Simonis aan de haven

Not all of Scheveningen's harbour has been turned into a yachting harbour. Although the Scheveningen fishing fleet has been reduced to several tens of ships and the harbour area has been gentrified with the aim of turning it into the new nightlife area of Scheveningen, a large part of it is still geared to fishing activities. Large warehouses store the catch of the day and there are both wholesale auctions and smaller fish shops to be found. Some of these have restaurants as well, of which Simonis aan de haven is one of the most well-known.

Simonis is an old fish company, going back to the late nineteenth century when the Simonis family became famous for their smoked eel. Still a family business, Simonis now has restaurants and shops all over Scheveningen and the Hague at large, ranging from the very fancy Catch by Simonis in the gentrified part of the harbour, to a no frills fish counter at the central market of the Hague. The one where we're going today can be quite an experience. At busy times, the place can be packed. You order at the counter, and get a number, then find a place somewhire in the warehouse sized hall. A man behind a microphone announces numbers and when your number comes along, you need to start watching out for the waiter who walks around looking for you with your food.

There's none of that now. Despite the fact that the opening time is 8:00 in the morning, the men behind the counter, busy cleaning fishes and taking orders in the shop, tell me the kitchen is still closed. The only option for eating is bread with fish - which is exactly that: a piece of bread with fish added to it. Rihanna Gaga wants shrimps, so I order one piece of bread with shrimps and one with salmon. While we're waiting for  our order, Rihanna Gaga says she needs to go to the bathroom and that she can't wait. When we  return, we find our order waiting for us. We take a chocolate milk for Rihanna Gaga and a cappucino for me as well (it all adds up to €13) and then go and look for a table.

The huge hall has been decorated with old fishing gear and stuff like framed oil paintings, old sea maps, and large wall paintings of the sea. There's large stuffed fishes hanging from the ceiling, as well as fishing nets and oil lamps. We settle for a table in o ne part of the restaurant that is made to look like a ship. The tables have glass tops, under which collections of shelss can be seen. Rihanna Gaga loves it and keeps pointing to different shels to ask me their name.

She gobbles up a large piece of salmon in the blink of an eye. And a second large piece soon after that. Despite the fact that she was the one who wanted shrimps, she now has no interest in them. The fish and shrimps taste like you'd expect in this place: incredibly fresh and good. We're the only ones in the restaurant except for people working here. It's clear that being open at 8:00 doesn't mean it's running at that time. Two working men are enjoying their breakfast - bread and jam - when we arrive and then start putting the chairs in order and lighting candles. The music - smooth jazz - isn't put on until right before we leave.

Rihanna Gaga asks of everything she sees where it's from. Bread comes from the baker, shrimps and fishes come from the sea and so does salt. Bottled chocolate milk comes from a factory and so do candles. Her questions never end, and indeed: where does it all come from, all this abundance? When she's finished eating, she walks around the tables, singing existing and non-existing songs. She likes to make up her own songs, sometimes in her own made-up language, other times she sings about what is happening to me ('We are in a restaura-a-a-ant!'). She also plays with the toys that we brought, mostly her doll which she cares for by putting on diapers and laying her down to sleep.

I try to read a book, but keep checking the news. I'm extremely worried by what is going on right now: a little over a week into his presidency, Donald Trump is wreaking havoc, all but dispensing with the rule of law, both national and international; and all over the world, his brand of nationalism and xenophobia seem on the rice. Blissfully unaware of all of this, Rihanna Gaga remains cheerful, getting out a children's camera that she got for her second birthday and taking pictures of me. She'd like to go to the playground, she says, so we get ready to go. Outside, we find out that it's raining, so instead of going to a playground, we bike to the sea to visit nearby Hart Beach, where Rihanna Gaga can play with the toys and I can have another tea.