Finding good restaurants in the Netherlands during tulip season can take a little planning, especially in The Hague where popular dinner reservations book up quickly. De Basiliek The Hague ended up being one of our favorite meals from the trip because the food felt creative and elevated while still staying approachable and familiar.
The food was creative and delicious, the atmosphere felt moody without being too dark, and almost everything we ordered was excellent. If you like Bib Gourmand-style restaurants where the food feels high quality without completely annihilating your budget, this fit that category very well for us.
If you’re planning a broader Netherlands trip, this worked well as part of our Where to Stay in the Netherlands (Best Areas to Do in One Trip) itinerary alongside stops in Delft, Gouda, Haarlem, and Amsterdam.
De Basiliek has a menu that is modern European with Mediterranean and Asian influences mixed throughout. The dishes felt ingredient-focused and seasonal and super flavorful.
The menu changes regularly, but while we were there you could find things like tuna crudo with jalapeño and watermelon radish, crispy squid bao buns, cauliflower tempura, lamb skewers with whipped feta, steak dishes, Iberico pork, seafood, and multiple tasting menu options.
What I liked most was how flexible the menu felt. Some tables were sharing smaller plates and drinks while others were doing full tasting menus or more traditional multi-course dinners like we did. It made the restaurant feel lively and relaxed instead of overly formal.
The atmosphere was dimly lit but still bright enough that you could actually see your food.
Yes. I would absolutely make a reservation ahead of time.
That said, I was still able to get a reservation about three weeks before our trip, which felt reasonable considering how popular restaurants can get during spring travel season in the Netherlands.
If you’re visiting The Hague during tulip season or over a weekend, I would not wait until the last minute.
If you’re road-tripping around the country like we were, I’d also recommend reading Driving in the Netherlands (What It’s Really Like for Tourists) because parking rules and city layouts varied a lot between Dutch cities during this trip.
We ordered a mix of dishes across the menu and honestly liked almost all of them.
We started with the white asparagus dish because white asparagus season is a huge deal in the Netherlands this time of year. The plate came with hedgehog mushrooms, egg yolk, and parmesan.
I had never tried hedgehog mushrooms before and became mildly obsessed with them after about two bites.
The asparagus dish felt very seasonal and fresh and the parmesan and egg yolk gave it enough richness that it still felt satisfying.
We also ordered the cauliflower tempura with capers, raisins, and almonds. That combination sounded slightly crazy on paper but worked surprisingly well together. It had crunch, sweetness, saltiness, and acidity all happening at once which was a party in my mouth.
For mains, we ordered the Babette steak with smoked onions, crispy garlic, and pepper sauce along with the polderhoen chicken dish.
The steak was very good, but the standout for me ended up being the chicken, which surprised me because I rarely order chicken at restaurants since I eat it constantly at home already.
The polderhoen came with crispy leek, shiitake broth, and gyoza, and the whole dish had way more depth than I expected. It felt comforting and rich without becoming heavy. By the end of dinner, this was the plate I kept thinking about afterward. The steak was still very good, but the chicken was easily the standout between the two.
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We also ordered two desserts because the menu made that feel like the correct life choice.
The panna cotta came with mango, verbena, white chocolate, lychee, and black sesame ice cream. It was lighter and more refreshing than the rest of the meal, which balanced everything out nicely after the richer savory dishes.
But the sticky toffee cake with vanilla ice cream and miso caramel completely won the night for me.
It was warm, rich, soft, and exactly the type of dessert that makes you immediately start calculating whether ordering a second one would make you look unreasonable in public.
For the quality of the food, I thought the pricing was very fair.
We did a starter, main course, and dessert and spent around €50 per person.
Most starters were around €17–18, mains were generally around €30, and desserts were about €12. They also had smaller bites for sharing like oysters, bitterballen, and jamón.
Compared to a lot of upscale restaurants that end up feeling more focused on presentation than flavor, this felt like a good balance between creativity and food you genuinely want to keep eating.
The service was excellent throughout dinner.
The staff spoke English very well and were extremely helpful when we had questions about ingredients or dishes we didn’t recognize. At one point, one of the servers even pulled out their phone to show me a picture of an ingredient I didn’t understand, which is above and beyond in my opinion.
