With Cyberhub being the new kid on the block so to say when it comes to a hub of food joints, I have been diligently checking out one restaurant after another therein. California Pizza Kitchen is one such restaurant in Cyberhub which had not yet been ticked off in my list and, therefore, I was more than happy to accept Pawan Soni`s invitation to go and try out their “Hollywood Menu”.
We reached there and the first question we had was ‘What is a Hollywood Menu ??” The only answer the staff could come up with was that because they were from California they named it as the Hollywood Menu!
The restaurant is roughly a 130 seater and quite spacious and has a nice and lively décor with the furniture in soft light brown color. It had lovely retro music playing in the background. As soon as you enter, on the left, there is a glass counter displaying bakery items, cheese, bocconcini etc. which can all be purchased. At the far end of the restaurant is the kitchen and a restroom on one side.
Getting back to the Hollywood Menu, since they have yet to get their liquor license there were two mocktails – Mango Mint Ecstasy (Rs.195) which was a wee bit too sweet and Pineapple Twister (Rs.195) which was really refreshing and had fresh pineapple juice with lemon chunks and mint leaves flavoring it.
PIZZA
(All the pizzas were ordered on a thin crust base).
Hawaiian Chicken and Grilled Pineapple Pizza (Rs. 445 for a 9”), was loved by Pawan but I would`ve preferred the Pineapple chunks to be sweeter. The Jamaican Jerk and Chicken Pizza (545 for a 9”) was really good – the spicy sweet Caribbean sauce, garlic chicken and roasted bell peppers were all complimenting each other.
Now comes `The King of the ring’- Deli Style Bistro Pizza with pesto marinara sauce was a pork loaded pizza with Italian sausages, capicola ham, Canadian bacon, lemon herbed rocket leaves and bocconcini. This truly was an oink oink ! experience of the heavenly kind, with each bite being a loaded one (Rs. 575 for a 9”).
Rustica pizza (445 for a 9”) came with grilled zucchini, mushroom, olives and capers. The pickled flavor of capers was the highlight of this pizza.
Spicy Sonora Pizza (545 for a 9”) was described in their menu as “some like it hot, we like it hotter. Our house made roasted corn and black bean salsa, spicy smoked chicken with cilantro and lime cream sauce…….”. In one sentence, this pizza was neither spicy as I was expecting from the name nor worth mentioning.
PASTA
Mediterranean roasted mushroom spaghettini (Rs. 425) was a poor take off on Spaghetti Aglio E Olio. It was too dry and could do with more olive oil and garlic.
Spaghetti Carretierra (Rs. 425) did not sound very exciting when one read the description on the menu (spaghetti with hot red chillies, rocket, bocconcini and freshly crushed pepper in a tangy creamy sauce) but it turned out to be an awesome spaghetti with a refreshing tangy creamy sauce. This is highly recommended and I could go back just to eat this again.
SPECIALITIES
California Peri-Peri Chicken (Rs. 575) : Pawan found the grilled chicken a tad bit on the drier side. The heat was missing and there was way too much cream used in the sauce.
Spinach and Paneer Malfati with Milan sauce (Rs. 575) : Malfatiare gnocchi style dumplings of tender spinach and paneer in a creamy caramelized onion sauce, flavored with garlic and goat cheese. The delicate gnocchi surrounded by the creamy sauce just melts in the mouth and the goat cheese was the cherry on the cake.
DESSERTS
California delight (Rs. 215) : the only thing good about it was the presentation. It was a trio of white chocolate, strawberry and dark chocolate mousse – either the medley of the three was not in tandom or it was badly made.
Tiramisu (Rs. 375) was simply divine and melting in the mouth. It lacked just a little bit bitterness (trade mark of a good Tiramisu) which we discovered later was because Kalhua was not added to it.
The Red Velvet Cake (Rs. 265) could have been better. The discordant notes were the tartness of the cream cheese and the insufficient “velvetiness” of the cake.
Tea (Rs. 75) needs a special mention because the waiter gets a big, wooden box and flips it open for you to choose from a wide variety of teas -green , earl grey, chamomile etc.
The overall experience at California Pizza Kitchen was nice – the food was good and we enjoyed listening to retro music.
Ratings (Out of 5)
Food: 3.5 | Service: 4.0 | Ambience: 4.0 | Overall: 4.0
Meal for Two: Rs800 | Credit Card: Yes | Alcohol: License awaited | Home Delivery: Yes | Special Hollywood Menu: : 24 February 2014 – 16 March 2014
Address: California Pizza Kitchen, DLF Cyber Hub, Ground Floor, Gurgaon | Phone: 0124-658888/ 6467575
– Rohini Ghosh
