1. Yuzu

In an old garage on the Bierkade, chef Amir Omarzai runs the trendy Japanese restaurant Yuzu, featuring an open kitchen, a robatayaki grill and an atmospheric street food bar. If you’re coming here just for sushi, you’ve come to the wrong place. Instead, Omarzai serves small, shareable dishes featuring raw fish, deep-fried and grilled ingredients, such as slices of hamachi with a citrus dressing and gyoza.

If you also like to enjoy a good drink with your meal, you’re sure to find something to your taste here. The cocktail menu doesn’t shy away from surprising, Japanese-inspired combinations, resulting in drinks you’ll rarely find anywhere else. Don’t forget to pop into the loo during your visit, the interior might surprise you.

📍Bierkade 6, The Hague

www.yuzu-dining.nl

2. Babaque

Babaque, a family restaurant serving authentic, fresh Japanese dishes, is situated on Laan van Meerdervoort. The menu features fresh onigiri, donburi bowls, homemade curry and gyoza. A favourite among regulars is the Guilty Don: crispy fried chicken on rice with homemade sauce. For those who’d like to enjoy it at home, there’s good news: Babaque also offers a delivery service.

Babaque deliberately keeps its menu varied. Alongside the familiar Japanese classics, the restaurant also features its own specials and hidden menu items, which change regularly. As a result, the restaurant, located just steps away from the Japanese Embassy, remains a go-to spot for anyone seeking a taste of Japan in The Hague.

📍Laan van Meerdervoort 13A, The Hague

www.babaque.nl

3. Ramen Kitanoya

Ramen Kitanoya has earned its place on this list for good reason. A year and a half after opening, this authentic Japanese restaurant secured a listing in the Michelin Guide. It’s all down to the care that chef and co-owner Shuhei Kitano puts into his dishes. Here, they let the stock simmer for hours, and the chef makes the noodles fresh every day.

The restaurant is tucked away in Bagijnestraat, a narrow alleyway between the Kalvermarkt and the Lange Poten. This is no coincidence, as in Japan, too, the best ramen shops are often tucked away out of sight, in unassuming side streets like this.

Another typical Japanese quirk: you can’t book a table. According to Japanese tradition, you eat ramen on the spur of the moment. If you want to be sure of a good bowl of noodles, make sure you arrive on time.

📍6 Bagijnestraat, The Hague

www.ramenkitanoya.com

4. Café Marlo

Bright blue doors immediately draw the eye to Café Marlo on the Hooikade. Inside, Keiko and her husband, chef Atsutaka Uchiyama, blend Dutch café culture with everyday Japanese cuisine. They focus on simple yet nutritious dishes. Don’t expect ramen or sushi at Marlo. Instead, they focus on (Japanese) everyday fare, such as onigiri, a stuffed rice ball, or a Japanese sandwich. Fancy something other than the standard coffee? Then go for a kinako latte (espresso with roasted soya milk) or a (ceremonial) matcha.

📍Hooikade 1, The Hague

www.instagram.com/cafe__marlo

5. Niko and Niko Udon

If you love Japanese food, don’t miss out on Niko. This restaurant on the Veenkade, set up by Erwin Unger and chef Jun Yoshizaki, has a whole host of delicious dishes. Our favourites? The Japanese croquettes, fish cake tempura and the homemade deep-fried prawns. And in the summer, you can enjoy them on the terrace or out on the water, with a Japanese beer or that wonderfully smooth yuzy sake in hand. After dinner, it’s time to hit the dance floor. That’s when music is played on the quay in collaboration with other cafés along the Veenkade.

What’s particularly nice is that Unger’s sons, Milan, Max and Finn, recently opened Niko Udon. At this new spot on Prinsestraat, as well as udon soup, you can regularly sit down to an omakase menu. With this, the chef decides what you’ll be served, often prepared with seasonal produce. And at Niko Udon, they love a party too. At the weekend, you can often pop in for a bit of dancing.

📍 Veenkade 5 & Prinsestraat 23, The Hague

www.nikodenhaag.nl & www.nikoudon.nl