Hot Clay Oven NYC Review: Nice Wrap Fillings; Not-So-Good Wrap
Hot Clay Oven had been on our to-visit list for several months and we were glad to finally make it the other day.
Located at 101 Maiden Ln in downtown Manhattan, Hot Clay Oven is spacious with three or four tables on one side and several stools set against the wall on two other sides. A self-serve place, Hot Clay Oven has multiple convenient electric outlets to recharge your iPhone, iPad, laptop or netbook. Nice gesture, folks.
Hot Clay Oven is different from your typical NYC Indian restaurant that usually offers a crappy Lunch buffet with the mandatory Chicken Tikka Masala, Sag Paneer and Pakoras.
Indian Fusion Cuisine
Touting itself as a fusion restaurant, Hot Clay Oven offers Wraps (Wheat or White), Naan Wrap, Rice Bowl, Salad Bowl and Queso-Fusion (Wrap Whole wheat or white tortilla) with a choice of fillings including Tandoori Chicken, Tandoori Paneer, Malai Chicken, Pork Vindaloo, Chutneys and more.
For our quick meal at Hot Clay Oven, we picked Wheat wraps.
Hot Clay Oven - Large Wheat Wraps
The Tandoori Chicken was decently marinated and the herbed rice was reasonably flavorful. Most Indian restaurants add an obscene pink color to the Tandoori Chicken and do not marinate it properly. We were glad Hot Clay Oven turned to be blessedly different here.
The quantity of filling inside the wrap was decent and, boy, they tasted good too. Besides the Tandoori Chicken and Herbed Rice, we also picked Roasted Nuts, Mint and Coriander Chutney, Lettuce and Onion.
What screwed up our late lunch was the Wheat Tortilla. The tortilla was large but had an off-putting odor.
Tandoori Chicken Wheat Wrap
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Tandoori Paneer Wheat Wrap
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The story was the same with the Tandoori Paneer wrap as well.
The Spicy Red Chutney, Tandoori Paneer, onion, capsicum and herbed rice inside found favor with us but not the Wheat Tortilla.
So we scooped out the delicious inside fillings and trashed most of the Tortilla.
Ugly Samosas
Samosas ($1.15) were ugly at Hot Clay Oven.
Come on, how difficult can it be for an Indian place to make decent Samosas?
The edges were hard and the potato filling inside was disgustingly tasteless. Much as we hate wasting food, after a few bites we flung it in the trash bin near the Soda Fountain.
The Cinnamon Naan was also nothing to write NYIndia Home about.
The staff at Hot Clay Oven were a little indifferent and could do with some training.
Hot Clay Oven Rating
The lousy wrap notwithstanding we'd probably head to Hot Clay Oven again and try a Garlic Naan or Butter Naan with the Pork Vindaloo. - © NYIndia.us
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