THE weekend was almost at a close and as I geared up to tackle my latest case, I needed something to take the edge off.

“I’m starving and my parents called and offered to cook tonight. What do you think Tec?”, said the Moll.

“Well… Firstly, it’s Sunday – preferably a day of relaxation not suffering. And secondly, calling it ‘cooking’ is a bit of a stretch”, I thought to myself. “No thanks, I’ve got a better idea”, I said out loud.

“It better be good if I’m going to be cancelling on my parents”, replied Goldilocks.

“You want good? I know just the place. Grab your coat”, I said.

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Before we knew it we were in the Buick tearing down the roads of the South Side. As we pulled up in Shawlands, I spotted the cosy little restaurant I had in mind – Clay Oven. As we made our way inside, we were greeted by a bubbly, welcoming young woman, who showed us to our table and brought us some menus.

The options were mouth-watering, and we were soon calling out our choices to the waitress, who was confident that we would love what was to come.

While we waited for our meal, we were given a ‘pre-starter’ of poppadoms, spiced onions and a selection of sauces. The spiced onions were perfectly crunchy and came in a delicious tangy sauce, which went so well with the poppadoms.

It was an excellent start and we were beginning to see why the waitress was so confident about the quality of food.

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As our starters came out, we held on to the selection of mild and spicy sauces served with the previous course. Goldilocks was kind enough to share her Punjabi samosa with this old gumshoe and I was thrilled that she did. The samosa was topped with chickpeas in a smoky sauce with an amazing spicy kick. It hit the spot.

In return for a share of the samosa, I was forced to hand over half of my vegetable pakora – the Moll made sure of that. Each piece was a delight and was complimented by the flavours of the sauces we had.

It had been a great start to the meal, and we couldn’t wait for the next course.

As the mains were placed in front of us, the smells from each dish made the taste buds tingle. Dollface went for the Clay Oven Chicken Kadai, which was relatively mild but had an incredible blend of Indian flavours. The chicken was cooked to perfection and the curry went down a treat. I was in the mood for a dish that was a little bit hotter and decided to go for the Punjabi Chicken Bhoona. The first bite was an explosion of flavours and every mouthful after that was better than the last as the taste of the spices grew more intense.

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We shared basmati rice, layered paratha and a classic roti, which ensured we were stuffed by the end of the evening and had no room for dessert.

It was a real treat to dine at Clay Oven. From the staff to the food, everything in between was exceptional.

BILL

Pre-starters

Poppadoms and spiced onions - £2

Starters

Punjabi Samosa

Vegetable Pakora

Mains

Clay Oven Kadai

Punjabi Bhoona

Sides

Basmati Rice

Layered Paratha

Starters, mains and sides all ordered from pre-theatre menu – £25 for two people

Extra

Classic Roti - £2

Drinks

Coke x 2 - £4

Fresh orange & lemonade - £4

Total - £37

REVIEW

FOOD - ⭐⭐⭐⭐

ATMOSPHERE - ⭐⭐⭐

SERVICE - ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Clay Oven, 67 Kilmarnock Road, Shawlands, G41 3YR/Tel: 0141 632 2324