Pizza trails at California Pizza Kitchen

The world is on your plate again at California Pizza Kitchen, fondly known as CPK. Pizza trails is back with 10 different pizzas from different countries for a month long festival. I was honoured to cover this festival again at CPK, Indiranagar outlet which is my favourite outlet too.

After a hectic day, all I need is good food to unwind. Stepping in for dinner, I started my evening Kiwi Mojito which had fresh Kiwi’s, lime and mint. The cocktail version of this had Bacardi which was enjoyed by others. For a refreshing drink, I preferred Kiwi Mojito. I also tried Blue Horizon and Melon Duo. Melon duo had watermelon and musk melon mixed but musk melon overpowered the taste and I did not like the mix. Blue Horizon was another refreshing drink with a blend of crushed lychee, orange juice and lemons with a splash of ginger ale and blue curacao.

Tried all the 4 starters from the festival menu. Starting with Charmula fried fish which were Charmula marinated fish fingers served with lime cream sauce. I enjoy fish fingers a lot. For veggies, they have an option of Harissa fried cottage cheese which was served with ranchito dip. The name clearly says that it is Harissa marination. I preferred fish over cottage cheese.

Next was Lebanese grill chicken, which was grill chicken in a Lebanese style chili marination. This should be had with ranchito dip. I expected this to be spicy but it wasn’t. Mexican veg wrap was last appetizer served which was my favorite. A Mexican inspired wrap with fajita spiced vegetable served with their homemade green chili sauce. The taste of the wrap was superb and the green chili sauce added to the spice.

It was time for pizza’s to flow in. It was a tough decision to choose few pizza’s out of the 10 available pizza’s, but left the choices to the manager whose recommendations always work for me. Started with Romesco Pizza which had Romesco sauce on crispy thin crust dough topped with roasted peppers, zucchini, green olives, cherry tomatoes garnished with chopped parsley. I have had Romesco pizza earlier which was my favorite during my last visit and this was a different version to it with more ingredients, nevertheless I still liked it.

Non veg pizza had to be next so it was Zesty meat ball pizza which had zesty chicken meat balls on a crispy thin crust with spicy marinara sauce, basil, jalapenos and cherry tomatoes. This was pleasantly different but not spicy as I had expected.

Peri peri pizza was next which is highly recommended. A traditional crust which has a South African twist with mushroom peri peri sauce topped with bell peppers, black olives and cottage cheese finished with cilantro. After a dose of jalapenos and cherry tomatoes in earlier 2 pizzas, this was refreshing with different spices and surely became my favorite for night. Actually every pizza is different and has a distinguish taste, but Peri peri pizza was a delightful change from the pizza’s served during the night.

The last one was Verdure pizza, I was very hesitant to try this one as it was topped with arugula leaves, olive oil and parmesan cheese with some exotic vegetables on homemade pizza sauce. As you know arugula leaves are bitter and I did not want to try it after an awesome peri peri pizza. But to my surprise, I liked it as the entire bite of the pizza actually balanced the taste and it was truly different.
The veg pizza’s at CPK have always been different and always been my favorite so non-veggies, do not skip tasting the veg pizza’s here :)

Time for desserts, which one shouldn’t ever miss at CPK. The festival menu had 3 desserts at offer. First was Banoffee bombe which was the best dessert of the night. One shouldn’t miss it and I hope they get this on the main menu as it is irresistible.

Some more presentation on the banoffee bombe could just add to the delight.

Second was Epiphany, a moist cake with californium almonds, topped with dates and whipped cream and chocolate fudge sauce. This did not live up to the expectation, it basically did not have any taste, till the last bite I was figuring if the entire cake had any taste or not.

Last was Enigma, which had multi layers of mascarpone cream, sour cherries, silk dark chocolate mousse and crispy granola served in a jar. This dessert was sweet and the sour cherries and crispy granola in between broke the monotony of sweetness. It was a refreshingly different dessert.

