If you’re also a big fan of the fruits of the sea, like us – enjoying the sweet succulence of scallops, the firm, flaky flesh of fresh fish, or the umami punch of a prawn – Hai Seafood Izakaya is your kind of paradise.
Walking in, we instantly felt our stomachs rumble in happy anticipation, as the air was perfumed with that briny-sweet scent that instantly whets the appetite.
Restaurant Profile
🏷️ Name of the Restaurant: Hai Seafood Izakaya Munich (incl. menu)
📍 Adress: Kellerstraße 29, 81667 München
🍜 Style: Chinese/Japanese Cuisine – tapas, hot pot, skewers, grills, salad, fried foods, dumplings, pancakes, rice dishes, sushi etc.
💰 Price: around 25 – 35 EUR per Person (incl. Drinks and Tips)
The dish we’re spotlighting today their most celebrated seafood hot pot, a bubbling cauldron that gathers glorious ocean in one big bowl.
First, a word on our liquid courage (or folly?): Ginger Tea with Honey – a bold, fiery brew of sharp, peppery warmth of fresh ginger joining forces with the spice, intensifying the burn. Surely not a pacifist drink in the face of the coming storm; more like a warrior choice!
The Main: Colossal “Boiled Seafood” Pot with Xiāng Là Broth (Numbing Spicy)
The broth comes in deep, ominous red, shimmering with a layer of chili oil and dotted with dried chilies and flower-like Sichuan peppercorns. The aroma was hypnotic—fiery, citrusy, and intensely fragrant. The initial punch of searing heat (là) from the chilies gives way to the tingling, electric numbness (má) from the peppercorns, creating that “málà” sensation. Pro-tip: This broth is a seasoning liquid, not a soup for sipping! Its power is immense and an authentic Sichuan assault on the senses.
The pot is a treasure chest, overflowing with:
- prawns & shrimp meticulously prepared with the vein (that black digestive tract running down the back) completely removed, ensuring pure, sweet flavor;
- plump mussels & clams that had steamed open, drinking in the spicy broth;
- tender rings of calamari, meaty chunks of cuttlefish, sweet, briny crabs and the slightly firmer sepia;
- sweet, succulent scallops that burst with oceanic flavor against the spicy soup;
- mildly sweet corn.
Extras are available for an additional fee, including udon noodles, glass noodles, rice, broccoli, oyster mushrooms, sticky rice cakes, lobster tail, salmon filet, and more.
We chose wonderfully slippery and chewy udon noodles, earthy broccoli florets, and silky oyster mushrooms.
This is a spectacular, shareable feast, a little like fancy, upgraded Malatang but focused exclusively on seafood. The Sichuan flavor is so potent that we think a side of steamed rice is essential for balance.
A Note on Other Broth Flavors:
- Garlic Fragrance: a rich, savory sauce dominated by the pungent aroma of fresh garlic.
- Satay: A deeply nutty, slightly sweet, and complex broth with a base of toasted spices. It’s creamy, aromatic, and comforting.
- Tom Yum Spicy Sour: A taste of Thailand! This broth is a tangy, citrusy, and herbal mix of lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves, galangal, and chili. It’s refreshingly sharp and addictive.
The Arsenal:
For this deliciously messy adventure, Hai Seafood equips you with:
- crab crackers for opening crab shells and stubborn claws without breaking a tooth.
- seafood poker (a long, thin, pointed metal tool) to pry every last morsel from the tiniest crevices of shells and legs.
- one-time gloves to get hands-on without wearing the spicy broth for the rest of the day.
- a bucket bin for all the empty shells and debris.
Seafood isn’t just a powerhouse of lean protein that fuels the body and lifts well-being, it’s also very versatile, able to transform through countless cooking methods into an infinite array of dishes. And that’s what you can find here – a wide selection of seafood tapas, including fresh raw oysters.
The vibe at Hai Seafood is a blend of a sleek Japanese sensibility with energetic Chinese flavors. Besides seafood, you can also graze on salty edamame, a crunchy, garlicky Chinese cucumber salad (凉拌黄瓜), delicate lotus root stuffed with shrimp paste (藕酿虾蓉), or crisp fried cod fillet(炸鳕鱼排). They even offer buttery, melt-in-the-mouth Wagyu nigiri. A menu that’s as versatile as it is creative.
A restaurant selling a small bowl of rice for €2 actually has people recommending it? The three of us spent over €100 on just chicken nuggets, beef quesadillas, and a seafood stew—extremely poor value for money. The seafood stew was tiny and tasted just average, the chicken nuggets were greasy, and the beef quesadillas were the same.
Thanks for sharing. The fried cod fillet is great, my favorite dish there. Super crispy, really well seasoned, and even better with a squeeze of lemon.
A Chinese restaurant called Nihao Kitchen also does a seafood pot and it’s definitely worth a try.
Here the crowd is mostly European, and the staff are super friendly, attentive, and always smiling. It almost made us wonder: are we really in Germany right now? 😂
Do they have any non-seafood dishes? I’m thinking of taking my husband, and he doesn’t eat seafood.
If I remember correctly, apart from the starters (edamame and cucumber), pretty much everything else contains seafood.
This restaurant’s portions are a bit small, but the flavors are pretty good. Reviews online are really mixed. If you just want to try some tapas, I’d recommend it.
Your article helped me a lot, is there any more related content? Thanks!
Shepherd’s purse shrimp balls (forgot the exact name) 🌕🌕🌕🌕
🥣 Each serving comes with four shrimp balls, topped with shepherd’s purse and pine nuts. Really tasty and I recommend it, though it’s a bit pricey.
The friendly waiter told me that the restaurant has a German owner and a Japanese chef. They aim to create an Izakaya-style concept here, so the portions are rather small. The menu also includes beef patties and other dishes. On weekdays, they serve ramen and rice balls for lunch.
The four of us went for the XXL Garlic version (€49.90) ➡️ surprisingly tasty, better than expected 😋, but the portion is a bit small 🫤
The seafood is pretty fresh, the only downside is the prawns aren’t very firm.
This seafood hotpot is pretty good! If you want extra ingredients like broccoli 🥦, you need to order them at the beginning, but you can add vermicelli, noodles, or rice after the pot arrives.
This seafood hotpot costs €40, and if you don’t add anything extra, the portion is tiny. Two not-so-hungry girls barely felt a third full when sharing it.