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Volcano Asian BBQ and Hot Pot

4.4 (71 reviews)
Open • 12:00 pm - 10:30 PM
Updated 2 months ago

Volcano Asian BBQ and Hot Pot Photos

Business Info

VOLCANO ASIAN BBQ AND HOT POT ATMOSPHERE

What's the vibe?
Casual
Trendy
Moderate noise
Good for groups

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Recommended Reviews - Volcano Asian BBQ and Hot Pot

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Original Broth
Jolie S.

Note: somehow yelp logged me in with my wrong email, so this post might appear twice. From the outside Volcano is very unassuming. However, that all changes once you enter. Inside it is vibrant, with a staff that is warm, welcoming, and incredibly helpful. Ordering was easy. You can choose hot pot, bbq, or both! Each table has an iPad so you can order refills of all the delicious meats, seafood, and vegetables. There is a huge variety of items to choose from. The beauty of it is that you can try a little bit of everything. For the hot pot there are an unheard of 5 different broths available. I went with the original, my husband, had the chicken, my eldest the medium spicy, and my youngest had the miso. All were flavorful and delicious. There is also a sauce bar for you to either conjure up your own or use one of their handy guides. If you leave hungry, then you definitely did something wrong!

Our table
Michael C.

We went to Volcano for a birthday party a couple of months ago. We had a reservation for a table and were promptly seated when we arrived. Just a heads up, they don't do reservations unless it's a group of 4 or more I believe. The atmosphere was somewhat energetic, lots of people laughing and having a good time. I had not been to a Korea BBQ place like this before. How it works is they charge a flat rate for BBQ or Hot Pot but you can do both if you are hungry for an extra charge. You have 2 hours to order your food but they didn't rush us out while we were still chatting and having fun. They charge you for any washed food so I wouldn't go crazy but they are also forgiving too. Don't feel like you need to finish every stray chili on your plates, from how it was explained to us is this was more for cases where people left a lot of food on their plate to toss away. Our server was Lia and she was really nice and attentiv; she explained the whole process clearly to us and was very helpful! She even bought us a round of shots because of the occasion! The service in general was very good, with people coming out to get us new grills to cook on and such. The actual cooking process was pretty straight forward, they bring out the meat and you grill it to your liking. They will give you tips and tell you how to do grill if you're feeling unsure about it. The Bulgogi was probably my favorite but the steak and pork belly were also great. I recommend giving this place a shot. It was a fun time, the food was good, and the service was excellent! Just a heads up if it's your birthday and you show them your ID then they won't charge you for your dinner, which is super generous of them as we only paid for 3 guests instead of 4!

Beautiful signage
Serine F.

First time at this type of restaurant that comes the closest to K-town in the city. Food to price ratio was appropriate to the amount of times we reordered (4X) our kalbi, bulgogi, steak, pork belly and chicken entree's on the grill. Veggies broccoli,zucchini, mushrooms were in sizable edible pieces and fresh. I found the bachan or side dishes of kimchee, radish and cucumber starting to turn mushy and beginning to go sour. Of course, this may be attributed to not restocking the sides as the trays were almost empty. Dessert offered was a coconut yellow cake, red velvet cake , ice cream and fruit. It was pretty cool to also have unlimited drinks offered; Pepsi, Sprite, Mountain Dew, Brisk Ice tea. Nice space between tables. Appreciated the clean bathrooms, that's a plus! Our waitress Lia was very accommodating and sweet and even brought our table a shot of lemonade which was excellent. Coming back to try the hotpot.

hotpot sides
Muriel D.

Went for a friends birthday, the service was great! We enjoyed our food and had a good time. The decor is bright and really inviting, there's a giant wall with an animation of water that is contributes to the vibes. The menu is expansive and there are lots of sauces and sides to pick from. The birthday girl got a free meal since we were a party of 4+ and they also let us bring in a cake (which they served on a beautiful cutting board). Overall, enjoyed our time here.

Garnishes from the sauce bar
Danielle L.

