Mexican love with Californian Twist
CPK
rolls out 3rd edition of Mexifornia Festival
Its summer time and
my favourite, California Pizza Kitchen aka CPK is back with its most awaited ‘Mexifornia Festival’. Being an avid Pizza lover, I never
miss out on opportunity to visit this place and when the occasion is so
special, how can I not be a part of it. Absolutely no second thoughts when it
comes to CPK. Last week I was invite for the tasting session. This was my tenth
visit at CPK and third consecutive year at the Mexifornia Festival.
For the people who
are still thinking what Mexifornia festival is all about, it brings together
the taste of Mexican and Californian cuisine. What better to compliment the
searing summer than the tastes of cilantro, peppers, squash, tomato, avocado,
vanilla, cocoa, corn, Mayan ingredients and all of these shot with a burst of
California with its emphasis on fresh ingredients and inspiration from rich
Mexican flavours.
The Mexifornia
festival 2015 has carved out special, innovative items on the menu which includes
beverages, salads, appetizers, pizza, pasta, desserts and two CPK speciality
item.
As always, I
started with my favourite Mango Tango. This drink is a blend of mango juice, orange
juice, passion fruit syrup and lime juice, tastes just brilliant. The other
mocktails available on the menu are Aloha (Mango Juice, peach syrup and half
and half) and Apple Jack (Apple Juice, lime juice and strawberry puree).
The first appetizer
presented was CPK Nachos. I am well aware of the fact that most of them
secretly admires Nachos and never backs down to indulge in it when given a
chance. This CPK Nachos are made Californian style, with cheese sauce,
jalapenos and tomatoes. The nachos though drowned in cheese, keeps hold of its
crispness and these toppings just do wonders.
Next up was Chicken Tomatillo
Chille. This was chicken strips tossed with garlic, onion and trio
peppers in New Mexico’s green chilli sauce. It wasn’t extraordinary, just
simple and good.
Next appetizer was Southwestern Chille
Chicken. It was grilled chicken breast, basted with south west green
chilli and cheese lying on the bed of mashed potatoes. This didn’t appeal my
taste buds, the chicken was a bit tough to chew which makes the whole
experience bad.
This is not the kind
of start I would ever expect at CPK. As I mentioned earlier it is my tenth
visit and this, my first bad experience.
Moving on, the next
item on the table was Crispy Tortilla Salad. This was a brilliant comeback after
few flops. This crispy tortilla tossed with shredded lettuce, cherry tomatoes,
in tangy ranchito dressing, topped with chicken was amazingly good. This is the
reason why I love being at CPK.
And now, its Pizza
time.
There was a long
list of other awaited items on the menu, so we requested chef to make all the
pizza on a thin crust.
Up on the table,
first pizza was CPK’s best seller, *drumrolls* Chicken Asada Pizza.
And am I surprised for this being the hottest seller? Hell no. This thin crust
pizza had sliced chicken with cilantro pesto and New Mexico green chilli sauce
sits on top of a traditional crust with cheddar and fontina cheese and roasted
peppers. Every topping made its presence felt and the taste was perfectly
balanced. The cilantro pesto with sliced chicken is what makes it outstanding.
Next up was, New Mexico Pizza.
Thin crust with ranchito sauce, topped with mozzarella sauce, spicy chipotle
chicken, sliced red onion and New Mexico green chilli. Ahh! After having such a
good pizza, this falls apart. The chicken was just spicy with no good taste and
the mozzarella cheese could do very little to play its role.
Next on the table
was, another CPK’s hot favourite, Mexican Habanero Pizza. This time I was surprised rather
shocked of the taste. This traditional crust topped with baja cottage cheese,
white mushrooms, cherry tomato and habanero chilli was downright bad and tasteless.
After speaking to the management on this we were informed of ‘something
important’ missing from the pizza. This really turned me off.
Post this I didn’t
wanted to try any other pizza, and decided to move over the Speciality of CPK
for the next. The other Pizza on the menu was Sonara Pizza, Mexican Veggie Pizza
and Southwestern Pizza.
The first item from
the speciality section presented was, California style Chimichanga. Getting into the detail, it is
crispy fried wrap filled with California rice, chicken, topped with cheddar
cheese and served with shredded lettuce, sour cream and roasted tomato salsa. Full
marks to the team for the presentation, brilliantly done. The taste was good
but could have been better, nothing extraordinary. For the first timers, you
should definitely give it a try.
Next speciality was
New Mexico Basa Fish in banana leaf. This my boy, was the
best item on the menu. Baja marinated basa fish wrapped in a banana leaf and
baked in CPK’s hearth oven was cooked to perfection. The coriander paste was
like a cherry on a cake. This is certainly not to be missed.
And it was time to
conclude a mixed evening but not before we had the desserts on the table. There
are two desserts on the menu, Mexican Caramel Banana Flan and Trio of Chocolate Mousse.
Both the desserts were unique in its own way, again full marks to the team for
experiment. For all the dessert lovers, do not miss out on these.
Well, that’s it. Finally
time to conclude but before I sign off, I would like to mention that CPK has
sets its own benchmark and today it just couldn’t cross that line.
Verdict: 2.5/5
Must try: Crispy
Tortilla Salad, Chicken Asada Pizza, New Mexico Basa Fish in Banana leaf and Trio
of Chocolate Mousse.
Where:
California Pizza Kitchen – Indiranagar, Pheonix Market City and Kormangala(No
Liquour)
When:
Till June 21, 2015
How much: Rs.
305++ onward
Yum!! This party food is looking so delicious. I am craving on that Mexican pizza. Well dear I am also going to attend the space Miami events tomorrow. It is a food event and various kinds of cuisines will be offered there. I am excited to try out yummy cuisines!
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