Going Green: New NAPA at Chaoyang Park Serves Up Huge, Healthy Salads, and More

NAPA 2.0 is finally in town with a slight move towards the east, on the edge of Chaoyang Park, although the focus has shifted a little from takeaway (of course, the dishes are still super easy to take away) because this new space houses a larger seating area compared to that of its now defunct sister site. 

The menu has since expanded also, but Californian cuisine remains at the forefront, using organic, local, and seasonal ingredients, built around the concept that healthy living should not be a luxury available to a few. "Our gourmet salads, sandwiches, soups, and other hot comfort foods are inspired by dishes from around the world, each emphasizing great ingredients, technique, and time," co-founder Andrew Hsu told us.

Executive Chef Colin Smith, Hsu's best friend, used to work at Google's headquarters, incorporating healthier dishes into the tech giant's menu, a goal he continues to strive for at NAPA.

Diners have a choice of seven salads, all served with homemade toasted garlic focaccia. We went with the Eurasian Salad (RMB 65), a mix of Sicilian lamb meatballs, greens, pickled cucumber, onion, and herbed Tibetan yak yogurt dressing with organic honey. The portion was filling, and the combination of ingredients was refreshing.

We also chose the Mediterranean chicken salad (RMB 65), a kale salad topped off with Danish blue cheese, shredded chicken, roasted hazelnuts, and confit garlic red white vinaigrette with organic honey. If you know anyone who refused to eat kale, this would be the way to present it: plenty of veggies and healthy ingredients with the strong flavor of blue cheese. This is one to come back for.

Elsewhere on the menu are five sandwich options that range from ham and cheese to vegetarian, to Korean barbecue chicken. We opted for the pork banh mi (RMB 60), which was stuffed with scrumptious pork belly, pickled carrots and daikon, as well as greens for a crunchy combination.

Hsu tells us that there will soon be weekend brunches, homemade frozen yogurt, patio seating, and Neapolitan thin crust pizzas. 

Although next time we won't be ordering three dishes for two people (the portions are all very, very generous) the fact that there is such a variety of options on their menu entices us to return and try more. Best of all, it's all healthy and locally-sourced, so you don't have to feel bad while you scoff it all down.

Napa
Daily 11am-10pm. 20 Liulitun Zhonglu (crossing of Yaojiayuan Lu and Tianshuiyuan Dongjie), Chaoyang District (6595 9181)
朝阳区六里屯中路20号

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Photos: Margaux Schreurs, courtesy of Napa