Let me start by saying that this was a really nice experience! I came here for my birthday dinner to treat myself to a new experience. We were welcomed right away and were asked if we had beer before or were new guests. I affirmed this was the first time and the host told me that the server would explain everything and answer any questions that we might have. Lia came over and introduced herself and was super helpful with all my questions! The food here is okay but I would come back just to see and talk to Lia! She really was wonderful and deserves recognition for her excellent customer service! Now to answer a few questions that I had: 1. It is a flat rate per person for Korean BBQ 2. You can add the Hot Pot for an additional fee 3. NO, you cannot take any of your leftovers home! 4. In fact, if you waste food they reserve the right to charge you an additional $15 per pound of food wasted. So make sure you are conservative with what you order. 5. You are timed. You can keep ordering on the digital order pad for 2 hours after you are seated. You aren't rushed out in general though, you can hang out with your party as long as you like. Now back to business. Lia told us that they weren't super strict especially since it was our first time and didn't know the process. Lia gave the whole table free shots for my birthday AND they gave me a free birthday dinner!! I thought this was super generous! You just have to show your I.D. I would definitely recommend this for a fun experience! Oh and I would recommend that you do both the BBQ and the Hot Pot combo as well! If I could make a suggestion it would be to have sliced lemons and limes near the drink cooler for the bottled water. That would be a nice touch.

Hwal L.

Several of us had waited patiently for them to open after months of promotion, so we were excited to finally make it after a grand opening little over a month ago. Apparently no reservation was needed for the four of us, and we had no trouble getting a table on a recent Saturday for dinner. The decor certainly set the mood the moment we walked in, and although there was a lot going on everywhere we looked (shooting starts on the ceiling?!), I was personally glad that their lighting was just right so that it wasn't neither blinding nor inadequate. The waitstaff was perfectly attentive and patient which was refreshing, and the ordering via iPad was efficient once we got the hang of the pace. Several highlights from our BBQ dinner: + The meats were good quality and we enjoyed most of them, especially salmon, beef bulgogi, marinated pork belly, and short rib. + I love that each person gets their own tongs - a nice touch! + The self-service station with sauces, sides, desserts, and a drinks fridge is perfectly suitable, and I particularly enjoyed their cucumber kimchi and radish. + AYCE Lettuce. This excites me as much as AYCE meats. + Their veggie selection is solid, and we loved the classics like mushrooms and onions. The two things that left me with questions are (1) the use of bottled water vs the typical water jug with cups, if only because of my concerns about use of plastic that could easily be minimised, and (2) lack of blinds because two of us in the group had the sun on us and had to have our hands up to block it out for a long while, which was an inconvenience. We were told that they had ordered the blinds, so I hope this is addressed for future visits. This was all in all a great introduction, and the place was packed by the time we left. I welcome Volcano to the neighbourhood. We can't wait to go back for their hot pot.

Self-serve beverage cooler, included in the standard pricing.
Franklin H.

Didn't expect to see a Hotpot place in Niskayuna, but here we are. Saw reviews on Yelp and we decided to visit. Went for dinner on a weeknight. Place was busier than I expected but we were seated right away. Server was excellent and she explained how this works. I sat through it just in case there was something specific to this place. Decided to get both the BBQ grill option and the Hotpot too for only $5 extra per person. Decided on the original broth. It was too mild for my taste. Significant other went with the medium spiced broth, which she found a bit more spicy than she expected. Select meats and veggies from an iPad. Menu and selection process on the iPad was intuitive. I did see some paper menus too so that's an option for people that prefer paper option? Food arrived very quickly. Food was of excellent quality, and where seasoning and marinate was called for it was properly done. There is a large (for around here) sauce bar so you can pick up your own condiments. Very nice. Server was attentive. Swapped out grill plate when it started to get charred. Additional orders were quickly filled. Impressed with service speed and attention to details. Had a really good time. Place has a nice ambiance. Large screen serves as wall displayed sceneries of videos from across the world. I probably overate as this is an AYCE setup. Skipped desserts because of that. Non alcoholic drinks are including the price and is self serve out of a cooler refrigerator. Well return and try other menu items. Fun place to eat.

Nisha S.

This place is definitely our go to when we're in Albany; besides their technical issues with the iPad, everything went fine. The service was fast and the food was really good like always.

Welcome sign

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1 year ago

Food was sooo good. Service was quick. Restaurant was clean. We were seated quickly.

