Salad University: Teaching Us the Right Way to Five a Day
Health and nutrition – it's a field complex enough to warrant its own departments at schools and hospitals around the world. And unlike a degree in underwater basket weaving, it's a field that is universally applicable and important. Now there's a tuition-free institution offering a lunchtime study hall for your five-a-day, the aptly titled Salad University.
Teaching us that nutritional value can come in hues beyond green, and can be procured on a dime and with a tight schedule, Salad University recently opened just opposite Reebok’s Crossfit space in the Hilong Building next to Shimao Shopping Mall at Gongti Beilu.
The menu is simple and easy as a multiple choice exam – there are six basic greens, two dozen “sides” (including the usual veg plus goji berries, eggs, pumpkin, broccoli), grains and nuts, fruit (pineapple, dragon fruit, orange, and honeydew melon), as well as meat and seafood (beef, chicken breast, duck, ham, sole fish, tuna, and shrimp), to choose and add to your salad, A small salad with up to 10 sides with basic greens costs RMB 38, while a large can include 15 sides with basic greens for RMB 48.
Salad dressings include ranch, balsamic sauce, Thousand Island, deep-roasted sesame sauce, traditional Caesar, Sriracha chili sauce, ponzu, teriyaki sauce, shoyu, miso sauce, lemon yogurt, and low-fat honey mustard. You can also add staple foods, such as brown rice, millet, and pasta. For extra protein and a splash of decadence, opt for extra lobster salad, abalone, grilled salmon, smoked salmon, shrimp or avocado for an additional RMB 15.
For freshman who feel intimidated and overwhelmed by the endless combination possibilities (which can feel like flipping through a 300-page course catalogue during student orientation), try the set salads, such as the Caesar salad, Japanese-style salad, Waldorf salad, Greek salad, quinoa with smoked salmon salad or Cobb salad (RMB 30-60). They also offer five different poke bowls (RMB 38-68), with raw fish on a bed of rice – served ubiquitously throughout Hawaii but having picked up in Beijing over the last year or so.
We diligently ordered for the chef’s poke (RMB 58), featuring diced raw salmon, snapper, mackerel, crab meat, seaweed, lotus, cucumber, with soy sauce and wasabi, and a splash of white sesame. Unlike the original fish poke in Hawaii – which often come with fish pre-marinated in soy sauce – we don’t mind the separation of the two to avoid the mess and allow us more independent study.
Salad University claims that all their ingredients come from Beijingers' favorite local market, Sanyuanli, and we do agree that the ingredients look and taste fresh. The Waldorf salad (RMB 36, pictured below) included celery, lettuce, corn, apple, chicken, broccoli, walnut, dried cranberry, raisins, and corn with yogurt dressing, making for a lightly flavored and refreshing lunch, aside from the slightly-too-sweet raisins which overpowered the otherwise mild combination.
Staying true to the name, Salad University it does have a school-canteen ambiance, with plain wooden tables along the wooden walls, wooden chairs, and even a wood-paneled ceiling. The vibe is simple and the service acceptable, but just like at home, you'll find that lunchtime gets crowded with many a penny pincher trying to get a cheap fill.
Salad University
Daily 9am-10pm. 110, Hilong Building, 13 Gongti Beilu, Chaoyang District (177 0103 9050)
沙拉大学：朝阳区工体北路13号海隆石油大厦110号
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Email: tracywang@thebeijinger.com
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Photo: Tracy Wang, Dianping