That kind of interaction always stands out to me because it makes the whole experience feel more comfortable instead of intimidating.
Especially when you’re staring at a menu trying to confidently pretend you know what something is.
I think De Basiliek works especially well for:
It felt romantic and upscale, but still relaxed enough that dinner never became overly serious.
If you end up loving De Basiliek like we did, we also got several restaurant recommendations from a local waiter while we were in The Hague.
The recommendations are more modern and food-focused instead of heavily traditional Dutch restaurants, which matched the dining experience we had at De Basiliek.
Yuzu Dining was one of the biggest recommendations for a more upscale dinner.
It’s known for sushi, creative plating, and a more polished atmosphere.
De Zoute Kater was recommended as a cozy wine bar with small plates and more of a neighborhood feel.
Bar Bowie felt more trendy and cocktail-focused compared to some of the others.
The recommendation made it sound ideal for drinks, smaller dishes, and a younger crowd later at night.
El Bar was suggested for Spanish-style tapas and cocktails.
Compared to some of the quieter restaurants nearby, this one sounded more energetic and social with lots of shared plates and a livelier atmosphere.
One of the better local recommendations we got was to spend time around Anna Paulownaplein.
The square is filled with restaurants, wine bars, cafés, and terraces, and it is noticeably more local compared to some of the busier tourist areas around the city.
It had an atmosphere where people were lingering outside over drinks and dinner instead of rushing through meals, especially later in the evening.
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Booked this Bryson City yurt for the ‘ber months and it’s already my top fall pick this year. 🍂
The Junaluska Yurt sleeps six but feels more like a stylish cabin than a yurt, two real queen bedrooms with actual doors, a full kitchen, and a private bathroom with a walk-in shower. Check-in is just a door code texted to your phone, no lobby, no waiting.
The real win is outside: wraparound porch, private fire pit, free firewood, a gas grill, and Smoky Mountain sunsets that stop you mid-sentence, picture all of that with October color on the ridgeline. Heads up, the last stretch in is a gravel road, so skip the low-profile rental, and there’s no restaurant onsite, you’re minutes from Bryson City, Dillsboro, and Sylva for dinner.
Two to three nights is the sweet spot. (We actually stayed in the dead of winter and it was still stunning, fall just takes it up a notch.) Full review linked in bio.
Italian food felt like the last thing I expected to find in the middle of the Appalachian Mountains... until I sat down at Ilda in Sylva.🍝
They call it Italian-Appalachian, and that’s not just a tagline. Homemade pasta, craft cocktails, local ingredients pulled straight from the mountains around it, this is the kind of meal that makes you forget you’re two hours from the nearest city. It’s cozy, it’s a little upscale, and it is not a walk-in kind of place, call ahead, because tables go fast on weekends.
It’s not cheap, and it’s not trying to be. But if you’re already making the trip out to Sylva, this is the one reservation worth planning your day around.
Full write-up, including what to order, link in bio.
Booked my fall cabin before September even started, and I’m not sorry about it. 🍂
These are the stays that make you actually want the cold to hurry up fireplaces, mountain views, the kind of porch you don’t leave. Not every one of these is going to fit every trip, but if a cozy fall getaway is on your radar, this is the roundup to start with.
One of my favorite travel seasons is almost here, and I have zero chill about it. 🍁✈️
There’s just something about fall trips cooler air, apple orchards, that first flannel of the season, food that actually makes sense with the weather again. I’m already mentally packing for it before September even starts.
If fall is your favorite time to travel too, tell me where you’re headed... I’m taking notes for the list.
Pack your bags... ✈️🧳My hiking and road trip gear shop just got a refresh, and this is everything that actually earns a spot in my bag. The dry bag pulls double duty for beach days and trail days, the Osprey backpack is the one I grab for anything motorcycle or day-hike related, and the GoPro comes with me literally everywhere at this point.
Nothing on this list is filler it’s all stuff I’ve used, packed, and repacked more times than I can count. Full shop linked in my bio if you want to build out your own kit before your next trip.
Follow @travelwithwendyplummer for Beautiful Beach Destinations, City Guides, Foodie Spots, and Luxury Hotel Recommendations.
