Clay Oven Cuisine of India

A large brunch buffet is served daily at Clay Oven in Irvine.

European friends came to town after a prolonged stay in Florida. When Sunday rolled around, they were in no mood for bacon and eggs, the breakfast they'd been served every day in the home they were visiting. No, they were after something exotic.

Luckily, that's no problem around here. We are blessed with many splendid brunch options in these parts, one of which is the Indian brunch buffet, a mainstay of nearly every one of our good Indian restaurants. One of the best Sunday deals to be had is at Praveen Bonsal's Clay Oven in Irvine.

Clay Oven is a small, arty place in a quiet suburban mall deep in the heart of Irvine. The kitchen is known for innovations such as mango corn soup, braised lamb shank with fresh herbs and crab idli (a South Indian steamed bread).

It doesn't look much like your typical Indian restaurant either. The atmosphere is understated: beige walls with Western art, very comfortable chairs draped in brown velour. In fact, only the pleasant Indian ragas playing softly in the background hint at the fact that you have come to an exotic place.

That is, until you hit the buffet line.

A waiter will come by your table with a basket of hot naan, the Indian flat bread, just baked in the restaurant's trademark clay oven. Then he will offer you a refreshing sweet or mango-flavored yogurt drink (lassi). Take him up on this offer, even though these drinks are not included in the price of the buffet. The cooling powers of the yogurt balance an Indian lunch perfectly.

The first thing you encounter on the buffet is a small, well-stocked salad bar. The ingredients themselves -- chopped lettuce, ripe tomatoes, sliced cucumbers, sliced onions and finely chopped cabbage -- are good though unremarkable. What is special are the accompaniments: a fragrant mint chutney and a smoky, pungent tomato chutney, not to mention a soothing yogurt dressing (raita).

From there, you proceed to a series of handsomely laid-out copper kettles, where the buffet dishes are presented. One is filled with aloo chat, lightly fried potato cakes flecked with bits of vegetable and spice. A second contains channa, stewed garbanzo beans and chopped tomato in a rich brown gravy redolent of cinnamon.

A third kettle contains mixed sautéed cauliflower, broccoli and onions liberally sprinkled with a spice mixture dominated by the flavor of cumin seed. I'm not entirely fond of the buffet's overcooked spinach, though the partial cloves of garlic visible in the puree give it a nice flavor.

There are two chicken dishes: tandoori chicken is mildly spiced and partially blackened in the tandoor (clay oven) at searingly high heat. The other, which I much prefer, is chicken curry: pieces of chicken that taste as if they have been smoked before being added to the tomato-based curry sauce.

Naturally, there is basmati rice and lots of it, and one dessert is made from rice as well. Kheer, a rice pudding often made with raisins and almonds, is plain and creamy here.

I like Clay Oven's buffet for its quiet simplicity, and also because the chefs have taken the trouble to spice all the dishes differently, so that the palate doesn't tire easily.