The Dolar Shop in Washington

"A really unique and fun experience. The food was good, normal hotpot place. Everyone gets their own hotpot bowls which was interesting. The price is on the more expensive side but seeing how fancy this place is, it makes sense. The had 2 side bars, one for sauces and small dishes and another one for jelly dessert. The variety of toppings for the jelly is crazy and it was of course delicious. Overall an amazing experience."

"I came from out of state just to dine here! This location is in The Shops at the Bravern. It’s a lot of fancy shops here. The Dolar Shop is close to LeTAO. Seating area is large with hot tea and iced fruit water. There’s some candy and table games. I recommend getting on the Yelp waitlist on weekends. If you call them, they can add you too. I think the ingredients they use are good quality and tasty. You order items on a table/iPad. The broths are $9.99, even for split pot. I wish they had an option for split regular bone broth + spicy. The service is good too. This isn’t an all you can eat hot pot, so you pay for each plate you order. Come here for your birthday! They give a pretty happy birthday sign and let you spin the wheel to win something. There is a charge per person to use the self-serve sauce bar. There’s also a variety of desserts and fruits, which is my favorite section. Two things I would note: 1. I left my jacket in the coat rack at the front of the restaurant, but it didn’t help with the smell. The clothes I was wearing from head to toe smelled badly afterwards. My jacket smelled equally as bad. 2. Check your receipt before you hand over payment. They add 3% if you use credit card to pay. There are signs on each table btw. The receipt also says that if you insist on using credit card and want to remove it, you can fill out a survey by scanning the QR code on the receipt. Bathroom is in the way back of the restaurant. Credit card/apple pay accepted No WiFi"

"The broths here are so flavorful and the meat quality is superior. Sauce bar and jelly bar have great selections and the free ice cream at the end is not to be missed, no matter how lactose intolerant you are. Faves: Half creamy pork broth half tomato broth. Short plate, fried bean curd roll, tong ho, pea sprouts, veggie platter, shrimp paste. Set menu options are a good deal, along with happy hour during lunch and late night. Plenty of parking (which they validate), reservations recommended. For more eats IG @hungerdontlai TT @hungerdontlai_ YT: @hungerdontlai"

"I loved everything about our meal, and I love that it’s individual style hot pot per person. If you’re a group that is diverse in food allergies, they will definitely accommodate for that. The mushroom broth is best for those who have dairy allergies and the tomato veggie is perfect for those who have gluten allergy. Happy Hour is great deal for meat/veggie set and the dessert and sauce bar is superb. Lee & Kai were fantastic."

"great spot for hotpot! The quality of the food is excellent, and they have a really good happy hour deal. Everything tasted fresh and flavorful. The price is definitely on the higher side, but I think it’s worth it for the experience and quality. Staff were friendly and attentive, which made the meal even better. I definitely recommend giving it a try!"

"It was my first time dining at The Dollar Shop, and at first, I didn’t understand why it was so packed—until I experienced their exceptional customer service! As soon as I walked in, a busser asked if it was my first visit. He introduced the special of the day, explained the layout of the sauce and salad bar, and made me feel comfortable right away. Then I was guided to my table where a tablet displayed the menu, including seasonal items and happy hour discounts. Shortly after, another server came by to go over the menu, and then a third brought out the spice and sauce setup. I really felt well taken care of throughout the meal. The individual hotpot itself was nothing extraordinary, but the service truly stood out. One nice touch was that before I paid, a server offered ice cream—such a sweet way to end the meal! The only downside for me was the 3% surcharge for credit card payments, which they said could be waived if I completed a customer survey. That felt a bit awkward, but the ice cream made up for it pretty quickly. Overall, it was a pleasant experience."

"Order the set menu here! The meal comes with your choice of meat, a platter of mixed veggies and sides, and your choice of either noodle or rice (unlimited refill). It is surprisingly filling and the meat quality is really good! You also get to choose your broth (or split broth) and have access to ayce dessert and sauce bar. Also free ice cream cone afterwards . I recommend the bone broth and the spicy broth is actually quite spicy. A great hot pot place!"

"Every place in the Bravern deserves a visit, and with Seattle being such a chilly place year-round, it's an excellent place for excuses such as going to hot pot whenever you want to. I've tried a ton of hot pot locations around the area, and I'd say that Dolar Shop is within the top few spots I'd recommend to anyone. (If you're curious, another place I'd recommend is Haidilao. They're both excellent spots!) Food and pricing: Dolar is reasonably priced (in this economy haha) and has fresher ingredients than some other hot pot places. I've been here a lot of times and the food is always great. I especially like their tripe, and also the quail eggs are my favorite. Also, don't spend a long time wondering what kind of meat is good for your hot pot, all the options are amazing! (Even the chicken. I don't know how they get it so tender, there must be some black magic with marination, corn starch, and a secret recipe of sorts.) Though, I guess it was only today that someone maybe forgot to peel the shell off of a shrimp tail so when I bit into my shrimp ball I tasted something was funny and realized there was a bit of shell in my shrimp. Eh, no biggie, it usually doesn't happen here so I'll still leave the food as five stars. Maybe I'm wrong, but I swear the meat portions decreased a teensy bit when I came today, but don't count me as being entirely sure. Inflation, amirite? (Don't worry, the prices didn't change. I just swear there used to be more meat when I came here before.) You'll probably be full after eating all your things, but if you still have room for food, the desserts bar is full of jelly, bursting boba, fruit, and also panda marshmallows that seem to be the hype among younger kids. My personal favorite is the osmanthus jelly and osmanthus syrup, though family favorites include the red beans (which are the perfect sweetness and texture) and fermented rice wine (which is definitely not store-bought and probably made in-house, considering how strong the flavor is). If you still have room after all of that, there's always complimentary ice cream! If you're still hungry after that, stop by the dessert bar again, or you can check out some other shops at the Bravern such as LeTao or HeyTea. (Though, I doubt it. You'll probably be full.) Service and funsies: The service is nice, everyone is friendly, water and broth are refilled accordingly. You also do get waived your tips if you fill out a quick survey on how your service went today, and also enter the chance to win a $20 gift card every month. Win-win! Oh, also, if you come here on your birthday you get to spin a wheel full of fun little free food options. Last time I came during my birthday and spun a lot of free meat, which my cousin was very happy with. Atmosphere and vibes: The atmosphere is very good, I like the gold accents everywhere and the orange-and-gray theme going on, as well as the lighting. The bathrooms are clean and have hot water (hallelujah!) instead of freezing cold tap water. The only thing I wish is that it's sometimes a traffic jam trying to navigate around, with waiters wheeling around carts and a slightly cramped space meaning scooting to the side very often. I guess it's to accommodate for more seating perhaps, but it would be nice if we had a little more walking area. An additional note: I put my wait time as "up to 10 minutes", since I always come here when they're opening (at 11:30am) and eat a hot pot as a breakfast-turned-lunch or I reserve my spot. Wait times do vary depending on what time you come, but when it's their busy hours expect a little while of a wait. (The waiting area does have refreshments, including my favorite hawthorn snack, and also games such as chess and jump chess. But, my advice is do try to snag a spot early if you can.) Just a random clarification: One last thing, I put the photo captions as "Lamb Shoulder" since that's what the online menu says, but I'm not sure if it's Lamb Flap or Shoulder. Either way, the lamb was great!"