Did you know that the famous Hai Di Lao Hot Pot finally opened its first branch in Gandaria City, Jakarta (Indonesia)? Yay, this is great! I was so excited when I heard this news! This famous hot pot chain restaurant from Sichuan province in China also has many branches in Singapore. But as you know, the queues at Haidilao are always crazy; sometimes, it can be 1-2 hours of waiting time, and it can be 4-5 hours of waiting time. Now, it’s time to try Hai Di Lao’s first branch in Indonesia, and we decided to visit this place on the 5th day after opening! 
FYI, because they’re still in soft opening mode, now they don’t accept reservations, and only take 50 tables for lunch (starting at 11 am) and open 50 more tables for the next session (from 4 pm ’til finish). Luckily, we got a table instantly by walking in at 11.25am.
If this is your first time getting know to this brand, let me show you why they are famous. First is because of their SERVICE. We were offered some things such as hot towels before and after meals, a black rubber band for tying up our hair, plastic ziplock bags for our phones, a piece of cloth to cover our bags, aprons to protect clothing, and wet tissue to clean eyeglass. Can you imagine that? 
Furthermore, they also served us with fresh watermelons as an appetizer (free) while explaining how to order using a tablet. Because I am also new to Hai Di Lao, they even offered me to create a membership directly from the Tablet, to get additional benefits and collect points from each transaction. How nice!
What we had for lunch?
We had 3in1 Combination soup (a combination of chicken broth, mushroom, and goji berries, this is a must-try in HDL!), Mushroom Soup, and Tom Yum soup for a total of IDR 114K (before tax & service). For the buffet sauces, each person was charged at IDR 30K per pax (you can get unlimited dipping sauce, salad, and dessert), and free-flow drinks at IDR 20K per pax. This means that someone has to prepare around IDR 100K-150K for the soup, drink, and sauces. In your opinion, is this price expensive or not?
However, there are a variety of good sauces, so you can custom the sauces for steamboat according to your taste buds. And all the dishes we ordered were fresh! Both meat, Short plate beef premium (IDR 68K), and Beef US Angus Rib Eye (IDR 120K) were our favorite! We enjoyed everything, and guess what? When you ordered Lamian at Hai Di Lao, they will do a “dancing noodle” performance on tableside. That’s fun! And after the show, the noodles are then dumped into the boiling soup. The Lamian itself costs IDR 25K/portion. 
There’re so many surprises we received while enjoying our lunch; I must say our lunch experience at Hai Di Lao Indonesia was delightful! We got 2 free sauces from the manager, a soft drink because I won a fun riddles (the staff came to all table and offered them to guess the quizzes), free strap hanger from the “Changing Mask” dance show (I asked one of the staff, at the moment, there’s no fixed schedule for the dance show because they are still in Soft Opening mode), free dessert from a cart carried by their staff, and some random surprises (because mom will also celebrate her birthday this month, suddenly one of the staff gave a surprise in the form of a fruit platter, and a red bag containing some snacks). Big thank you, Hai Di Lao Indonesia, you made our day so much fun! Not surprisingly, this famous steamboat brand easily attracts long queues, not only for its food but also because this kind of service brings the positive vibes, the mouth-to-mouth chain from all who experience it. 
Overall, I’m impressed by how attentive their service staff is. The staff refills our drinks for many times. Good food, tasty soup, super friendly and helpful service, kids’ playground, and generous freebies in the waiting area (you can enjoy unlimited snacks, ice creams, and drinks). What surprised me, even if you’re not their customer, you can sit and enjoy these freebies in the waiting area, told one of their staff. WHAT??? Amazing service!!
Haidilao Hot Pot Indonesia
Gandaria City, Lower Ground, Jl. Sultan Iskandar Muda, Kebayoran Lama, Jakarta Selatan
Opening Hour: 10am – 10pm
Price: starts from IDR 50K
Phone: 021.2708-5851
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