So enjoy the pizza trails and many other appetizer, dessert, cocktail and mocktail to offer on ‘The world on your plate’ menu from 15th October 2015 to 15th November 2015. Do let me know if you find any other pizza interesting which I should try :)

Atmosfire, the party makers in Bangalore

Atmosfire is a unique concept is brought in by Barbeque Nation, the pioneer of live grills. They are the party makers. They take care of all the party needs, from setting up the grills to cleaning up the place, everything will be handled by them. All you need to do is to dial in to arrange a BBQ party at your preferred location or at their location in Indiranagar or Electronic city. The minimum number of people for the party is 10.

They charge Rs. 350 and Rs. 450 plus taxes per person for Veg with an Edge and Meat Treats respectively. These are the basic rates and you can upgrade it by adding more dishes to the menu. You can add cocktails to the party but you will have to bring the alcohol and the bartender would mix up some cocktails and the basic price is Rs. 100 plus taxes for 2 drinks.

I was invited to a BBQ party hosted by Atmosfire so here I will pen down my experience for you. For mocktails, I had a Cranberry Fusion and lime soda during my meal which was refreshing and also cleansed my palette.
























I munched on some Bruschetta and Garlic bread which are my favorite as I waited for the starters to begin. These both were good and I could be biased because I like them a lot.

In veg, I tried the Veg Shashlik which was enjoyed with the dip, nothing unusual but enjoyed best with conversations and friends. Dahi ke kebab were good and one of my favorites from the menu. Veg Satay was also good.

Lahori Veg Soya chunks was different to my taste and really good. One should try this. Texas Barbeque Cottage Cheese with coriander dip tasted good, though I am not much of cottage cheese fan.

 

My favorite of all was BBQ Assorted Fruits (pineapple /Pears /Guava/Apple). On a summer afternoon, some BBQ fruits are just heaven on earth. We repeated this with grilled pineapple many times.

In non veg, my favorite was Moroccan Char mole Prawns, I love sea food and Moroccan prawns was truly yummy and I enjoyed this the most. My next favorite was Coastal BBQ fish. With dip or without, fish was delish.

Caribbean jerk Chicken was next and with garlic mayo dip, it tasted the best even when the spices were not evenly covered. Peri Peri Chicken Drumstick was my favorite chicken starter but I do not have a pic of it, meat was well cooked and now my mouth is watering and need some of these.

Shark’s Steaks with pineapple mojo was next, I did not know that it was shark, but the hint of pineapple was good and tangy taste was nice. Tandoori Quail was a little sweet in taste and by now, I was not in a state to eat further so cannot write much on this.

Arabian Kafta Mutton did not impress me at all as the meat was hard and not cooked well. The dip served were Zulu Coriander, Garlic Mayo, mustard sauce and BBQ Sauce.

Kache Gosht Ki Biryani, Kothmir mirch murg, Shakahari boti, Paneer lavang latika, Dal Tadka with Plain Rice and roti, naan and paratha was for main course. I skipped main course completely as I was completely full with the starters.

For desserts, fresh fruit gateau and rasgulla was served. I enjoyed the fresh fruit gateau more as I love it and helped my self with another serving of it.

I had a great afternoon with friend's, having some delicious food and fun conversations. The team of Atmosfire were very good and efficient to set up the party for us and also to clean up the place quickly.

Their contact details are below if you need to host a BBQ party:
Atmosfire: No 501 Binnamanagala extension 1st stage, CMH Road Indiranagar Bangalore 560038
Phone: 080-45511013
You can connect to them on Twitter, Facebook or their Website

The Slider Slam Festival at The Big Kahuna

The Big Kahuna is known for its unique tropical environment, signature cocktails and scrumptious menu offerings. The lounge offers a phenomenal range of world-inspired food with fresh ingredients. The Tiki-culture inspired lounge has introduced an exquisite array of sliders called ‘Sensational Sliders’ to get you prepped up for this festive season. Having studied the growing food trend for Sliders, the Chefs at The Big Kahuna have brought forth interesting renditions to satiate the cravings of diners in the city.

With 10 delicious sliders to choose from, the new menu includes Cottage Cheese sliders, Herbed Grilled Chicken sliders, Asian Shrimp and Chicken sliders etc. that have been specially developed for this festive season.

