Dolar Shop Resto

Hi Eaters.

I recently visited an unique hotpot restaurant located in the vicinity of Gajah Mada region. What's unique about it was that I could never think of it as a restaurant. Obviously some people share the same thought as I do. Dolar Shop was the name. Let me tell you more below.


If you only hear people saying the name of the restaurant, you will certainly mistaken it for a money changer. I, myself, thought that way when I first heard the name. But the name didn't came with a purpose. So the word 'Dolar' was actually derived from 'Dou Lao' in Chinese which means fishing and earning a lot of money. They eventually tried to find an English word which sounded and pronounciated almost the same like 'Dou Lao' and voila, Dolar was chosen.
Why they didn't use the word Dollar instead? Beats me..

So, Dolar Shop is another franchise from abroad. Macao, to be exact. Apparently, Dolar Shop is quite infamous in China and has already had 45 branches itself in the mainland. This one in Gajah Mada is its first branch outside of China.
Bearing the concept of hotpot shabu-shabu, Dolar Shop didn't go with the conventional way of serving a big pot on the table. Instead they served individual pots for people to experience different flavors of soup available. And the best reason of all is hygiene! With individual pots, you can rest assure that other people's eating utensils will dive into your pot.

The interior of  the restaurant was nice, clean and modern. To get here first you must take the elevator to the 6th floor and you'll find a vast dining area which can accomodate up to 100 people and also a VIP and VVIP room which can hold 9 and 15 people respectively.

Dolar Shop offers 9 kinds of soup for you to choose. Original, Tonic, Tonic Mushroom, Curry, Tomato, Spicy, Spicy Fish, Special Fish, and Tonic Fish. To accompany the soup, there are also so many variants of sauces to try. You can even mix and create your own preference of sauce from those available. Great right?

I've got the chance to try their Original soup which has a light taste, quite savory and delicious too.

Here you can also enjoy a wide range of ala carte menus starting from IDR 24 - 100K. You can also enjoy the choices of set menus ranging from IDR 135 - 175K. A standard price tag for shabu-shabu menu. But after you see what I had, you'll say it's so worth it.

That day I enjoyed one of their set menu, the Set Lunch C - IDR 175K ++ which consisted of:

• Soup
• Sauce
• Mix Ball
• Special Mixed Beef
• Fish Fillet (Dori)
• Mix Tofu
• Oyster Mushroom
• Mix Vegetable
• Fresh Egg
• Handmade Noodle / Steamed Rice
• Iced Tea / Hot Tea

This beef was amazing. I mean. looked at the marbling.. stunning! I really loved how juicy it was, even after being dipped in the pot. It really absorbed the soup and the succulent texture was fantastic.

It's great that Dolar Shop hand-made most of their food, like these meatballs and noodles. Let me suggest you to try their noodles instead of just having rice like your common shabu dining. The noodles were really fluffy, chewy, and the quality was just thumbs up.

The hand-made meatballs came with 4 flavors in a plate. Awesome! They were beef meatballs, shrimp meatballs, squid meatballs and fish meatballs. These suckers are just a must try also!

The vegetables were fresh! And for a price tag of 175K ++ they came in a big portion. Ideal for two to dine. I certainly loved the silky tofu. Super yumm!

Not all things can go perfect. Too bad the dory fish was a disappointment. It's got that bad earthy smell which didn't came as an enjoyment. The main reason was because the usage of local dory. But consider it as my bad day, I personally think this will be improved in the future. Not to worry, cause they serve fresh ingredients here.

In a nutshell, it was a nice lunch I had at Dolar Shop. The ambience, the service, and the food (most of it) were certainly satisfying. Their unique style of individual pot in my opinion is a strong selling point to those who chose shabu because of its healthy preferences. The place is also suitable for you who would want to have family dining, business gathering, or even just a nice lunch or dinner with friends. So why don't you give it a try and tell me your opinion.

Keep on chewing!

Jazzy Dee

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Dolar Shop

Apartemen Mediterania Gajah Mada, Penthouse TUD 16
Phone: (021) 6336880 / (021) 6336881 Ms Rosa She
Jl. Gajah Mada 174, Jakarta Barat
Opening hours: Mon-Thu 11:00-04:00; Fri-Sun 11:00-05:00