10 year anniversary (Or: Dining in style at Blue Blood)

Yesterday was our 10 year anniversary. Sometimes we go for a swanky hotel, like the executive suite in Amersfoort, or the awesome views from the nhow hotel in Rotterdam, or the Kurhaus hotel in nearby Scheveningen during corona. This time I went with a nice restaurant since we already have vacation plans later in the year.

I booked a reservation at Blue Blood in The Hague as a surprise for Marco (he didn’t know where we were going until we were there). The restaurant offers “a mash-up of the Peruvian and Japanese cuisine”. I had read good things about both the food and service at this restaurant and they did not disappoint. When booking the reservation I was asked if this was for a special occasion. I of course clicked on anniversary. When we arrived we saw they had given us a table in the corner next to the canal, with rose petals on the table and a glass of cava (on the house) to toast the occasion.

I knew in advance that I wanted the tasting menu. It started off with oysters. The first oyster I have had in my life. It did not disappoint!

The sauce was yuzu sauce, which gave it a lovely sour taste, with Peruvian corn and lots of other goodies inside.

Another plus point: as each course arrived the staff took the time to explain what each component was, what the ingredients were and why it was on the menu. Unfortunately my memory isn’t good enough to remember most of it, but it was lovely to hear what the inspiration was behind everything.

The following course, pictured above, consisted of a lomito yakiniku roll (beef, yakiniku sauce, avocado), four pieces of delicious mango maki (the best part was the sesame seed coating which gave it a lovely nutty taste) and a seabass ceviche (not pictured).

The restaurant also has a great cocktail bar, so for this special occasion I went with the “challenge the bartender” request. I specified I wanted something spicy made with gin and above was the result. It was exactly what I asked for. The bartender even came over himself to explain the drink, which was a nice surprise. If I remember correctly the drink was a variation on a white lady cocktail, but with tobacco and other spicy ingredients added in. The spice on the side was a nice touch as it elevated the drink.

Another course was Chicken Anticuchos (Peruvian chicken skewers) and short rib bao buns. Both were delicious. The person who brought this course said that traditionally in Peru the skewers are served with chicken heart but they replaced that with chicken thigh here in The Netherlands… for obvious reasons. I liked the cute hibachi grill as well. (What can I say except that I value presentation!)

Above was the main course which consisted of prawn udon (the two prawn pieces were huuuuuge) at the top, a side dish with shiitake and shimeji mushrooms on the left and slow cooked veal cheek on the right (cooked for 12 hours!).

After that there was a bit of a (welcome) break before dessert arrived.

Three types of dessert, with a “feest fontein” firework (literally a “party fountain”) for a nice show. On the left was creme brûlée, in the back was two alfajores cookies with dulce de leche in the middle, and on the right there was mochi.

All in all a great experience and one I would definitely recommend (either for a romantic night at the restaurant or a relaxing evening by the bar). We even lucked out with the weather — it was rainy all day, but it didn’t really pick up until we were right by the restaurant. It poured most of the time we were inside but had stopped by the time we went home.