Clay Pot Cafe

You have to try hot clay pot once. Plenty of meat combinations you can choose. Frog legs for the adventurous. I choose the chicken and sausage and had an egg added to it. The heat from the clay pot makes the rice crispy and fun to eat. The meat portion is small but the price of each clay pot dish is super cheap. $ 6 – 7 per pot. We added diu mei and crab rangoons and left this small hole in the wall satisfied. My buddy was also very happy with his minced pork clay pot.
Space is limited here but everyone gets seated fairly quick. The staff is very friendly. Bring cash when you come here!

LOVE LOVE LOVE. Nothing but love. I don’t care there’s no bathroom. I don’t mind waiting for an hour. Just gimme some frog legged clay pots and some brain soup! So much f-​ing love for this place! :)

A delicious little hole in the wall!
Very small place with less than 10 tables. I came here after work on a Wednesday and had no trouble getting seated for a table of two. Tea was immediately served as I sat down. The staff was very friendly. We started off with the peking raviolis — very standard tasting for many Chinese/​Asian restaurants. I ordered the minced beef and Chinese sausage clay pot — EXTRA EXTRA Chinese sausage. I’m a sucker for Chinese sausage, and they did not skimp out at all on the extra serving of it. So extra star for not being stingy like some other Chinese restaurants I’ve tried. It is a little bit of a wait for the clay pot to come out, but worth the wait. They bring it out to you covered and offer to mix it up for you. Yes, of course you can mix it for me — extra extra star for great service. My boyfriend ordered the frog and Chinese sausage clay pot, and he was even given an extra egg for no charge. The portions are great. We both ordered a small clay pot and were extremely full afterwards. The food was very delicious so I felt the need to finish it all even if it meant I would be stuffed leaving. I saw another table order the medium size and it looked huge!
Total for both of us was $ 20 — another star for a cheap price for quality food.
TIP: Let the rice touching the claypot cook for a little bit so it becomes crispy. Adds a next texture to the meal!

Staff: The owner is so sweet and welcomed us gringos with a huge smile. I am not Chinese, and asked the waiter if the clay pot had rice in it and he laughed at me. I guess I deserved that though…
Patrons: It seemed like all the patrons knew each other and the owner.
Food: I have eaten better Chinese food. The ingredients seemed fresh, but everything tasted like cheap canola oil.
Cost: Dirt Cheap.
Décor: This is a true whole in the wall. The bathroom is really dirty.

I am always the only white guy here. Maybe my ethnicity is scared away by the soup slurping, the hole-​in-​the-​wall feel, or the stupidly low prices.
I’m usually an adventurous eater at these kind of restaurants, but $ 6.50 for chicken and sausage clay pot is just too easy to go for. Tell me where else I can buy dinner for that cheap aside from Chipotle.
Walk the extra 5 minutes from the T. Dumpling café is good too, but you’ve gotta come here at least once if you like Cantonese food.

First time in Boston, first stop! SO good! My mom has been dreaming of claypot rice since she’s come to America in the 80’s. She loved it.
We got the eel claypot with the eel & tofu soup. We also had the crab ragoon. The eel claypot was amazing. I’ve never had anything like it before. The place is cash only, but worth the trip to an ATM if needed.

I came here on a weekday night for dinner with some friends — limited seating, so come early or with a small group! The restaurant itself is easy to miss, because the building is pushed a little bit further back than most of the other buildings on Kneeland Street. I was starving but ordered the chicken and chinese sausage claypot dish — it was filling (lots of rice) and satisfying. I do wish that there were more toppings for the amount of rice you get, but because the meat is slightly salty, it balances it out, I guess. Wait for food is slightly longer than at most restaurants, but you have to remember that they are making each individual dish. For the price you pay, it’s a great deal!

I love Clay Pot Café, this one is probably the best I’ve had since I went to Hong Kong. Authentic with an option for everybody.
My only problem is that the tea and soups are never hot enough.
Get the chili oil. With everything.

