Spanish eatery offers fresh summer dishes

Alex Sanchez, the Spanish chef and owner of Niajo, has been living in Beijing for more than 11 years, and he knows that the capital's high summer temperatures demand a change in the way people eat.

He's designed a new summer a la carte menu of about 45 dishes with appetizing and healthy recipes.

The avocado salad with shrimp, corn, tomato and feta cheese is such a delight to the eyes that I almost feel guilty when I destroy the carefully arranged presentation of colorful ingredients to eat them.

The vegetables are fragrant, fresh and crunchy, and match well with other savory flavors from the shrimp and salty cheese, and the avocado slices are sufficient for any enthusiastic avocado lover.

The plate of Spanish Manchego cheese with olive oil and black pepper is also a must-have. The ivory-yellow cheese, buttery with a slight piquancy, has a firm texture.

A very nice feature of the dish is the grilled garlic - the cores of the garlic cloves have been removed so that the garlic would not cause bad breath.

I also like the honey-baked codfish with creamy tomato and aioli.

Codfish is common in both Chinese and Western kitchens, but this dish has a refreshing character. The chef uses homemade tomato sauce that has a light, pleasant flavor of balanced sweetness and sourness, suitable for a summer day.

The grilled squid with aioli, a signature dish in Spain, is also very delicious. All the ingredients in this dish, like most used in the eatery, are imported from Spain to ensure authenticity. The squid have a beautiful toast color, and are juicy and chewy.

Apart from the summer a la carte menu, the restaurant also offers a business lunch menu, and a set dinner menu updated every two weeks.

The business lunch menu is 78 yuan ($12) per head for two courses, with additional dessert or beverage costing 20 yuan per head. The set dinner menu is 278 yuan per head, with additional 128 yuan for wine pairing.

If you go

Niajo

Noon to 11 pm; 3/F, Nali Patio, 81 Sanlitun Lu, Chaoyang district, Beijing. 010-5208-6052.