As I was invited to be part of the on-going 'The Slider Slam' festival, I was thrilled as it was my first at The Big Kahuna. I started my evening with Coral reef mocktail, a tropical drink made from strawberries, mango and coconut cream. It was sweet, thick and really filing till my sliders were on the table.

The first slider I tasted was BBQ pulled chicken slider which had slow cooked BBQ chicken with marinated onions and mix pickle slaw. It was very tasty and the mix pickle slaw with BBQ chicken did the magic. After this slider, the standards were set very high for me. It cant get better than this to start the evening.

The second slider was a veg one, Crispy spicy cottage cheese slider, the spicy mayo with soy chilli marinade and crumbed cottage cheese along with a slice of onion in between the bread did the magic and the first veg slider was good.

Next was Asian shrimp and chicken slider which had a patty of chicken and minced shrimp along with asian tartar sauce. A strong taste of shrimp was felt. Though the first taste had a little extra garlic taste which does not suit my liking, but the next bite helped me get a good taste of the patty and tartar sauce.

The next was a mushroom slider named Herbed mushroom and roasted pepper slider which had thyme (herb)-balsamic (vinegar) mushrooms along with bocconcini cheese (small mozzarella cheeses like the size of an egg), roasted peppers and pesto mayo. A non-mushroom lover will also enjoy this slider. But the taste of roasted peppers is hidden behind the mushrooms.

Next, Herbed grilled chicken slider was served which had herb marinated grilled chicken along with garlic mash and chilli garlic aioli. With the first bite, I got the taste of mashed potatoes along with chicken which impressed me. I was stunned with the superb taste despite the major presence of garlic.

Crispy Quinoa slider was served next. This was the first time I tried quinoa. Panfried quinoa and veggie cakes served with cheddar-parmesan cheese along with maui waui sauce. I could not exactly identify the taste of the sauce but the slider was very filling.

Sicilian lamb ball slider was served which has rosemary scented lamb balls with spicy tomato sauce, fresh basil and parmesan cheese. The lamb ball was bigger than the bread and one who enjoys lamb will surely enjoy the spicy lamb balls slider. It felt like having lamb balls with some bread here and there, exactly the I like.

Next, Mexican taco sliders was served which was the most waited slider. Kidney bean patty along with tortilla chip, guacamole, pico and herb sour cream. Every bite was delicious and truly worth waiting. Mexican food is always enjoyed.

The last slider I tasted was Chilli and lime fish slider which had chopped Vietnamese basa, fresh chillies, lime zest, apple cider mayo. With the first bite I got a strong taste of jalapeno which over powered the taste of chilli and lime fish. A chilli would have preferred over jalapeno to enhance the taste of fish.

The only slider I did not taste was Cubanitos which had a juicy tenderloin patty with pork salami, caramalised onions and cheddar cheese.

One can also enjoy a jumbo platter, Veg - Mexican taco sliders, Herbed mushroom and roasted pepper slider and Crispy spicy cottage cheese slider and you can enjoy this at Rs.750 and a Non-veg platter - Chilli and lime fish slider, Herbed grilled chicken slider and Asian shrimp and chicken slider at Rs.850.

To end my meal, I had Dark chocolate temptation which had rich chocolate mousse with crunchy nougat. Salted Caramel cheesecake which had baked cheesecake topped with salted caramel, dessert need not be sweet always and Coffee creme brulee which was an expresso infused custard with caramalised sugar crust, dessert in a cup. I enjoyed all three dessert and despite being a chocolate lover, I enjoyed the Coffee creme brulee more.

Dark chocolate temptation

Salted Caramel cheesecake

Coffee creme brulee

All the sliders will be available at the price of Rs 280 to Rs 320. Get ready to hog on sliders of different flavours and from different cuisines. The sliders are smaller than the usual sliders you get anywhere but very comfortable in eating them. Though this is not a main course nor a appetizer but somehow can fill you up when had with couple of drink and conversations with friends. These bad boys are going to change your life and your appetite too. 'The Slider Slam' festival that is going at The Big Kahuna is sure to excite you. You can enjoy the festival till 14th December, 2014.