11/25/07

Food doesn't live up to the view.

by paigeleeds

Though Clay's clearly tries to look upscale, its food and wine was pedestrian. We went for happy hour, and happy hour tends to be a good barometer for the quality of the overall restaurant. A great happy hour, even when scaled down for price, still shows off the great flavors and range of the restaurant. Not so at Clay's.

The house chardonay tasted as if it had been left uncorked for a couple days, then chilled. The potato pancakes were mushy and served with a bizzare cream sauce flavored with (of all things) fish sauce. A request for dressing on the side of the cesear salad was ignored. The goat cheese fondu was a broiled cheese wheel in a sea of overly greasy tomato sauce, served around it were toast points smothered in fake butter, so oily that you needed to wipe your hands throughly after taking a bite.

Service was slow and a little rude. The hostess, clad in an unfortunate '80's throwback, greeted us with, "Do you have a question?" and our server didn't ask us if we enjoyed our meal (wine glasses full and plates too). While the view is great, I'd suggest enjoying sunset with a bottled beer at happy hour. -Then leaving for a better place for dinner.

• Pros: View
• Cons: poor food, lousy wine