California Pizza Kitchen: 1-for-1 mains with Entertainer App

This is a dining review of California Pizza Kitchen – a casual dining chain that specializes in California-style Pizza. 

Entertainer App: 1-for-1 deals

Thanks to the Entertainer App by HSBC, diners may eat out and receive 1-for-1 deals at participating resturants. 

So far, I’ve used the Entertain App by get 1-for-1 mains at places such as the Drunken Poet (Irish bar along orchard road), and indulged in 1-for-1 Japanese buffet at Shin Minori (United Square). 

This is the first time that I am visiting California Pizza Kitchen. Of course, I had to drag my family (husband and 3 year old child) out with me to enjoy the meal together. 🙂

California Pizza Kitchen

Located along Orchard road at Claymore connect, the restaurant is visible from the outside but the entrance lies inside the mall. 

Known for their thin crust and innovative flavours, they also serve various kinds of pasta, salads, soups, sandwiches, and desserts.

Check out the Menu at the California Pizza Kitchen website here.

Food – Salads

In Singapore, when people order a ‘salad’ in a restaurant – we typically think of a small side dish similar to a starter or an appetizer. However, the salads here at California Pizza Kitchen have the option of being a ‘half’ or ‘full’ portion. And the FULL portions are HUGE.

Like, humongous plates that are bigger than my FACE kind of huge

The first dish served was the Poke Chop Chop. Fresh marinated pink raw tuna, served over baby bok choy greens, spicy kimchi pears, fresh arugula, cucumber and cilantro, and tossed in housemade black vinaigrette.

Poke Chop Chop Salad

It was colourful – and one of those salads that’s perfect for sashimi lovers. The raw tuna had the slight fishy taste, blanaced by the sharpness of radish and pears, and filled out with lovely greens. 

Bonus: there’s lots of pink in it… which meant that the 3 year old daughter was gobbling up this salad like crazy.

Topped with black sesame seeds

Next dish was the Thai Crunch. Crisp veggies and cilantro with shredded chicken, and a crunch of peanuts, wontons and rice sticks. Tossed in a Thai peanut dressing. 

Thai Crunch Salad

The salad was exactly as described – Very Very Crunchy. It was as if the chef removed the stereotypical salad greens and replaced them with deep fried wonton skin. While I would not classify this as a ‘healthy’ salad, it was definitely child-friendly and very filling. 

The chicken wasn’t too tough as well – just tender enough to be enjoyed in a salad. 

So much deep fried wonton skin…

Note – when I order salad, I tend to request for the salad sauce and dressings on the side. Partly because I wish to choose just how much of it I want in my salad, and partly because salad dressings are a hit and miss with my child.

Of course, say nothing about dressing, and the chef will simply toss it in together with the rest of the salad.

From Left (clockwise) – Peanut sauce for Thai Crunch salad (largest dish), Spicy sauce for Thai Crunch Salad, Homemade Vinaigrette for Poke Chop Chop

Food – Pizza

If you love a thin-crust pepperoni, this would be a good one to have:

Pepperoni Supremo – Pomodoro sauce with Pepperoni, Mozzarella, Parmesan and Fresh Mozzarella. Topped with fresh herbs.

I am not usually a fan of pepperoni pizza; i find it too oily for my personal liking. However, this one – somehow feels less dense – when combined with the thin crust – felt both light and flavourful. Like a crispy pizza bread.

The next pizza is completely different – with mushrooms galore.

Wild Mushroom – Shiitake, Portobello and White Mushrooms with silvered scallions, cracked black pepper, and Mozzaerella. Finished with Parmesan.

In pictures, the mushrooms look almost kind of raw. But in reality, they were grilled dried and the mushroomy flavoured bursts was intense in the mouth. Not too salty too – a nice contrast to the pepperoni. Unlike the crust in the pepperoni pizza, the crust here is the more regular variety, thicker and slightly more chewy. 

Overall review

The winners for me was actually the salads! Unique and huge, one doesn’t find salad like this often in Singapore. The closest I’ve seen is perhaps at Jamie’s Italian (and yes, that is also a Pizza place with other kinds of mains) but the variety here feels much better. 

The pizza was decent. I would recommend it above pizza hut and Domino’s. Granted, this is American / Californian style pizza, so it’s not as good as the Italian varieties I’ve had at LaBrezza (St. Regis Singapore) or La Nonna. 

California Pizza Kitchen does seem to have its fans; while dining, we noticed the restaurant endlessly prepare boxes and boxes of pizza, only for them to be taken away via pickup or delivery personnel.

Service was decent as well – the staff were polite, knowledgeable, and generally friendly to my 3-year-old.

Do note that this place does charge for water. at $1 per glass. Granted it’s not much compared to everything else on the Menu, but it does feel a bit petty when a large group of people come to order huge meals and the restaurant wants to charge them all water on top of that.

Otherwise – good food for what you pay for (especially if you do get the 1-for-1 discount), and overall a pleasant experience.

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