Restaurant BlueBlood in The Hague has a new Nikkei chef and we’re fans
A while ago, a new Nikkei restaurant opened in The Hague called BlueBlood. We already liked it and thought the food was delicious. But with the arrival of new Nikkei chef Luis Rojas from Peru, BlueBlood has been taken to an even higher level. As far as we’re concerned, this is the hotspot of The Hague.
We previously wrote enthusiastically about BlueBlood at the Hilton The Hague. Delicious food and drinks—the cocktails are at least as important here as the food—in a pleasant atmosphere with friendly service. With the new Nikkei chef Luis Rojas, it has become even better.
By 7:00 p.m. on Saturday evening, it is already busy: a diverse mix of locals and tourists fills the restaurant and cocktail bar. We go straight to our table, as we’re hungry, starting with a fruity mocktail that the bartender prepared based on our preferences, a gin and tonic, and a Daiquiri, the classic Cuban cocktail made with lime, rum and sugar syrup. Everything is very tasty and beautifully presented, too. In fact, that applies to everything that comes out of the bar and kitchen here.
Nikkei cuisine
We pore over the menu with our mouths watering. For anyone not yet familiar with Nikkei cuisine: put simply, it is Peruvian cuisine with Japanese influences. You may wonder how these two cuisines became blended. Well, Nikkei is Japanese for ‘immigrant’; at the end of the 19th century, nearly ten thousand Japanese laborers moved to Peru to work in the mines. There, they searched for ingredients from their own cuisine. They couldn’t find everything, so they combined their dishes with Peruvian products, and that is how Nikkei cuisine was born. It is a combination of the elegant and light simplicity of Japanese cuisine with the explosive, sour, spicy and rich flavors of South American cuisine.
Nikkei chef Luis Rojas
Luis has worked all over the world to put Nikkei cuisine on the map. At BlueBlood, he wants to take Nikkei cuisine in The Hague to a higher level. The new menu features dishes in which techniques from Japan and flavors from Peru come together even more beautifully. The popular sushi, ceviches and desserts have been given a new twist, and more Peruvian peppers are being used as well. For example, ají amarillo is widely used in Nikkei cuisine; a Peruvian chili pepper with a fruity, berry-like flavor that was already embraced by the Incas. There are also new seasonal products on the menu, such as sea bass, lamb and truffle.
Sushi and ceviche
Dishes with fresh, raw fish and seafood show exactly what Nikkei cuisine is all about. Japan has sushi and sashimi, Peru has ceviche, and combining the two is a match made in heaven. That is very clear from the oysters and ceviche, such as the dish listed as Osaka Ceviche: a delicious trio of Nikkei ceviche (with tuna), clásico ceviche (with sea bass) and Thai ceviche (with salmon).
Acevichado Roll
The Acevichado Roll is another wonderful example of Nikkei cuisine. This sushi roll has rice on the outside and nori (seaweed) on the inside and, at BlueBlood, is filled with tempura shrimp, avocado and a creamy acevichado sauce made from the leche de tigre from the ceviche with a little mayonnaise. On top is tobiko (the Japanese word for the roe of flying fish). Very tasty! The other sushi is also excellent, such as the traditional California Roll. Our friendly waitress also recommends the Tuna Rice Cake: seasoned tuna tartare on a deep-fried rice ball. Rich, crispy, fresh, delicious!
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- Acevichado Roll
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- Tuna Rice Cake
Bao Buns
The steamed bao buns are also delicious. There are several versions on the menu, including pork and deep-fried soft-shell crab with red cabbage. We order the crab version. Crispy yet soft, fresh, comforting: a top-notch dish.
Padron peppers
The menu also features new dishes without fish or meat, such as Padron peppers. These are deep-fried in tempura batter and finished with katsuobushi, also known as bonito flakes—the shavings of dried, fermented and smoked tuna—and a dark kabayaki glaze. YUM!
Meat dishes
The charcoal grill produces excellent meat dishes, such as perfectly prepared tenderloin and rib eye (delicious with chimichurri!). For guests who want to stay completely in Nikkei territory, there are exciting side dishes such as grilled green asparagus with katsuobushi and teriyaki champiñones: different types of mushrooms such as shimeji and shiitake with a glaze made from a mixture of soy sauce, mirin (Japanese rice wine), sugar and sake. Sweet potato fries and fries with Parmesan are also on the menu. It’s a bit of cheating, but delicious nonetheless.
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- Rib Eye Nikkei-stijl
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- Tenderloin met Béarnaise
Yuzu Crème brûlée
As the icing on the cake, there are also new Nikkei desserts on the menu, including Yuzu Crème brûlée and Tres leches Cake Baileys (vanilla sorbet with mango and quinoa paper). And, just like the other dishes, the desserts are also meant to be shared. If you really want to go all out, there is the ‘Dessert For Royalty’: a selection of BlueBlood’s best desserts. And then: rolling home, completely satisfied. Or as our lovely waitress said: ‘When your belly is full, your heart is happy.’ And that’s exactly how it is.
BlueBlood, Zeestraat 35, The Hague
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