This last trip to Mumbai was quite close to my son’s milestone 5th birthday. We thought it would be fun to celebrate with the family.  My brother-in-law loved the idea and went all out. In fact, he thought we shouldn’t leave my daughter out so we would celebrate his birthday and her 1/2 birthday together.  

Being silly with their cousin before heading out to the restaurant

My brother-in-law has a big heart. Knowing that California Pizza Kitchen is one of my kids’ favorite restaurants in the US, he made reservations for all 8 of us on a weekend evening.  CPK, a family restaurant in the US, is a much nicer establishment in India.  We all dressed up, organized two cars, and went to the nicest CPK I’ve ever been to in my life.  

Thankfully they still have some US features, such as a kids menu, crayons and kids size pizzas.  We settled the kids in with that and mango juice (it was a special occasion), and we adults settled in for a nice meal.  We got fancy drinks, mine was a Mango Mint Ecstasy (Mango Juice, Mint, sparkling water, and lemon.  So refreshing).  Then we ordered yummy appetizers (hummus and pita supposedly for the kids, and a spicy cheese dip and corn fritters for the adults).  Finally we shared two pizzas.  We got a nice vegetarian, but also sampled the local cuisine with a Paner Pesto pizza.  Everyone was quite satisfied at the end of the meal.  

But the end was the masterpiece.  Since both kids love Dora, my brother in law ordered an amazing, gigantic Dora Cake.

In the US when you say Dora cake, you get a sheet cake with a picture of Dora on it. In India, apparently you get Dora!

The staff brought it out, and then played the happy birthday song over the loudspeaker for the kids.  Both were so excited, they were a bit overwhelmed.  My son in particular was  over the moon when they saw it.  His only regret was later to learn it had to be cut up so it could be stored in the fridge once we got home.  

We let the kids make wishes and blow out candles, then the restaurant took the cake back, cut it up and served it.  (Service in India is amazing).  It was a rich chocolate, eggless cake, surprisingly moist, and one of the best cakes I’ve tasted in an age.  

After we all had a piece (and my son had two), it was time to head home.  We jumped back in the cars, and both were kids sound asleep by the time we got home.  The party was indeed a success with the kids excitedly talking about it again in the morning and, of course, asking if they could have cake for breakfast!  🙂

Happy Birthday my lovlies!