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Well... technically, I'm a bit past the blind date stage of my life... I'm not even sure that I had a blind date stage of my life. If I had a blind date planned, I'm sure that I would have freaked out and stayed at home...

However, this Mexican restaurant in Den Haag is a place that my wife and I have been to a few times for our kids free nights out... and it seems to be a great place for couples, and so I guess that would mean that it would be a great place for blind dates as well... however, there are very few windows to jump out of... so perhaps it isn't really great for blind dates...

The Space

Situated in a busy part of The Hague, but well away from the regular tourist spots, KUA is one of those little gems that you find and then try to keep a little bit secret...

The reason for trying to keep this a bit of a secret (not counting the great food...) is the fact that there is very little seating space! The place is quite busy on most nights... which means that reservations are pretty much essential. If you are just showing up and hoping to get a seat... well, expect to be dissapointed! Especially if you have more than two people in your party...

The spacing and lighting of the restaurant is quite cosy... it is the sort of atmosphere that reminds you of a nice student house. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if this particular building used to be a residential house before being converted to a restaurant!

On the walls are many Mexican types of decorations... my favourites being the ones that have to do with the Day of the Dead. It's macabre and really cute at the same time!

The Menu

KUA is the place where my wife and I were first introduced to REAL Mexican food. The sort that you don't know about if your only experience is tacos and nachos from non-Mexican places. Let me say, it is a real eye-opener!

There are so many interesting tastes and flavours... and very little of it has to do with the stereotypical pale representations of what we think Mexican food is!

However, I do wish they would stop pointing that out... both the wait staff and menu keep stressing that it is not Tex-Mex that they are serving... well, I know that... and I also don't know what Tex-Mex is! Just serve up the good stuff, don't tell me what you aren't!

... and of course, there is always time for a dessert menu!

The Food

House made corn chips with a slightly spicy dipping sauce... It is hard to describe how good these corn chips are! You can buy them by the bag here... and they are really just something else!

Although we were tempted by the fried grasshoppers... we ended up settling on a shared dish for starters. A Ceviche Mexicano, cold white fish marinated in lime, avocado, coriander and onions... Wow, I really have to start using more lime in my cooking! It was pretty great, but I think I would have preferred a warm starter...

This was my wife's meal... fried fish tortillas! The fish was just perfectly done, with a nice moist inside with a nice crispy outside. Wrapped up in a tortilla is a really great way to eat this... much better than a side of chips!

I had the pork shoulders... slow cooked and served with rice and refried beans. Again, fresh cooked stuff is much better than the cans that you get at the supermarket... the refried beans were awesome, I could have eaten those all night... and the pork was just soft and flavoursome... amazing stuff!

Churros with a caramel dipping sauce... well, normally I see this with chocolate... caramel is just so much better!

...of course, I went with an egg custard. Sort of like a Mexican version of a creme brulee... I love this one, I think I have ordered it for dessert every time that we come here!

The Experience

The fact that this place is busily packed every night that it is open is a testament to how good the food is. The staff are really nice and friendly, and the food is relatively quickly served... and just unbelievably good!

This restaurant is definitely one of our favourites of all time, a place that we keep coming back to... after all, we still need to work our way through the entire menu!