California Pizza Kitchen

Whenever I go to a restaurant that I have been to, I usually already know which dishes that I will be ordering.  Most of the time, once I taste something that I super like, there’s just no way for me not to order the same thing the next time I visit that restaurant.  This was exactly the case again when I went to California Pizza Kitchen.

I first tried California Pizza Kitchen in nowhere else, but yes, California!  I tried their Kung Pao Spaghetti with shrimp, and from that time forward, whenever I visit CPK, my order has always been Kung Pao Spaghetti with shrimp.  I can’t seem to make myself try other dishes.  The Kung Pao Spaghetti is just too delicious to pass up.

Even here in Manila, there isn’t really much difference between the taste from the original California branch.  Which is soo cool because I don’t have to fly all the way to the United States in order to eat at CPK 😀

Here is what we ordered during our visit a few weeks back:

• Grape Shake/Dalandan Shake (Php 175)



There are also other fruit shakes available like Dayap, Mango & Watermelon but my favorite has always been grapes 🙂  Nick ordered Dalandan since he had been craving for it since we went to Tagaytay.

• Classic Caesar Salad (Php 425)



I’m not fond of salads but CPK’s classic caesar salad is just the best.  We ordered it with chicken breast (additional Php 175).  I gave my share of chicken to Nick coz it’s just the salad that I like.  The crisp romaine lettuce with parmesan cheese is just heaven!  And of course, the croutons that give it that extra flavor and texture. But I don’t eat the croutons either. It really is just the caesar dressing and the parmesan cheese tossed into the lettuce that makes this salad so good. I can never get enough of the parmesan cheese too, that I always have to add more as I eat the dish.

• Kung Pao Spaghetti (Php 355)



Words just cannot describe how delicious this dish is.  It’s just too yummy that it’s unexplainable!  But let me try anyway 😛 It has just the right amount of tomato sauce taste, that tangy taste to any tomato based dish, but then there’s a layer of sweetness to it too. It also has that spicy taste to it, but it’s not hot. The fact that it has chili peppers cooked with it, gives it that spicy taste, but it’s not hot at all. We ordered this with shrimp (additional Php 625) which I think is perfect for Kung Pao Spaghetti.  This spaghetti is made with Kung Pao sauce, peanuts, green onions & hot red chili. Trust me when I say this, but the added peanuts just give it a totally unique taste that will always have you ordering this dish.

• Tiramisu (Php 245)



Nick swears that this is a must-order at CPK.  I’m not fond of cakes but I took his word for it.  When I tried it though, it’s good but not something that I would remember for a long time 😛  It tasted differently from what is served in California as the Philippines version is much sweeter.  I guess it’s because we have a sweet tooth? And not only that, but it wasn’t as smooth as it should be according to Nick, since when we got the dessert that day, it was served from frozen, and with any refrigerator cake style dessert that contains cream, the texture, and the overall taste will always be different when frozen and then thawed.

It does seem like a typical American restaurant but I must say CPK is my favorite mainly because of their classic caesar salad & kung pao spaghetti w/ shrimp! 😀

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California Pizza Kitchen
2/F Shangri-La Plaza Mall, EDSA cor. Shaw Blvd., Mandaluyong City, Metro Manila, Philippines
(02) 687-7841 to 42