Clay’s Hyderabadi Kitchen in Reading launching nationwide delivery service tomorrow

Owners of Clay’s Hyderabadi Kitchen have revealed customers from across the country will be able to order food from their restaurant which will be dispatched to their house.

Nandana and her husband Sharat own the restaurant - which serves authentic regional Indian food - and do all the cooking together.

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Nandana explained before lockdown the food they served was all from Hyderabad where their families live but the menu has since been changed to incorporate other regional Indian dishes to give customers the chance to try something new.

She revealed that during lockdown, the restaurant has had to adapt to help protect the businesses future.

She said: "We are a small restaurant with no outside space and limited ventilation, so we knew very early on that we couldn’t reopen the way other restaurants can.

"Simply put, we have to adapt to survive and that’s when we hit on the idea of sending our food out for customers to reheat at home. "We invested in kit to blast chill and vacuum pack our dishes, adapted our menu and started delivering across Reading."

She added: "But to make it through the very challenging months that lie ahead we need to introduce our food and our flavours to as many people as possible, so after a successful trial delivering in Reading alone we are now launching nationwide delivery.

"We are hoping that all of our customers recommend us to their friends and family - we’ve already heard that people are planning to buy a Clay’s meal for their loved ones who they haven’t been able to see because of the virus.

"That feels like a lovely thing to do.

"Some of our customers have even taken our food on holiday with them!"

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The independent restaurant is updating its website to accommodate the changes and it's online people will be able to pick the food they want, add it to their basket and check out.

Nandana explained: "We cook and dispatch regularly throughout the week, and their food will be delivered by courier in special insulated packaging which keeps the food chilled for up to 48 hours."

Delivery to many RG postcodes will cost £5 and £6.50 to the rest of the UK.

Local customers also have the option to collect orders from Fidget and Bob in Kennet Island at no cost.

Nandana revealed the future of the business relies on the success of nationwide deliveries.

She said: "We’re excited that new customers will get to experience our food and nervous that the future of our business depends on this: frankly speaking we will not have a restaurant to reopen in the future if this doesn’t work."

She added: "We are so grateful to everybody in Reading who has bought from us, recommended us and supported us - for every order and kind comment and Retweet.

"Expanding to deliver outside Reading doesn’t change the fact that we will always be a Reading restaurant, and proud to be part of Reading."