I had to actively look for this place because it’s really easy to miss on Kneeland St, but it proved to be a true hidden gem. There isn’t much to say about this place. If you want a homey clay pot dish that feels like your grandma prepared it with much love and time, stop by Clay Pot Café and give it a try. I ordered the chicken and mushroom clay pot and it was amazing, particularly because I love mushrooms. The chicken was not without its bones, but meh… it won’t deter me from ordering it at my next visit. It was the perfect portion size to make me full, but not food-​coma full. Cash only and really limited seating.

Cash only hole in the wall with tasty Cantonese food. It helps to know Chinese, so you can order seasonal veggies that are not listed on the menu (like bitter melon). Their herbal soups are on point, and their clay pots are alright too.

A super cozy place!!! Me and my friend came here after we got off the bus at South Station from Ny. I was looking for a simple lunch place (cause I just had thanksgiving dinner the night before) and Chinatown is just close by. The café (idk why they call it a café cause it obviously doesn’t serve any kind of coffee) is on the corner of Kneeland st. and Hudson st. You will immediately feel the warmth from good food the moment you step in!
We ordered a Chicken and Chinese Sausage Clay Pot Rice, a Shredded Pork and Preserved Egg Congee, and an Ox tail herbal soup. The wait for the food is kinda long (or maybe cuz I was too hungry). Food are served really hot and freshly made. We love the congee! It’s the best thing here! It would be such a pleasure in the winter or rainy days. It really feels like family food.
We paid $ 22 in total including tips. So it’s really cheap compared to the portion.
Would def come back if I ever visit Boston again.

You pick a pot which comes with food and rice.
It’s cheap and yummy and just a great deal in general.
The food-​to-​rice ratio is a little small for my liking though.
And I guess it’s not very «foreigner friendly.»

Love this hole in the wall gem! This restaurant can probably sit 20 – 25 people max but only has one server during the time of our visit. We were the only table in the restaurant and the food took about 20 mins to serve due to each dish being made to order and it takes a bit to cook in the clay pots. YAY! I’m a fan of this place for staying authentic. It’s rare and such a treat to find places like these still! The beef with egg claypot rice is delicious. A medium could easily feed 4 people (even if they say it feeds 2 – 3). A small can probably feed 2 people. The salted fish with pork clay rice was delicious too! The food is great but don’t expect to come here for the service or ambiance.

This restaurant doesn’t look like much from the outside but the food is phenomenal. It’s a small space that only seats about 25 – 30 people so there can be a bit of a wait. I came at around 6:30 on a Saturday night and my boyfriend and I snagged the last table.
The menu is simple and the dishes are inexpensive. We ordered two small clay pot rices ($ 6.75 each) and sautéed yu choy ($ 7.50) to share. The rice came within 10 – 15 minutes, which is very fast for clay pot rice, but the vegetable came 10 minutes after that. They probably forgot about it because the waiter had a moment of realization when he looked at our table and went back to the kitchen. Onto the food itself, both rice dishes were flavorful and tasted just like home. I ordered the Chinese sausage and bacon and my boyfriend got the chicken and mushroom. Both pots had a generous amount of meat on top. Mix the pot so that you get soy sauce on your rice! If you’re a fan of the crunchy rice on the bottom of the pot like I am, mix right above the bottom layer so that you have a nice treat at the end. The small was the perfect size to fill us up. The vegetable was tasty and cooked just right, but it did come in a very small portion. I was disappointed to see that the dish cost more than a pot of rice ($ 7.50 vs $ 6.75) and there were maybe two handfuls of vegetable on the plate.
Overall, I had a good experience and I’ll be back for more clay pot rice!

