Great Lunch (or Dinner!) at Pepper Lunch

When my family and I first discovered Pepper Lunch a few years back, we instantly knew it would be a place that we would just keep coming back to. You know that feeling when you find a restaurant that you know will never disappoint and will always serve you great food any time you want (and when all else fails)? Well, we feel that Pepper Lunch is certainly one of those places, and every now and then we just find ourselves craving for their food, and we just know we have to drop by for a visit. Who could resist their bright store signs, and the smell of their food wafting as you pass by?

Pepper Lunch, by the way, was founded in 1994 in Japan by Kunio Ichinose, who wanted to serve good quality food without having to hire a chef. Thus, he made use of hot metal plates where the food could be cooked right in front of the customers according to their own preferences. Today, Pepper Lunch has grown to over 200 branches, including the ones in Japan and in other countries in the region such as South Korea, China, Thailand, Singapore, Macau, Australia, and the Philippines (among others).

Being a fastfood restaurant, food is ordered at the counter. There are just so many choices!

We've dined at several of their branches but we usually go to their Megamall branch since it's one of their larger branches with more tables.

As always, my brother orders their Double Hambruger Steak with Egg, which also comes with corn, sprouts, and string beans (though it's usually my mom and I who ends up eating the veggies). He also orders a cup of plain rice to go with this one. