Cheap Eats in Den Haag: Where to Eat Well for Under €10
I live on €800 a month including rent. Den Haag does not make this easy, but it makes it possible if you know where to look. Here is three years of finding the best food this city has to offer without spending like a tourist.
Start at the Haagse Markt
The biggest outdoor market in the Netherlands, Herman Costerstraat, Monday through Saturday. This is where you should be eating. The Indonesian stalls in the back section sell rice dishes for €4–6. A full plate of nasi rames — rice with three toppings, pickles, crackers — for €5.50. I have eaten this approximately 200 times and I will eat it 200 more.
The Surinamese stall near the middle does roti with chicken curry for €6.50. The portion is enormous. Do not be fooled by the queue — it moves fast and it is worth every minute.
Budget for a full market lunch: €6–8 including a drink from one of the tea stalls.
Indonesian food: Den Haag is the best city in the Netherlands for this
This is not an opinion. It is a historical fact. Den Haag has the largest Dutch-Indonesian community in the country, which means the Indonesian restaurants here are cooking for people who grew up eating this food, not for people who have seen it on a menu once.
Budget option: the Indonesian takeaways around the Wagenstraat and Rijswijkse Plein area. Rice with three dishes for €7–8 takeaway. Eat in the park.
Shoarma and döner
Den Haag has an enormous Turkish and Middle Eastern community. The shoarma around the Wagenstraat is genuinely some of the best in the Netherlands. A full durum wrap with everything: €6–7. Skip the tourist-facing places near the centre — the ones two streets back are cheaper and better. My rule: if the menu has photos and the prices are in round numbers, keep walking.
Surinamese food: criminally underrated
Surinamese cuisine is one of the great underappreciated food cultures in the Netherlands and Den Haag does it particularly well. Bakabana (fried plantain with peanut sauce): €3. Pom (a colonial-era dish of chicken baked in tayer root): €7–8 for a full meal. Look for small Surinamese lunch spots around Transvaal and Schilderswijk.
Cheap lunch near the centre
The Foodhallen on Gedempte Gracht has the reputation but not always the prices. Better call: the Turkish bakeries around the Wagenstraat area sell freshly baked flatbread with fillings for €3–4. Also: any Vietnamese pho spot in the city — a full bowl of pho runs €8–9 and keeps you full for six hours.
Late night (actually worth it)
Most late-night food in Den Haag is the usual frites-and-shoarma circuit. The exception: the Turkish bakeries that stay open until 2am serving fresh simit (sesame bread rings) and cheese pastry for €1–2. If you know one place it is the bakery district around the Wagenstraat — walk until something smells good.
The one splurge worth it
The rijsttafel at a proper Dutch-Indonesian restaurant. Yes, it costs €20–25 per person. Yes, it is worth it. Once a month, not weekly. This is the food Den Haag is actually famous for and you should eat it properly at least once. The small family restaurants in the Archipelbuurt are the ones to look for.
