For the quality of restaurants normally found in Leiden, this one is rather excellent. All the food…read moreis fresh, well-prepared, and full of flavour. The restaurant itself has a nice welcoming atmosphere, even though the waiters and plate settings would indicate that it's rather stiff-upper-lip, the clientelle is relaxed and everyone is welcome. I would only give a few dings for the following things: (1) The service - yes, I know I should not complain of the service in the Netherlands, but I can't help myself. The waitress told us that as per the concept, they recommend ordering one 'small' bite, two 'medium' ones and one 'large' one. Setting aside the fact that this is actually an outrageous amount of food for one person, when our group of 4 proceeded to not follow the 'recommendation' and order haphazard amounts of everything from different parts of the menu, the waitress clearly panicked and started asking us about the order in which things should we served. We told her to essentially figure it out herself and were rewarded with fairly haphazard serving order in return. (2) Odd flavour combinations - while some dishes were absolutely delicious (like the classic Asperges a la flamande), others where they clearly tried to experiment were frighteningly bad. In particular the 'food shot' (served in a shot glass) of diced cervelat salami served with chunks of vodka jelly on top of a bed of sliced onions - this dish was not appealing in any way, shape or form. There were a few other similar clearly failed experiments and I'm not sure why they've chosen to keep them around on the menu. Other than this though, it's definitely an interesting place and worth checking out if in Leiden.

My wife and I went to Niven on Saturday night. Firstly I must say that we normally dont dine in…read moreMichelin Star Restaurants but as American Express were doing their promotion week we decided to give a try. Located between Delft and The Hague next to the golf course it is not an easy place to find if you are unfamilure with the area. If so, just hop on the number 1 tram from either Den Haag or Delft. My own expectations were way above exceeded. We were greeted in the reception and shown to our table in the main dinning area. The whole place looked amazing. Great attention to detail with a lot of thought put into the design and layout. For a large area the noise was at a minimum, a rare thing in The Hague. Service was excellent. Then came the food. I could ramble on about this for a long time but I'll try make it brief. We had a set menu of Scallop with variations of apple. Then a main of Beef. The scallops were cooked perfectly but the real star was the beef. Black aberdeen angus in a jus that made me smile and almost cry at the same time. It was a taste sensation that I've rarely encountered. Oh, did I mention that in over 9 years of living here I have never found a place that does British Beef. Wine selection was what you would expect from such high end dinning but we decided to try something different and opted for a Lebanese Red, Chateau Musar 2002. The taste was so different from anything we have ever tried but went perfectly with the beef. It was so good I've just ordered 6 bottles. To sum up, Niven is one of the best places I've ever been, certainly way and above any place else in The Hague area

Extrodinary Indonesian food but pricey. Dinner for two without drinks $ 172 US…read more It was a dining experience to do once. Service was excellent.

Disappointing changes to the menu, and after living in Leiden for 7 years, quite possibly the…read morerudest service by one of the male wait staff. Really overpriced life what amounts to bar food and no concern for the experience of customers who have a severe food allergy. Do yourself a favor and go somewhere else.

From the owner: Ons huiselijke restaurant ligt aan de mooiste gracht van Leiden, het Rapenburg. Het is gevestigd in…read moreeen historisch pand, waar begin vorige eeuw een drogisterij onderdak vond. De 'Gaper' aan de gevel is nog altijd een markant herkenningspunt. Op het menu staan eigentijdse gerechten, die met veel aandacht voor zowel de ingrediënten als voor de gast worden bereid. En bij alles geldt: alleen kwaliteit telt! Parkeert u op de Haagweg, dan heeft u gratis vervoer naar ons restaurant.

In summary: Nice atmosphere, great menu and quite good service. But, food was poorly cooked…read more We have walked past this a couple of times without going in. And once inside we were surprised how spacious it is. A lot of tables and great possibilities to find a good seating. The decor is also very nice! Service was okay with no exceptional impressions. We weren't asked if the food tasted good until it was finished which was a bit unfortunate. The menu is great! 3 courses for 25€ with a lot of selections. Most items on the menu were also a bit innovative and creatively flirting with different food cultures. But, the execution of the dishes were unfortunately too poor. I ordered Salomon fried with a crust with a sea weed salad. The Salomon was embarrassingly overcooked and completely dry. I also doubt the quality of that particular piece of fish. The sea weed salad looked good on paper but lacked some flavors. The sea weed also had some metal flavor to it that made the dish taste funny. The pork file was in a similar way completely dry, so I guess it wasn't the best day in the kitchen. So, all in all it would be a great place if it wasn't for the poor execution of the dishes. I hope this was an exception, but I'm having a hard time recommending people to go here.

Service and food will surprise you here. Expect delicious and unexpected. Good for large parties…read more Will definitely be back.