Nutritious meals grow in popularity in Chinese cities

Customers enjoy health food at an Obentos restaurant in Beijing.[Guan Xin/China Daily]

"I see a lot more juice, salad and sandwich bars popping up but sometimes it's not done right," said Ye. "They would add jam to the juices or mayonnaise to the sandwiches."

Ye said that her eating choices have limited the number of restaurants she visits, noting that she only eats out at the handful of restaurants in Beijing that offer a healthy selection.

Andrew Stevenson, a restaurateur of Scottish and Japanese descent, decided to mix two different culinary cultures to create Obentos, a Japanese-inspired restaurant chain with a Western influence that serves healthy recipes.

His first restaurant opened four years ago in Beijing almost out of necessity due to lack of healthy eating options.

"Casual healthy dining places are definitely popping up in China, but the market is still very immature," said Stevenson. "It will still take some time for things to round up."