Small restaurant that has been here forever.
Food to price ratio is thumbs up. Food is a good amount for the price that is. Would go back again for sure!
We had 4 ppl and didn’t have trouble finding seats but there are only 6 tables available. No reservations I think.
Food: known for their clay pot rice dishes. Must try strange ones like frog and eel clay pots! Small is good for one person dinner. Medium is good for 2 people, large waitress said is good for a party of 4! Make sure you stir it when you get served unless you like the crispy rice from the bottom!
Clay pots rice dishes is like Chinese version of bibimbap. Definitely how I like it!
We had 4 ppl, ordered 3 small clay pot fishes with pan fried dumplings, total was less than $ 35.
Location: parking may be hard to find as they may be residential parking only or meter. Or pay for parking in Chinatown parking lots.

This is a cute place to come and explore! It’s very tiny, and the experience is very authentic.
If you’re feeling adventurous and curios to explore, this is the place to come to!

The place is on the outside of Chinatown. The place itself is very small and has a 6 seats. Located right next to Kung Fu Tea (boba… how convenient)!
The food is very traditional… so basically very amazing. The clay pot is flavorful but not too rich. If you wait another minute before digging in, the rice has a good crispy mixture to it! Make sure you get a side of meat or veggies with your clay pot! The clay pot is basically rice with a little bit of meat.
Honestly, this is probably my new favorite place to come during winter. Just try this place, I’m sure you’ll love it!

There’s something oddly comforting and homey about the crackling of rice in a clay pot. Upon entering Clay Pot Café, I was hit with a rush of nostalgia. The no-​frills establishment, nestled away in Chinatown with seating for maybe 20 guests, brought me back to the larger version of a relative’s dining room in Asia.
As I sipped on the steaming hot shredded pork with egg porridge, I was reminded of the times my younger self spent eating porridge on cold Michigan mornings, with my mother playing a mix of Taiwanese and Chinese songs from the kitchen.
Per its name, Clay Pot Café does clay pot rice justice. My only qualm about the delicious bowl of rice is that there is a lot more rice than meat. I quickly saw the spareribs in my pot disappear, leaving a mess of crispy rice with scallions. Albeit delicious, my stomach couldn’t help but shun the rice and crave more spareribs. That being said, I left extremely full and extremely satisfied with my meal, which was incredibly cheap for the amount of food received.
Appetizers and other dishes seem to come out faster than the clay pots, but the taste of a home cooked meal lingered long after I left the restaurant, which more than made up for the long wait.
After all, it takes time and love to cook up the perfect clay pot.

I went to Clay Pot Café based on Unilocal reviews and am sad to say that I had a terrible experience. I came here before the dinner rush and still had to wait ~45 minutes for my food. During my wait, I signed on my Unilocal app and saw that another reviewer noted that clay pots may take up that amount of time. Beware that you may have to wait 45 minutes to get your food.
Alright, the wait wasn’t my biggest complaint. I found a hair in my bowl of rice. I didn’t complain because I had already waited 45 minutes. I simply scooped out that section of my bowl and proceeded to eat. The food wasn’t good, which was the most disappointing part. To find a hair in my bowl after waiting 45 minutes and then realize that the food is mediocre is so very disappointing. I got the sausage and chicken clay pot as recommended by Unilocal.The chicken was basically bones. There was literally two or three millimeters of skin on each dinky piece of «chicken.» And the sausage was so thin and there weren’t more than ten pieces altogether. I did like the crunchy rice, but that isn’t worth 45 minutes of my time.
I don’t know if it’s simply because I am unlucky, but I didn’t get a tea pot and traditional Asian cups like other tables. I was given slim glasses of tea instead. I had to call them over to refill, which made me even more upset. Also, my table wasn’t set when I was seated, so I had to ask for napkins as well. They gave me one napkin and nothing more.
Prices are cheap, but this little restaurant is chaotic so the service is mediocre. The food isn’t of great quality — pretty traditional, but not worth a ridiculous wait. And of course, finding a hair in my food has led me to believe that this restaurant is pretty unhygienic.
I won’t be coming back.

Cash ONLY.
Chicken & Sausage, Pork Spareribs, and minced beef were pretty good clay pots.
Oh make sure to add a fried egg on top of your order!
Green onion pancake had a nice sauce to go with it.
Service was okay but I think the food and price overall made it worth it.