the dolar shop hot pot restaurant 豆捞坊 - 1909 dining precinct

this place is busy around dinner time. bookings are recommended but if you’re like us, looking for a last min place to eat don’t be deterred by the waiting time. the staff bring out snacks while you wait. once inside the service is friendly, attentive and efficient. there’s a self servicesaucebar and the food is real good too with a variety of veggie, top cut meats, fresh seafood and other trimmings but it is a little pricey. for two adults our bill came to $160 excluding drinks. ice cream at the end is complimentary.
i recommended:
* wagu beef platter
* prawn paste (mince balls)
* handmade noodles
* pork & prawn wonton

my feedback to the restaurant, have more variety and a better selection at the fruit bar.

heads up: it can be a bit of a wait. if you’re hangry and want food asap this is not the place to be 😂

but if you manage to have the patience and want to give the popular place a try then there’s free snacks, fruit and plum drink at the front while waiting. win-win in my opinion 👏🏻

the service here is great. everyone is so friendly, from helping us make their signaturesauceto bringing us ice cream. yes there is ice cream at the end (plus fruits but ice cream first haha)!

theirsaucebar is of standard selection with about 10 different kinds of sauces, eg. beef sauce, bean curd sauce, sesame sauce, peanutsauceetc. personally, i think this is the perfect amount of selection as you can mix-and-match the sauces (all them possibilities). as mentioned, they have a signaturesauce- dolar shop soysauce- with a seafood taste. i find it a bit too sweet and tend to opt for my own concoction instead though.

the meat is fresh. we ordered the wagyu-lamb platter, which turned out to be too much for two girls 😂. i also like how they allow for half sized dishes for people who want to try different things. their signature shrimp pate is not a must-try as i could taste frozen shrimps being used - but again i’m very picky with seafood so 🤷🏻‍♀️

now to the broths: we each got a combination broth - mild spicy broth + tomato, and mild spicy broth + mushroom. i find the tomato broth not having as much depth as i would’ve liked. same goes for the mushroom broth. but living up to their names, tomato broth has a distinct tomato taste, mushroom broth with mushroom. they’ll be much better if more bones were used in the process of making the broths. don’t let the mild spicy broth deceive you as it is not mild at all 🙃 so go light with your spice order friends.. my friend even saw someone eating ice cream and their hot pot at the same time 😂😂

i admit their prices are not the cheapest but the service, ambience and meat quality makes up for it. go have a try if you can!

p/s: turns out i was too busy eating and forgot to take decent photos..

expect great service here and some interesting dishes!

from the choice of broth, to the selection of meat, noodles and veggies, you can't get sick of it because it will always be what you choose it to be. ⁣⁣⁣⁣

it doesn't stop there at dolar shop. they offer a unlimited buffet of fruit, sauces (inc. house-made soysaucewhich is absolutely delicious. i need this secret recipe) and soft serve at an additional cost.

loved the menu presentation so i wanted to mention about the design and how it showcases their vision of hot pot. it also features mouthwatering photos and instructs you onsaucecombinations to try! ⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣

also note, they have a interesting queue process where if there's a wait, you can opt to get a text message. this means you can shop around at market city and the text message will display the wait time and update you. this is a really cool feature i hope more restaurants deploy :)

delicious array of meats and vegetables for a lovely night of hot pot! their specialsaucepaired well with the meats. the seating was comfortable and the staff were efficient and lovely. matcha and vanilla ice cream was great as well.

the dolar shop is my favourite hotpot. i have been back 3 times and the food + service has always been exceptional. i would rate it 11/10 stars if i could! there is a $5 pp fee for sauce/salad/ice cream buffet which is worth adding on - i highly recommend their peanutsauce& the dolar shop dippingsaucewas a highlight. i liked the silver exquisite soup as it was very unique, it had a chicken/pork base and tasted peppery. having the half sichuan/half spare rib soup wasn’t as enjoyable as there were too many numbing peppercorns which interfered with the sides. you can’t come here without ordering their wagyu meat and shrimp pate. we ordered the wagyu platter, premium meat platter, shrimp pate, handmade noodles, quail eggs, fish tofu, fresh tofu, fried donut stick, savoury pancake, assorted vegetables and watermelon juice shared between 3 people. this stuffed our bellies. i seriously can’t wait to be dining back here

very good service & amazing food 😍 quantities were good, overall was decently cheap. self serve stations were plentiful and had a variety of options. they provide you with a special self made housesauceas well.

an upmarket hot pot restaurant with exceptional quality ingredients. they offer a selection of quality wagyu beef, kurobuta pork, live seafood, abalone & handmade shrimp pate etc. it’s a refined hot pot dining experience. 🙂

service was top notch with helpful & friendly staff. they will give you a quick tour if you are a first timer. thesaucebar has a wide range of sauces for you to mix & match. next to that was a snack bar with garden salad, kimchi, roasted peanuts & cut fruits. to me nothing was appealing, (garden salad with hot pot?? 🤔) since they are an upmarket restaurant where they serve live seafood & premium wagyu beef and all that, i think they should do better than that. 🙄

food was tasty & delivered quickly, great service & great ambiance. however i think it was a bit overpriced. you have to pay for your own broth (from $12.90) &sauce($5 per person). the portions of the meat were relatively small for the price. i suppose you pay for the overall experience as well. for me this restaurant is an one off visit. 😏

level 3 of market city underwent a complete rehaul a while back and has been transformed into the 1909 dining precinct, which now includes dolar shop. it's a hot pot restaurant i've definitely heard good things about, so i had to find out why.

