NASCACafe

By J. Harold Meyer (bestfoodinchina.net)
Updated: 2008-12-17 15:24

What does an expat need after a day's stressful work in big bustling Beijing? A few nice drinks and some good food in a cozy, friendly place not too far from home. And that's exactly what NASCACafé is offering: Excellent coffee and teas, a fine collection of high quality and yet affordable wines, and probably some of the best pizzas available in town. Just around the corner, in a friendly and relaxing setting.

NASCACafé is located on the ground floor of the Great Hyatte apartment building at North Nongzhanguan Street, Chaoyang District, in a friendly neighborhood where Chinese locals nicely mix with business people and students from all over the world.

The café’s Manager Liu Yinan and his brother have thought it all out. NASCACafé is decorated with bright paintings from South America, Africa and China, has cozy corners with simple but tasteful furniture, a reading stand and internet access. CNN is silenced in favor of Katie Melua’s “Nine million bicycles in Beijing”. In short, NASCACafé offers a happy atmosphere that attracts a young and upbeat crowd.

Open from dusk till dawn, NASCACafé offers a very varied menu. There’s modern salads, sandwiches, soups, a nice choice of pastas and BBQ ribs. And of course there’s homemade pizza, NASCACafé’s signature food. We were invited to sample three of NASCACafé’s specialty pizzas that come in medium and big sizes and go from 60 to 120 RMB each.

The pizza promisingly called “Slow Ecstasy” combines salami, French Brie, chicken and pineapple on top of a nicely mellow dough. This is good and tasty stuff, made with high grade flour imported directly from Holland and baked with a good sense for timing by Liu Yinan’s brother in the kitchen. The “Apricot Chicken” introduced us to the more adventurous pizza concepts NASCACafé has on offer. Generously applied curry spices, leeks and slices of juicy fruit gave the pizza pleasantly exotic, India-inspired reverberations.

For lovers of vegetarian food NASCACafé has a very pleasant surprise in store: The vegetarian pizza is a truly taste bud bogging experience. I just loved the combination of fresh goat cheese, dried Pomodori, fresh spinach and mushrooms. Visually also very attractive by blending green, red and white colors, this pizza combines all the hearty, aromatic and mellow tastes of the best Mediterranean cuisines.

And then there is dessert. NASCACafé has high quality cakes available, but the best kept secret is the gorgeous organic ice cream from New Zealand. A genuine treat that goes well with one of NASCACafés excellent coffee varieties. It's just the perfect conclusion of your business lunch, evening breakout or tête-à-tête with your loved ones.

Location: 105B, 28 Zaoyingbeili, Chaoyang District

Tel: 010-65924537

This article is brought you by Best Food inChina, the first and leading English website about local Chinese food and restaurants. For more information, please visitwww.bestfoodinchina.net