Lava Rock Kitchen — Restaurant in New York

Overall 3 star rating due to the experience with the food. It was quiet when we walked in and we were seated pretty quickly. This is a new establishment so we decided to try it out.

The service here is great and it’s one of the main reasons they are getting a 3 star rating.

We ordered a mango mojito, steamed dumplings with a side of a chili sauce, a porterhouse steak medium rare and a tortellini pasta. The server took our order and quite some time after we began to get served food.

We first received a complimentary bread basket with marinara sauce which was delicious. Shortly after we were served our dumplings which were delicious as well. Followed up later with a plain mint mojito. I asked the waiter if this was supposed to be the mango mojito and he proceeded to tell me that the mango version is only served as a spicy drink which we did not want. This was the first error in communication for the night.

After about 45 mins we were finally served our steak. After trying to cut into it I realized that it was definitely not medium rare. I called over the owner who happened to be at the restaurant tonight and questioned him about the steak. He apologized and took it back to get a new one and asked the waiter who took our order. Shortly after the waiter came back and asked me again how I asked for the steak to be served and I said medium rare. Shortly after that again the owner came back to apologize again and stated the new steak will be out shortly. I took this opportunity to ask when my wife would get her tortellini pasta and he said asked what pasta? I stated the one we previously ordered with the original order. He responded “That wasn’t added to the original order. The waiter must have forgot”. This was the second instance of miscommunication.

Ultimately to cut the rest of the review short, we were served the porterhouse steak and pasta. The steak was still not butter soft as I would have expected medium rare porterhouse to be and the pasta was not boiled enough and was sort of hard to eat.

The owner did provide us with a complimentary dessert.

Overall I will not be returning. I appreciate the owner for taking his time to make things right and offering us complimentary items. Hope this review can be received as...

One of the worst experiences I had at a restaurant! My family and I came here on Christmas and made a reservation for 7 adults, two kids at 8 (we reached and sat at 7:55). They crammed us on a 6 person table and didn't bring us menu's or waters for 10 min. We ended up waiting 1hr 30 minutes and then they started bringing us the wrong order. They kept confusing our table with the table behind us. Eventually we got our food (which they also got wrong) 1hr50min after sitting. We ate within 15 min just to eat and get out.

When the bill came (they brought the wrong bill three times). We asked to see the manager multiple times and he just kept walking past our table avoiding us. Eventually we spoke to the owner who apologized for the bad service, but there was no clear answer why we got such bad service. They comped our meal, but honestly with 3 hours wasted for mediocre food was not it.

The manager was also trying to shift the blame to my uncle saying "if you guys were upset why didn't he mention anything when he came to ask us to bring the cake out". We were sat in the middle of the restaurant, there was no way they didn't see us sitting there upset and impatient. The waitress blamed the kitchen and the "rush" (it was full but they should know their capacity if it was too much), the manager blamed the waitress, etc.

Food was bland, the steak was so tough it hurt our jaws, the complimentary birthday dessert (yes this was a family bday celebration) they brought out was inedible (aside from the strawberry garnish). The personal pizza tasted like they threw toppings on top of a piece of naan and sprinkled cheese on top -- everything slid off and the pizza was the floppiest pizza I ever saw/had. And the pasta tasted like it was rushed. Everything was extremely mediocre.

What was most disappointing to see is that other customers came an hour after us, ordered their food, ate, paid, and left while we...

I was looking for a new Italian place to try in the Bronx and Google lead me to Lava Rock Kitchen.

Food: The complimentary bread is so good! I had to put it across the table to stop eating it.

The fried mozzarella was a twist for me and it was yummy but, I prefer a crispy breading with a cheese pull to it.

The Ravioli Alfredo with chicken is amazing and packed with flavor and highly recommended!

They have an item not on the menu called “Misto di Carne” it’s a sampler basically with steak, chicken, lamb chops, potatoes, and zucchini fries. The stars for me were the zucchini fries(sooo good), lamb chops, and potatoes. The steak was a lil too well done since I asked for medium well. The sauces on the plate complemented the dish very well!

I also had a spicy mango mocktail that was delicious! If they had alcohol I would’ve had a few of them. LOL

Service: 5 stars! Riyadh provided great service and really took care of me. As someone else mentioned they automatically charge 18% on the ticket so watch that when tipping especially since the receipt gives a suggested tip amount again. His service was worth the 18% though so I didn’t complain.

I would definitely return to this restaurant again and I hope others support this...