Ramen Kitanoya — Restaurant in The Hague

We tried the toripaitan and mazesoba. It’s interesting to see a restaurant focusing on chicken-based ramen in the Netherlands - while a lot of chains like Takumi actually make their broth with chicken, they don’t do it in a concerted, focused way like this place.

Toripaitan was creamy and salty. Nice yuzu garnish-not overpowering.

Mazesoba was pretty tasty. A bit more simplistic in terms of ingredients than other versions I have tried. I tasted a hint of five spice powder in the sauce.

Standouts were the fried tofu appetizer with ginger topping and the plump, juicy gyoza.

A small Kirin is pretty cheap which is a plus.

As this is a new restaurant I will leave a few points of feedback.

First, the music should be changed. When I visited they were playing generic global pop music - Justin Bieber, Dua Lipa. This should be changed. A nice Japanese city pop playlist from Spotify would transport diners to a Tokyo street, right? I’m always surprised how little attention restaurant owners pay to the music in their restaurants.

Secondly, a changed (and darkened) lighting scheme would be an improvement. The lighting is very bright and a bit sterile, although the interior design is nice. Lower lighting could add a bit of an izakaya atmosphere, which would go well with the diverse and reasonably-priced appetizer menu here-making it a good place for a beer and some bites.

Third, consider adding a few classic, easy Japanese cocktails like a lemon sour or whiskey highball. This would go great with the food!

Fourth, ditch the QR code menus. They have no place in 2025 and diners regard them as degrading...

Best ramen place in The Hague and possibly in the Netherlands 🙌 We’ve been here many times already and we will come again! This is a small authentic restaurant with Japanese staff. Their signature ramen dish is toripaitan, it has creamy flavourful chicken broth. Our favourite is its spicy version with chili oil, it is very fragrant. My second favourite is mazesoba. It’s intense with flavours, love the Sichuan pepper note in it. The noodles are nice and chewy. In summer they serve cold noodles, quite refreshing. We also love their appetizers, especially chilled soft tofu and fish cake with hot cheese inside. They have Kirin beer on tap. Overall this place strongly reminds me of Japan, it also has many Japanese visitors. The service is nice and friendly every time we go there. It may be not cheap, but it’s worth it. You can’t really find anything like this in The Hague. P.S. Always good to check working hours on their instagram page...

The ordering system is very quick and easy. Love that you don’t have to wait for the waiter and can pay immediately. We ordered some side dishes. Gyoza and karaage. The gyoza was indeed homemade, but the content was a bit too watery and thus took away a bit of the flavour. The chicken karaage to my surprise was made with chicken breast instead of dark meat. Also the batter was very light, unlike most Karaage I’m used to. So both side dishes were a bit of a letdown. The ramen is very reminiscent of the tori paitan from Ramen Nikkou in Delft. Exact same toppings, the only difference was the soup and noodles. Noodles were thicker and broth was lighter. Broth was less creamy and the flavour fell off quicker. It is a bit of preference, but I prefer Ramen Nikkou as it is cheaper and deeper in flavour. Overall, a solid bowl and nice people, so...