De passage (lit: the passage. Sounds like French; pa-sage, two short a’s) is one of my favorite places to visit in the Hague. It’s a small shopping area famed for its covered shopping streets and glass ceiling. Although the architecture is befitting of its 1882/1928 dates, the stores inside are definitely modern.
De passage in the Hague - shopping center
I’ve been to one of the restaurants on the outer edges of the passage, a Mexican restaurant called Popocatepetl. Generally no matter how hard I try, I can’t say that name without my mouth tripping up. Just call it “Popo”. The last time I was there I had ribs. Real ribs – the kind you are supposed to eat with your fingers. I don’t like messy food, but I really wanted to try it. In the end it was really good — and I used every square centimeter of the napkin provided, including turning it inside out, flipping it over, you name it.
An awesome little bookstore in the Hague
The picture above has my favorite store in the passage — the Selexyz bookstore, even if it is very frustrating to not be able to read most of the books in the store. So far. For now! Of course one of the places I need to visit next Spring is the Selexyz branch in Maastricht, which is housed within an old Dominican church.
The passage continues southeast, crossing over Achterom
I am also looking forward to the extension of the passage, which will start next month. They’ve already tore down one of the buildings to make room. Hopefully the modern look doesn’t clash too much with the old, artistic look of the rest of the passage. And I hope they have the Christmas tree up again this December! š
I like the Passage because it is slightly warmer inside!
I agree! I remember when Marco and I got caught in the rain, he taught me how to navigate the bit closest to his house by moving from overhang to overhang as much as possible. Pfft, who needs umbrellas!
So you are still kinda stuck with something Dominican after all…LOL
have you tried eating at de passant? my favorite spot in all of holland!
Not yet, but I’ll give it a look see the next time I am there. Thanks for the recommendation!
What is the name of the great umbrella store in The Passage? I always remember them with great fondness — the proprietor was a wizard at handling umbrellas.
To be honest, I have no idea. š I don’t go into too many shops there except for the gift shop that also displays postcards outside the shop door.
However (purely for random information) we did pass by a great tea and coffee shop which I hadn’t noticed until today – Simon Levelt. https://www.simonlevelt.nl/simon-levelt/contact/onze-winkels/den-haag-passage/
Sorry I wasn’t able to help! š