the first 30 seconds really get to say a lot about how much they value their customers here. i was shown to my table and given a brief intro into how hot pot works (if you're not aware already), and a quick background about the restaurant itself. on the way you can see everything being prepared fresh and get your first look at their extensivesaucebar.

most people know communal hot pots, but dolar shop are well known for their single serve pots. this means you can tailor the broth to your personal liking. there's a number of different spice levels to choose from, as well as others including pork bone, spare rib, mushroom, or tomato and oxtail.

now the meat and seafood is where dolar shop shines. everything is of the highest quality with cuts including m9+ premium wagyu beef, and fresh seafood from the live tanks outside.

the whole venue screams premium and that's apparent in every aspect of our evening. from our attentive server, the quality of food, the interior, and the incredible flavours from everything on our table! they can also cater for anyone from single diners all the way up to events with 40+ people.

to date this is my favourite chinese hot pot in sydney and i strongly encourage anyone to see that for themselves.

i've been to a couple of hotpots in sydney before, not many have made me keen to return.
i recently visited the dolar shop above market city as some friends had told me how good it was. so i decided to check it out.

i can happily say this is by far one of the best qaulity hotpots i've been to!
the dolar shop is macanese, and they have a few unique things about them. firstly, they only source their meats & seafoods from the top qaulity suppliers in sydney that are sourced from australian waters.
this reins true, as the highlight of my meal was the qaulity of meat! it's not a good hotpot unless the meats and seafood are good!

secondly, they have some special sauces and broths that are unique and very popular. i recommend trying their combination hotpot pr bone marrow broth and hot n spicy. i also loved how their hot n spicy comes in mild so westerners can handle the heat. another specialsaucewas a soysaucebase blend that they make in front of you at the table, which you use to dip your cooked meats into. i could have happily drank a bowl of this stuff it went beautifully with the meats!

thirdly, the staff were very friendly to us and very prompt with giving us new chopsticks or anything else we needed.
the atmosphere and decor was very pretty with a couple of private dining tables around the back. you will also notice a panda bear around the place, either seated with a customer or up on the counter 🐼💕 she will keep you company if your dining alone 😍

must orders:
- a grade wagyu 
- meat platter
- wontons/dumplings for the hotpot
- whole fish
- shrimp paste
- tofu rolls
- whole fish

definitely accompanied by a bottle of wine 🍷😜👌

i've always been a fan of hot pot, it's a hands on experience and allows you to spend time with family or friends and just be present whilst enjoying good food.

dolar shop sets itself apart from the rest with its attention to detail and exceptional quality ingredients. the decor is stunning, very reminiscent of the art decor period. they also have partnerships with the sydney fish market and vic's quality meats to ensure high standard local produce.

they offer something for everyone, a hand picked selection of quality meats and seafood are on offer, plus a sensationalsaucebar where you can get creative they also provide all the information you need about 'how to hotpot' if you haven't done it before

be sure to add this place to your list for a refined dining experience.

amazing upmarket hot pot experience where you get individual hot pots.sauceand salad bar with heaps of options so you can customise to suit you. very fresh and high quality ingredients such as japanese wagyu and live tank seafood. beautiful fit out and very friendly, attentive staff

great hotpot place in market city. beautiful decor with a large variety of self service sides (kimchi, fruit, vegetables). extensive range ofsauceoptions to mix and match, with the meat balls freshly hand made! ingredients were fresh and tasty, with rich flavourful soup/borth. a higher end experience worth the price.

best hotpot in sydney so far. clean, crisp and fresh ingredients. service also great and friendly and not too much like haidilao.sauceand soup base are amazing. highly recommended.

hot pot is usually a pricey affair, but the dolar shop shows you why it’s meant to be that way. the service is impeccable—they’ve thought about everything from bibs to protect your clothes while your slurping your noodles, or covers for your coats and bags so there’s none of that usual hot pot smell long after you leave. there’s also a ceramic case around your pot so you don’t accidentally burn yourself!

for 2 people, we were super full after:
- hand made noodles
- udon
- beef tripe
- cheesy beef balls
- enoki mushrooms
- wagyu tongue
- m9 wagyu knuckle
- m4 boneless chuck ribs

sauces are an extra $4.90 per person, including deep fried bread sticks and fruit. ice cream is complementary regardless if you get extrasauceor not!

also, and perhaps most importantly, the staff are so attentive that soup is topped up every 5-10 minutes without you having to ask. we highly recommend!

this is a popular chinese hot pot restaurant located in the top level of market city shopping centre. the good thing with this place is that everyone gets their own individual hot pot to cook the ingredients. there is also a make your own dippingsaucearea and fruit to end your meal. i had the tomato and oxtail broth which was pretty nice. there was also a good selection of meats such as wagyu brisket, wagyu boneless chuck ribs and boneless lamb ribs. there can be quite a wait during peak times so make a booking beforehand is recommended.