Kitanoya, the Japanese ramen restaurant in the narrow Bagijnestraat alley near Lange Poten, has been drawing queues since Michelin added it to its guide.
Chef and owner Shuhei Kitano, 44, and his business partner Eva Sprinkhuizen, 31, say they are still taken aback by the Bib Gourmand they were given two weeks ago.
The award is not a star but a recommendation for good food at a fair price, and a month earlier the AD’s Gouden Pollepel had called the restaurant Michelin-worthy.
Sprinkhuizen said the award came as a complete surprise and that the restaurant has since had its best weekend for takings since it opened.
The tiny room was already busy before the listing, and now couples and small groups open the door, find it full and come back later hoping for a table.
Sprinkhuizen, who grew up in The Hague, met Kitano while she was studying in Japan, and the pair opened the restaurant two years ago with help from a relative.
Their homemade noodles are now made off site because the machine is too big for the premises, and the two are considering a second place in The Hague with lighter broths.
