Review: California Pizza Kitchen, KLCC (New Items in Menu)

Date: 14 July 2010, Wednesday
Venue: California Pizza Kitchen, KLCC
Occasion: Food tasting - Nine (9) New Dishes on Menu
Overall comment: Impressive. I'm amazed at the innovation that CPK boasts.
Halal: Yes
Previous blog post on CPK: Click here

Note: The review below is written based on my personal preference and liking. You may or may not enjoy the same dishes as I do, but the review will just present my humble opinion of the food that I sampled.

A big “Thank You!” to California Pizza Kitchen (CPK) @ KLCC and Kelly, from Integrated PR for inviting me to the food tasting session!

"Non traditional flavours from Mexico to exotic Middle East as well as traditional flavours that the unadventurous will find scrumptious. "

It was a sumptuous and scrumptious dinner that I felt too “over-weighted” to walk back to the car after the 9++ course meal! Yesh, more than 9 dishes were served for the 2+hours at CPK! *rolls around with a full stomach & a wide smile*

The purpose of the event was to sample (or more like EAT in the normal portions!) CPK’s latest dishes on its menu. Interesting, I would say. The variety on CPK’s menu is growing by the year & I can’t deny that I am rather impressed at CPK’s creativity in introducing new dishes twice a year. Most of the dishes are from the US itself, but CPK’s fusion of dishes is of no doubts warmly welcomed by Malaysians/Asians :)


Let the “party” begin!

(Note: Bear with the photo quality. Lighting that night wasn't very bright, thus for a food blogger with a compact camera, quality of photos have to be compromised)

Look who I met at the event: Frat Mustard!!
Frat posing with my Maui Punch - pineapple & orange mixture.

Frat posing with one of his favourites: Tiger Beer

The lavish dinner began with the Moroccan Chicken Salad, a harmonious symphony of taste, colours, & texture. Of the many salads that I have tried at CPK, this, in my opinion is the best! You will find a mixture of romaine leaves, roasted butternuts, fresh beetroots, fresh carrots, fresh avocados, red bell pepper, chopped eggs, dried cranberries, toasted almonds, and of course the slices of grilled Moroccan chicken breasts meat – all in bite-size, easily picked up with your fork. The salad dressing (Honey-Dijon vinaigrette) gave the salad a fresh touch, an added value to the fresh garden greens ;)

Moroccan Chicken Salad
Full portion: RM32.00, Half: RM26.00
(photo below shows a full portion salad)

Next on the menu was my favourite for the night – the Sonora Egg Rolls! I seriously fell in love with this snack and I reckon I could just pop by CPK and order this as a meal! I enjoyed the crispy skin-wrap, the flavourful chicken with fragrant cheese, and the "creaminess" of the egg all mixed up with the peppers, olives, kidney beans, tomatoes, (I really believe these items were in there, but it's not stated on the menu! Hahaha...oh well...) and ... For those who are lactose-intolerant, if you can take a little “cooked” cheese, this shouldn’t upset your stomach since the amount of cheese isn’t overwhelming.

Sonora Egg Rolls (RM25.00/serving of 2 wraps in halves)
Grilled lime chicken, roasted corn & black bean salsa, Cheddar & Monterrey Jack Cheese, fire-roasted mild chilies, green onions and cilantro, hand-wrapped in a crispy wonton roll. Served with tomatillo salsa & ranchito sauce (similar to the Tabasco).

The Pesto Cream Penne with Chicken & Prawns was up next. I enjoy pesto & am a pasta-crazy person, so I was really delighted to dig in to this pasta dish. The penne was al-dante, but I actually prefer it to be slightly softer than how it was served that night. The pesto cream sauce was just lovely. It wasn’t too heavy/”jelak” as the dish was accompanied by sun-dried tomatoes, which reduces the heaviness of the creamy-feel with its sour-ish taste. All of us couldn’t help but commend that the prawns at CPK were really fresh & “crisp”. It is something that I would love to learn & put to practice when I’m in the kitchen...how can I marinate the prawns to make it “crunchy” & fresh? By adding sugar?

Cream Pesto Penne with Chicken & Prawns
(RM33.00 - with chicken/RM36.00 - with shrimp/RM39.00 with both chicken & shrimp)

Pizza Time!

