Hot Rocks Creative Diner

I have often heard about this place, but I had no idea where it was! When I saw it on the Whitbylicious website, I figured it would be worth a try finally to celebrate my birthday with my husband.
The atmosphere is nice. Dark, but not too dark. Kind of classy, without being pretentious. It was very hot inside, which I can only assume is from the giant wood stove as you first walk in. Wear something light.
The seating is a little tight. We were kind of jammed into a corner and were surrounded by two groups. Service was friendly and attentive.
We both ordered the same items from the Winterlicious menu: The appetizers were 3 mini crab cakes which were really nice! The hint of heat made these perfect. They come with a grilled slice of lemon.
For the main course we each had a rare 10 oz ribeye steak with roast potatoes, rapini, carrots and asparagus. My steak was cooked almost perfectly. It was a thin steak, so a couple of spots were closer to medium though. My husband’s was mostly medium rare to medium. He let the server know and turned down her offer for a new one. She ended up comping his beer for him instead which was a very nice gesture! The veggies and potatoes were delicious and the steak had great flavour.
For dessert we had the chocolate strawberry tart. So good! Despite looking really rich, it was actually quite light. Perfect after a heavy steak dinner.
We’ll definitely be back to try the pizza. It looks amazing!

It’s an odd name, I know, but as soon as you walk in, you realize why: there’s a large, stone pizza oven behind the bar. Mystery solved! Time to go home.
Kidding!
My aunts and I went out for dinner and dessert. We’ve been here for fam jams before and we keep coming back. The service and quality of food has not changed, even though the ownership has changed. This place has a great atmosphere; great for a date or a girls night.
We started with the Curry Chicken Nachos. As expected, it was piled high with multi-​coloured tortilla chips and oodles of toppings. There were toppings throughout, not just on top. The chicken gave a surprise kick when it was hidden amongst the delicious mole sauce, scallions and cheese. The guacamole and bruschetta made this the best nachos ever. I’d come back just for these.
They tried the Orzo, Pork Belly Special, Curry Chicken Linguine, Chicken/​Sausage/​Shrimp and I went with the Atlantic Salmon. It was exactly what we expected: Perfection. Each dish was flavourful with a twist. I’ve always loved that they’ll mix ingredients I’d never put together and it’s fantastic. The pasta dishes were HUGE and there was no shortage of meat and veggies. The aunt that had the Curry Chicken Linguine kept trying to share it. The aunt that tried the Pork Belly didn’t realize how fatty it would be, but soon discovered why I almost ordered It: moist and full of flavour. My salmon was good and flaky, but it could’ve been a little bigger. I’m a saucy gal and I would’ve liked more of the lemon-​horseradish yogurt. Mmmm. All of the accompanying veggies were fresh and cooked perfectly. The specials are always something that will try to steal you away from with you’ve already picked from the menu.
Their wine menu isn’t huge, but they have everything you need, from local to imports. They have some delightful in house cocktails as well, but they’re a little pricy. Their beer menu could use a little love, but did have 1 craft beer on tap when I was there and I hope they get more in the future.
Even with a change in management, this place has remained the same: Dang good. I was worried when I found out who their sister restaurant is, but my worries have been put to rest. The service is professional and efficient and the food is excellent. I just hope they can keep this level of satisfaction. I’ve been seeing a lot of negative reviews since the new management came in… hope this isn’t a trend! Fingers crossed!

The last time I was at hot rocks, I had the most interesting and delicious pizza experience. If i had written a review that time i would have given it 5 out of 5. Oddly, I hadn’t been back in quite a while until just recently.
This time I ordered the Macedonian pasta with a starter green salad. The salad was unique… but not good at all. It was waaayyy overdressed. It tasted like every ingredient had been pickled and then doused in lemon juice. I couldn’t handle more than a couple mouthfuls before I gave up.
The pasta… looked good… sounded good. but again was overdressed. There was so much dried basil in the sauce. and instead of a light pesto. The dish was swimming in oil. I’m not kidding. It was more like oil soup with penne noodles.
I’m was supremely disappointed. But I will say the service was excellent. The server did come by and asked how everything was but I didn’t have the courage to send my food back…
Not saying this place doesn’t know how to do pizza… and maybe I came on a bad night. but I would be wary of ordering the pasta and salad.

