Dragon Hot Pot Swanston — Restaurant in Melbourne

Dragon Hotpot on Swanston Street is one of those places you go to when you’re craving something comforting, hot, and packed with flavour. It’s right in the heart of the city, so it’s super convenient if you’re out shopping, studying nearby, or meeting friends in the CBD. The place is usually busy, especially during peak hours, but that’s part of the fun—it feels lively and full of energy.

The process is simple but a little different if it’s your first time. You grab a bowl, pick your ingredients from the fridge section, and then hand it over to the counter staff. There’s a big variety—different types of noodles, vegetables, tofu, seafood, and a huge selection of meats. Everything looks fresh and well-stocked. The pricing is by weight, so you’re in control of how much you want to spend and eat.

The soup bases are the star of the show. The signature Mala broth is bold, spicy, and aromatic—it definitely warms you up on a cold day, but you can adjust the spice level if you can’t handle too much heat. They also have milder options like chicken, herbal, or mushroom broth, which are rich and flavourful without being too intense. The slow-cooked broth tastes like it’s been simmering for hours, which really brings the ingredients together.

Once your pot arrives at the table, it’s bubbling hot and full of colour. The noodles soak up the broth beautifully, and the vegetables stay crisp. Meat slices cook quickly, so you can enjoy them straight away. The portion sizes are generous, and because you choose everything yourself, you end up with exactly what you like.

The staff are friendly and efficient, even when it’s busy. The seating is fairly casual and a bit cramped when full, but the atmosphere is warm and bustling. It’s not the cheapest hotpot in town if you go overboard with ingredients, but for the quality and flavour, it’s worth it.

Overall, Dragon Hotpot Swanston is a great choice for a hearty meal, especially if you love customising your food. Go with friends, share stories over steaming bowls, and you’ll leave feeling full...

We come here regularly and it’s our favourite Malatang style hotpot. We got here at 8:30pm. We had two couples waiting before us and we waited 10 minutes for a table of 5. There’s a good variety of ingredients and heaps to choose from. Great value for money.

How does it work? Charged by weight for the ingredients you pick. Be very careful to not get too much. Depending on what you picked, if your order hits over 700gm it’s likely to be poured into two large bowls.

Choosing what to get? The meat slices become shrink considerably. I normally get about 20 pieces. With the next two cabinets I grab 1-3 pieces of what I like. I like a lot. The ingredients picked will be cooked.

How would you like it? Once you’ve picked everything you can and want to eat, take it to the counter let them know how you’d like it cooked. They offer it to be served in a soup or you can have it dried, stir fried.

Cooking time: Takes about 5-10 minutes for the food to come out.

How was the service? Standard. You get guided to your table. Pay at the counter and they bring the meal out to your table.

What I go for? The soup signature and the pickled mustard is the popular soups among my friends. We have yet to try the dry. The Signature soup I choose was mild spicy and I sniffled all the way through my meal. The pickled mustard has a nice saltiness to the soup.

Covidsafe: Checkin before being seated. Hand sanitiser at the entrance and disposable gloves. Self serve water jugs and disposable cups and disposable...

I always come to this location and honestly I wouldn’t recommend this location as their service isn’t as it should be. On one occasion, I ordered a bowl costing almost $50 and they didn’t add any of the meat we put in as well as the muscles that we had added. Not even one slice of meat out of the 12 pieces we put into the bowl. I dont even understand how this could have happened because I don’t understand how they cook it but it had already left a bad taste after this experience. To top it off, we had went there on a weekend and order 3 plain broths which one costs $9 and the total we paid was $26. When we got our order we only received 2 but I had thought they put both broths into one takeaway container (same flavour) because one serving is half a container. This is why we didn’t check before leaving and found out at home. When we called to check with them, they said that “its impossible”. They said they just took the order wrong and only charged us for 2 but as I was explaining I was confused because the total was $26 they then proceeded to talk in a rude tone with an attitude and says its due to all the surcharges. We were not made clear of any of the surcharges before we even paid such as card surchage and the 10% weekend surcharge. What annoyed me the most was their attitude to solving the issue. They could’ve nicely told me that it was the surcharges but instead they talked to me like an idiot and in such a rude tone. The service just honestly ruins...