Birthday Lunch at Da Lina's Little 'Eataly'

It's been just over a month now since I came back to the Netherlands - which means that I got to celebrate my birthday here again this year! 😊
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What's more, this year I had something new to celebrate - I decided to move to the Hague! 😃​

The Hague is not so far from my old home city, Leiden (10 minutes away by train). It's the third largest city in the Netherlands, and also the more politics-related city in comparison to Leiden - and the capital, Amsterdam. It is where the Dutch King & Queen reside, as well as where parliament and the International Criminal Court (ICC) are located - basically where all the magic happens (depending on what the word 'magic' means to you. Lol!)
A couple of my friends have been trying to convince me to move here for a while now, believing that it would be a good fit as well as an exciting new challenge for me. But I didn't feel ready to say goodbye to Leiden. With time though, I gave in to the idea and started looking for a place to stay here... and a few months later, here we are!

In an effort to introduce me to the Hague after I moved here, my friend and schoolmate, Claire decided to treat me to a birthday lunch in one of her favourite restaurants here called Da Lina's Little Italy.​ ​

Da Lina is an Italian restaurant ran by a lovely Italian woman called Tamara. It's located on Noordeinde 119, which is a 5-minute walk from the Binnenhof. Claire & I made our way there last Thursday afternoon after one of the classes we have together.
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When we arrived, Claire & Tamara exchanged pleasantries, and then we placed our orders and sat down at one of the tables for two. To my delight, I discovered that Tamara & I share a love for Yiruma (my favourite pianist). His music was playing softly in the background.🎹
The breakfast & brunch restaurant had an almost tangible Italian feel to it which had a lot to do with the décor inside the place. Italian books and magazines sat on the shelves as well as the tables, while a bright, colourful dish cloth hung on the plate rack. I took my time admiring the setup while we waited for our food to be served.

It hardly took five minutes before our meals arrived! Claire had Soep va de dag (Soup of the day) which was chicken soup, and a Broodje Lekker (delicious sandwich); while I had pasta salmon, fried chicken with some extra cheese, and some orange soda to wash it all down. Everything tasted so good!😋
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Between bites of food, we enjoyed a lengthy conversation about school and life in general.

After our first course was done, Claire decided to treat me to dessert as well.

I decided to have traditional canolis while she had a coffee. It was my first time eating canolis, and I'm happy to report that I quite enjoyed them. ​Tamara was the perfect hostess, and I can't think of a better place to have had my birthday lunch this year - or to have started my food blogging journey in the Hague. It was an all-round beautiful day, and I'm humbled by those of you who consistently make an effort to make it special each and every year. ❤️

​Any suggestions about which restaurant in the Hague I should try next? Let me know below! 😉

Find Da Lina on Social Media here: Facebook.

Their opening hours are:
Mon – Sun: 09:00am - 7:30pm

- ✗O✗O.