We have been to Hot Rocks numerous times and it has always been a positive experience. Unfortunately our latest visit was quite disappointing. The menu has changed but there are many new dishes on the menu that sound quite appetizing.
Three of us ordered the Jumbo Shrimp for $ 17. This is from the Before 3 menu therefore smaller than the dinner version. The menu reads:
Marinated in lemon & thyme /​charred baby romaine /​bacon lardons /​mustard vinaigrette /​charred lemon /​breadcrumb gremolata
The ingredients were right up my alley and I envisioned a plate with a small mound of well charred romaine topped with shrimp and drizzled with mustard vinaigrette, a healthy smattering of bacon lardons sprinkled with the gremolata.
We received our dishes and shot looks of consternation at one another. Three large shrimp, not JUMBO sat atop of two very large hearts of romaine (not baby romaine as stated on the menu) that were not charred at all. The bacon lardons were actually bacon bits that were hard as hell. The mustard vinaigrette was nowhere to be seen and we did not witness a breadcrumb on the plate. I forgot to take a photo to share but I will warn anyone that even thinks of ordering this plate to reconsider.
We paid $ 17 each to eat three shrimp and we left the romaine on the plate. To add insult to injury, two of us experienced one shrimp with a strange flavour (past prime). A terribly bad dish with an ridiculous price.
When we left I noticed that the cooks were very young…19, 20 perhaps? Nothing wrong with that if a chef is present to oversee but that wasn’t the case. Learn what a lardon is, charred, gremolata, read your menu and present as stated boys!
I doubt that we will return. My Mother’s non-​alcoholic drinks were deducted from her bill. My sister and I were not offered any compensation as we had alcoholic beverages. By the way, the Charcuterie plate was definitely not made in house as stated on the menu.

We were very pleased with our first dining experience at this community diner. We arrived about 315 which is past the 3pm deadline for certain menu options. The waitress confirmed we were good to order from that selection regardless which was a nice surprise. My husband had the roasted chicken with au jus, green beans and potato gratin. I had the roasted beet, kale and goat cheese wrap. We both loved our meals and found our server Ashleigh attentive and pleasant. Only a 12 minute drive from our home so we will certainly be back! I definitely recommend if you’re looking for a low-​key dining experience but creative and yummy food !

Great food! Slow service though. It took over 20 minutes before our waitress introduced herself…

Food: ⁹⁄₁₀
Atmosphere: ⁹⁄₁₀
Service: ⁴⁄₁₀
Been here more than once, the food is great and the service has been great in the past however our visit today was disappointing. The server was unpleasant and projecting her grouchiness unto us during our meal. For example, she brought the wrong dish for one of our group and upon bringing it to her attention, she said «well, that’s what you ordered». In this case, we knew she had brought the wrong dish but even if the customer was wrong, you don’t speak to the customer like that. I would give them another chance and avoid being seated in this server’s area.
Summary: a grouchy server ruined an otherwise very nice experience.

The experience of cooking meat on a hot rock was rather interesting but overall it’s a little on the pricey side. I also ordered an Australian lamb shank which was ok.

I’ve been to hot rocks twice now, and the second visit was even better than the first.
We started off with the Hawaii Five O pizza, which was really good. I asked for the calamari to be prepared gluten free and they were excellent — nicely seasoned, not overcooked and served with a wonderful chipotle aioli. I had the lamb shank — nice, tender, flavourful reduction, with cauliflower garlic mash potatoes. My wife had the Caesar salad and the beef brisket — the salad was very well done, not overpowering or over-​sauced. The brisket was also really good, flavourful and with enough fat left on it to keep it tender and not too stringy.
The wine list features a good selection of very reasonably priced choices.
We left pretty full and pretty happy.
Highly recommended!

Best casual restaurant in Whitby. Varied menu high quality and tasty cuisine. Staff is super nice and friendly… They have a nice quiet little patio too. My fav spot!

Dining in Durham is getting better all the time, there are a few places trying to bring a good dining experience to the ‘remote’ region. :P Hot Rocks has decent food, great service and a really nice atmosphere. The place is always busy and has a nice, clean, modern décor that doesn’t distract.
We tried the vegetarian nachos and goat cheese medallion, which were both excellent appetizers, but served on some new square-​glass tableware they were trying out which was way too big. It looked nice, but you have to be somewhat practical, two apps took up our entire table!
I enjoyed the pizza, it was the Spicy Cajun with blackened chicken, sweet potato and a drizzle of garlic aioli on top. The pizzas at Hot Rocks are probably the best in the area, they are really good.
The rest of the menu looks quite yummy, they have a large assortment of pastas and meat dishes, but disappointingly, no vegetarian options right off the menu. They are happy to modify their menu, but that is never as good as some well-​thought-​out veggie options.
Great place, I’ll go again next time I’m lost and wandering through Whitby.