tasteless, textureless vegetables, the burnt parathas, the high prices, bad service, terrible atmosphere — I wish there was a no-​star option! Go to any other Indian restaurant in town! I eat Indian food a lot and this was the worst indian meal I have ever had. A total rip off and no alcohol license.

We love spicy Indian food at our house and we also value the quality of the ingredients a restaurant uses and its cleanliness. Unfortunately when it comes to Indian restaurants these preferences don’t always go hand in hand. But thankfully now they can with the opening of Clay Pit Beverly Hills.
The food is extremely good – the quality of the ingredients – particularly the chicken – is top notch – and they can make it as spicy as you can take it… in fact I recommend going with medium even if you like spicy.
It’s not a fancy place and they just getting opened, but if great Indian food is what you’re looking for there is no place better in Los Angeles.
They are also exceptionally nice which goes a long way!

I have tried almost every Indian restaurant in WLA (mostly before I was a Unilocaler). Clay pit fits right in the middle as far as amount of food you get, quality & price. I ordered this dinner to go, so I would have no distractions from my tasting experience.
The positives first: The onion naan bread is unique & a great comfort food! It is moist & filled with red onions. The Mulligatawny soup is such an intriguing & mouthwatering flavour… full of citrus, herbs & spices in a lentil base. It is a little too thin; just purée. The Mushroom Mattar is tasty, but just seems like sauteed veggies without any sauce. But I was inspired: I put those sauteed veggies (onions, mushrooms, peas, peppers) into the soup, and voila’ ~ OMG ~That was awesome! You guys really should try this!
The service is excellent. I ordered my food by phone & the lady was very nice. The food was ready when I got there.
The negatives: The 2 dishes are not fabulous on their own, the portions are a bit smaller than what I am used to, & the tamarind sauce is watered down.
The prices are ok for south Beverly Hills; maybe only $ 2 more than in other parts of WLA. I will try this place again, but I hope the restaurant owners read this & thicken up their soup & sauce. Maybe they will also add a few Indian tapestries or other décor.

So one thing we have not been able to find since we moved to Beverly Hills is decent Indian food to take home. We tried, really we did. Saffron is okayyy, but because I cannot have dairy, their options are so limited, and I just can’t appreciate aloo gohbi (their only non-​dairy option) on top of rice with naan. That’s carbo overload if I’ve ever seen one. Chakra is our favorite to dine at; their food is absolutely wonderful, but their takeout is horrible. So we continued the search, and when Clay Pit opened we were eager to find our new Indian takeout, because sometimes I just don’t feel like looking decent and going to Chakra. Boyfriend said when he went to pick up our order that the staff was very friendly but the restaurant was completely empty. It was a strange time, a little early for most dinner go’ers, but still. Empty. The aloo gohbi is flavorless, the potatoes literally tasted like a plain boiled potato with absolutely nothing on it. The chicken vindaloo was actually really great, and boyfriend really liked his chicken tikka masala. I really like thick naan and our garlic naan was thick on most edges, but not in the middle… I wished it was thicker throughout, but regardless, the edges were delicious. Is this better than our favorite places in NorCal? No, definitely not. But will this be our go-​to place to satisfy Indian cravings on evenings I want to hermit in the house? Yesss.