Note: CPK uses low-fat Mozzarella

If you prefer pizza to pasta, CPK actually has the similar variant of the Cream Pesto Penne on thin crust pizza! *salutes* I felt that my pizza looked too green *lol*, but the idea is certainly interesting. I have never really had pizzas of such innovation anywhere else except at CPK. If you’re adventurous, CPK’s pizzas may just keep you happy through your meal and your day :) CPK’s thin crust pizza MUST be eaten fresh and hot so that you will get to enjoy the fullness of the pizza. I actually liked the thin crust since it felt very light like munching on biscuits with toppings!

Pesto Chicken (RM31.00/pizza)
Grilled chicken breast marinated in a basil pesto sauce with mild onions, Mozzarella cheese, sun-dried tomotoes, pesto sauce & toasted pine nuts. Topped with fresh basil.

Bloggers & photographers at the review...

Up next was an extremely interesting pizza – the Cheeseburger Pizza. I couldn’t imagine how it would look and taste like. Burgers and pizzas just didn’t have any connecting dots to each other in my mind! When the pizza arrived, I can’t help but wonder why is there so much of lettuce on my pizza??! There were large slices of avocados too...*gulp* My first impression of this pizza – weird. When I finally sunk my teeth into the slice of pizza, I had an instant “light bulb moment”. “Flattened BIGMAC!” What cheeseburger...? There were certainly ground beef, onions, lettuce, mozzarella, & American cheese all on this Cheeseburger Pizza. Power! This was one “BigMac” where you don’t need to open your mouth wide to get a proper bite of everything on the burger. Amazing. The fresh chunks of avocados looked strange on the pizza, but complimented the pizza perfectly :)

Cheeseburger Pizza (RM38.00/pizza)

The final pizza for that night was the Meat Cravers. It’s certainly a guy’s/meat-lovers’ pizza. I felt that it’s just too meaty & cheesy for me! Hahaha...sweet italian sausage, pepperoni, turkey, bacon, spicy salami and julienne salami + LOADS of low-fat mozzarella cheese – I can’t help but think that Aaron & Rao will fancy this pizza :P

Meat Cravers Pizza (RM38.00/pizza)

Behold... the yummilicious & vibrant colours on the table...

We ended the dinner of main dishes with the Ginger Salmon. I was pleasantly surprised at the delectable salmon that didn’t have the ‘fishy’ smell, and the wok-stirred vegetables, which were done right (not over-cooked, nor was it too salty). This dish is a thumbs up for PerutBesi :)

Ginger Salmon (RM43.50/serving)
Pan-seared ginger Norwegian Atlantic Salmon topped with chopped fresh cilantro, green onions & sweet ginger sauce. Served with wok-stirred vegetables.

Those mentioned above were our main dishes. The night wouldn’t have completed perfectly without CPK’s mouth-watering desserts. I am not very much a dessert-person since I don’t fancy sweet items. More often than not, I’ll be ordering drinks or food with “less sugar” or “kurang manis”.

Key Lime Pie

Nevertheless, I have to say that CPK’s Tiramisu is thus far my favourite, if only it was less sweet. Since the 1st time I had it (click here for the previous review), I just can’t forget the rum-soaked sponge cake of the Tiramisu. The (Belgian) Chocolate Souffle served warm with a scoop of cold vanilla ice-cream is also a sinfully delectable dessert, worthy to be enjoyed.

Their Key Lime Pie is also something very unique. I haven’t had anything like that & CPK is thus far the only restaurant in Malaysia that serves Key Lime Pie. The pie is sourish, sweetish, & tastes “cheesy” (just that it uses custard instead of cheese), a very appetizing dessert to conclude your meal.

Tiramisu (RM22.00/slice)

Chocolate Souffle (RM20.00/serving)

I really thank CPK @ KLCC & Integrated PR for the wonderful dining experience, & their warm hospitality & service. I look forward to CPK’s greater achievements in the near future!

To all my dear readers, hope you enjoyed this post ;) Up next are 2 more mouth-watering reviews on a barbecue dinner and a new Japanese restaurant that you must try! Stay tuned!


California Pizza Kitchen
Lot #140, Level 1, Suria KLCC
50088 Kuala Lumpur
* Mall is located at the Petronas Twin Tower
Tel: (+603) 2382 0512
Fax: (+603) 2382 0516
Business Hours: 11:30a.m. - 11:00p.m. daily (last order @ 10:30p.m.)
Website: www.cpk.com


Ratings:
Presentation: * * * *
Price: * * *
Environment: * * * 1/2
Taste: * * * 1/2
Service: * * * 1/2


Overall:

- Ruth