I had grand plans for my trip to Amsterdam: I was going to take SO MANY DAY TRIPS to the little cities and towns dotted around Amsterdam proper. Delft, Utrecht, Leiden, Haarlem, The Hague… they’re all just a quick and inexpensive train ride away! I could be there and back in an afternoon! I would see it all!
…yeah, no. Sure, I technically had the time to fit in all (well, most) of those little jaunts, but I would have had to travel every single day. And I would have missed out on the absolute best parts of this trip: wandering around Amsterdam, savoring meals slowly, and leisurely strolling through museums. I’m glad I lifted the burden of trying to see it all from my shoulders and opted instead to do what I wanted to do in the moment. I ended up taking just one day trip and decided on the destination with pure pragmatism: I was going on a Sunday, and many of the museums in my potential destination cities would be closed.
View from the Mauritshuis in The Hague
The Mauritshuis in The Hague, however, was open for business. Considering that the Mauritshuis is home to Vermeer’s Girl with a Pearl Earring, Rembrandt’s Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp, and a particularly charming Jan Steen (As the Old Sing, So Pipe the Young), The Hague (or Den Haag, if you prefer the Dutch name) seemed like a fine choice for this Dutch-art-loving traveller.
And it was. The Sunday crowds were sparse, the sun was out to counteract a chill in the air, and I thoroughly enjoyed my time in this internationally important city. My only real disappointment? The Den Haag location of De Vegetarische Slager (the Vegetarian Butcher) was closed! This purveyor of vegetarian and vegan meats runs a “concept store” in The Hague, with a fully vegan menu of deli sandwiches and other lunch specialties. Sigh.
De Vegetarische Snackbar
Many of the other vegan places on my list were also closed, so I meandered through the city to De Vegetarische Snackbar instead. The walk took me through some more residential neighborhoods, which I always enjoy, and led me to an unassuming storefront in a little row of restaurants.
In my experience, old-school veg joints go one of two ways: There are the hippie-inspired, sprouts-n-tofu, peace and love joints (see: De Bolhoed in Amsterdam), but there are also the more hardcore, punk-inspired, surly-tattooed-server joints as well. De Vegetarische Snackbar falls into that latter category (minus the surliness).
The massive menu is all vegetarian and heavy on the junk food, with lots of burgers and fake meats. Clearly-labeled vegan options make ordering relatively simple, although it took a few tries for me to communicate my order (the lupine burger) to the server. Whereas almost all vegan-friendly restaurants in Amsterdam had staffers who spoke very good English, there was a little language barrier in The Hague. (Not, of course, that that’s a bad thing; just something to be aware of. I tried learning some Dutch before I went but found it bizarrely tricky. I usually have a knack for foreign languages, so that was a bit of a surprise.)
My lupine burger, though impressive to the eye and just fine to the palate, was nearly impossible to eat as assembled. I am developing something of an aversion to these massive buns. Honestly, can anyone actually fit that whole thing in their mouth?! It’s impossible and painful, like you’re going to either dislocate your jaw or rough up the sides of your mouth. So instead you have to deconstruct it and either shovel bits and pieces into your maw or weirdly eat it with a fork and knife, which is somehow nearly as inelegant as using your hands! I think menus should come with a warning if a given burger features a massive bun. Then you could ask for a smaller, softer one instead.
Anyway, my experience at De Vegetarische Snackbar was clearly marred by my discomfort and irritation at trying to eat a giant burger without looking like a total fool. I should have gotten the bitterballen instead.
Other options
I truly wish I’d had more time to try some of the other vegan joints in The Hague, because this seemingly buttoned-up city has plenty to offer.
- De Vegetarische Slager: The aforementioned vegetarian butcher. Closed Sundays and Mondays, alas.
- FOAM: The name stands for “Fresh Organic And Meat-free.” All-vegan restaurant open for breakfast and lunch only… maybe dinner if you eat on grandparent time. :)
- Quinta Verde: Vegan “lunchroom” open from 9 am to 6 pm, serving breakfast, lunch, and even a prix-fixe brunch.
- Veggies on Fire: Vegan restaurant serving dinner nice and late, from 5 pm to 11 pm, Wednesdays through Saturdays. Great reviews and lots of creative raw options.
Along with De Vegetarische Snackbar, these four eateries were the ones that caught my eyes and made it on to my shortlist. But check out the HappyCow listing for The Hague: This city has tons of veg-friendly establishments! It’s really quite impressive.
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