Step into Smochii, and the first thing that hits us is the energetic red-hot that feels like a celebration. Above, flying fish lamps sway from the ceiling—an Asian symbolism where fish represent abundance and prosperity. The space is expansive, located conveniently beneath the cinema CineStar Frankfurt Metropolis, making it a great launchpad for a “feast then film” night out with friends. The restaurant’s powerful ventilation keeps our clothes free of BBQ smells—a bonus for post-dinner plans.
Restaurant Profile
🏷️ Name of the Restaurant: Smochii 人间烟火 (incl. menu)
📍 Adress: Belgradstraße 45, 80796 München
🍜 Style: Korean/Chinese/Japanese Cuisine – barbecue, hotpot, rice bowls, soups, salad, noodle dishes etc.
💰 Price: approx. 40–60 € per person (including drinks and tip)
Before we dive in, a few crucial tips:
- Use tongs, not chopsticks, to grill your meat for hygiene.
- For the electric grill: crank it to 5 to heat up, then dial it back to 3-4 to avoid charring your meats too fast.
- Keep the sizzle central for the proteins, and let the veggie sides wilt on the cooler edges.
Smochii’s set menu is quite popular. We recommend the T2 Set Menu for two— a sweet spot for price and variety, offering stellar value with Japanese wagyu (the premium sets venture into seafood territory). The set comes with complimentary rice and a parade of sides that are free to refill: kimchi, mushrooms, zucchini, cucumber, and radish.
Sides:
- House-Made Kimchi: Fresh, fruity, and pleasantly sour with a mild spicy kick. It’s house-made, meaning it’s alive with fermenting complexity, different from the one-note, vinegary versions you often find in supermarkets.
- Sweet Green Seaweed: Crisp, sweet, with fresh oceanic veggie notes.
- Stewed Peanuts in Shell: Warm, soft, and deeply savory, blended with soy sauce, star anise, and subtle sweetness.
- Spicy Sour Cucumber: Spicy, tangy, and crunchy freshness.
- Sauce Radish: Gingery, sweet, spicy, and sour all at once.
Dip Trio: Classic soy sauce, chili powder, and the Korean doenjang (大酱) blended with fruit – a typical and beloved Korean BBQ companion, which is savory, deeply fermented, nutty, with a subtle fruity sweetness.
Meats:
Japanese Wagyu
Grill this until it’s just charred on the outside, still blushing pink within. The residual heat continues to cook it slightly off the grill, ensuring perfect doneness without drying out.
The moment it touches your tongue, the richest, most buttery essence of beef starts to melt like luxury itself, with a decadent fat that whispers of sweetness. It’s heavenly, crazy-good, and utterly indulgent.
It’s best enjoyed without any sides or wraps, to savor its full richness.
For the other meats, try the Korean way.
Take a crisp lettuce leaf, add a dab of rice, your grilled meat, a smear of that fruity doenjang, a piece of kimchi, and perhaps some juicy grilled zucchini or mushroom. Fold it into a flavor-packed parcel. Each bite is a textural dream—cool, crisp, warm, tender, spicy, and savory, all in a supreme balance.
Pork Belly
One of the most common grill meats at Korean BBQ. Smochii’s version is a thick, glorious piece.
Grill until the skin side crackles with a deep, savory char, and you’ll have an incredible contrast of juicy, rich fat and crisped, flavorful edges.
Juicy Deboned Chicken Thigh
Chicken thigh is king for grilling because its higher fat and connective tissue content keep it incredibly moist and tender, unlike leaner breast meat. Smochii’s is tender, with a mild, fresh poultry flavor, kissed by smoke, with crisp skin giving way to succulent, juicy bites.
Marinated Pork Neck
Pre-marinated in a sweet-savory glaze, it’s so tender and flavorful it needs little from the dip station.
Beef Pieces
A leaner than wagyu, and beefy with a hearty chew—a classic for wrapping in lettuce with kimchi and sides.
À La Carte Standouts:
(Note: Sides are only free with set menus. À la carte orders get complimentary dips, but any sides like kimchi and vegetables come at an extra charge. The owner, however, often treats guests to small samples of sides like kimchi and radish.)
Beef Tongue
Served with radish, tomato, and cucumber, the meat is bouncy, pleasantly chewy, with a firm yet yielding bite. It carries a mild, clean, slightly mineral beef flavor that is uniquely delicious.
Wagyu Ribeye
A thick-cut steak accompanied by potato, radish, cucumber, tomato, zucchini, and mushroom. You canpre-slice it with scissors for easier grilling.
Each piece is incredibly juicy, profoundly beefy, and tender beyond belief—melting with every charred, fat-laced, indulgent bite.
The Crowd-Favorite: Cheese Tteokbokki
A bubbling cauldron of rice cakes, fish cakes, carrots, zucchini, onion, and boneless chicken leg, all swimming in a spicy-sweet Korean gochujang sauce, topped with a blanket of oozing cheese and nori. When you pull a spoonful, the cheese stretches in long, temptingly gooey strings. The flavor is spicy, sweet, a touch sour, with a briny depth from the fish cakes. Wrap a bite in fresh lettuce with a crisp cucumber stick for an unforgettable fusion of sweet, spicy, fresh, and meltingly cheesy.
Beyond BBQ, Smochii adds a slight fusion flair, offering many Korean classics alongside Japanese donburi and Chinese hotpot. It’s also a place where you can enjoy BBQ and hotpot in one meal. Unsurprisingly, it’s often fully booked. If you want to claim a grill on a Friday or Saturday night, don’t just wander in—plot, plan, and book ahead! 🍖✨
The marinated pork neck was really tasty， definitely a must-try.
We ordered BBQ Set 2, but the other meats and vegetables weren’t marinated and felt a bit bland. Honestly, you could make that at home, so not really worth the money.
The beef rolls with enoki mushrooms were hearty — rolled thick, and hard to cook properly if you don’t spread them out.
The main dish, Korean beef soybean paste soup with rice, is definitely worth trying.
The place is decorated quite fancy, but there aren’t enough staff, so they get a bit overwhelmed. You have to grill all the meat yourself, and the BBQ stove shoots flames sometimes… The taste and service aren’t as good as similar BBQ places like Heidekrug, and it’s much pricier. Overall experience is average. Advantages are the good location and effective smoke extraction.
Around 60 € per person — my wallet definitely suffered this time 😅