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1 year ago

We had a really lovely time here. Both the hot pot and the grill were fun and tasty, and the staff was attentive and kind.

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1 year ago

Food and service were both excellent! We enjoyed our first visit here immensely and would love to return when we come back to the area!!

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Page 1 of 2

Ask the Community - Volcano Asian BBQ and Hot Pot

Should we make a reservation for Friday or Saturday from 2-4 pm?

Yes, I would definitely call to make a reservation for Friday or Saturday from 2-4pm. That way you will be assured a table and avoid the wait time!

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•$$

My grandson invited me to one of his favorite restaurants for a 19th birthday dinner. It was my…read morethird time here, but the best dining experience because we were five adventurous adults. We shared family style some memorable food choices which were all enjoyed. Our order: *Seaweed Salad with chili pepper in a toasted sesame oil dressing *Jellyfish app - "oohed and ahed" over it *Vegetarian Dumplings - with dipping sauces, tasty *Four Season Buns - Five colorful, tender dough buns enveloping flavorful fillings *Sea Cucumber with Beef Tendon - I preferred the sea cucumber over the tendon. *Chicken with Snow Peas - melt in your mouth chicken *Vegetarian Tofu with General Sauce - excellent! *Hu's Seafood Hot Pot - squid, flounder, shrimp (I did not like the green pepper, but someone else did.) *Crispy Shanghai Duck - sliced table side and amazing! Enjoyed with accolades. Brown Rice for all... Service was excellent; it was experienced, skillfull, and courteous. Kudos! Hu's is in a class by itself for gourmet Chinese cuisine dining. What a GEM! P.S. My grandson is interested in Marine Biology, so he was delighted with the variety of our seafood edibles. He provided interesting background information as we dined.

During the first Covid lockdown in 2021, we isolated in our Catskills home. The infection counts…read morewere low in Greene county New York and nobody knew what would happen next. TV news broadcast dire predictions during every 24 hour news cycle. So of course, cooking and acquiring food while binging movies and TV shows on cable became the obvious means by which to deflect attention from the rising COVID body counts world-wide and dire predictions. High anxiety was the order of the day, and tippling, cooking, take outs and eating became a reliable means to blunt it. Between TV binging we continued our years long, fanatical search for Xiao Long Bao -- or anything Asian to cook of takeaway and eat TV-side. HU's is a small Chinese joint in Albany, near where we received our Covid vaccines, and a good 90 minute drive from our home. There was nothing that vaguely resembled a good Shanghainese take out joint any closer - so when we didn't care to cook Asian, we made the trip to Albany for takeaway. As it turns out, HU's makes some authentic and delicious soup dumplings, and other dim sum like shrimp har gow, perfectly seasoned sweet/sour soup and some very tasty Scallion pancakes and Peking style duck. It was well worth the 3 hour round trip to take away -- or even eat in. The restaurant enforced social distancing making the eat in experience feel safe and authentic. I dunno. It's been a while since our HU's excursions in 2021, but I think in hindsight the food is truly a solid 4 stars good. I can't get to 5 stars because I could not rate the service due to pandemic restrictions in restaurants. Service was diminished due to social distancing during Covid times - but the restaurant was sparkly clean everywhere we looked. I imagine the same is still true today. So if you find yourself craving Shanghainese when in Albany, NY - HU's is a solid choice. The fact that their food selection and quality was high during the worst pandemic in the last 100 years speaks volumes about HU's food cred. Top tip: Even though the dumpling skins are bit on the thick side, stick with XLB and dim sum. They are NY Chinatown worthy. The usual Cantonese dishes like egg foo young, chow fun and ribs are serviceable too.

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Hu's House - Decor

Decor

Hu's House - $25 Chicken Chestnut in Pot 栗子鸡煲 - Really good! Mushroomy sauce. Alternative to Chicken & Cashew

$25 Chicken Chestnut in Pot 栗子鸡煲 - Really good! Mushroomy sauce. Alternative to Chicken & Cashew

Hu's House - Salt & pepper squid (foreground) and salt & pepper shrimp (background) - 1/2 orders

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Salt & pepper squid (foreground) and salt & pepper shrimp (background) - 1/2 orders

Volcano Asian BBQ and Hot Pot - hotpot - Updated October 2026

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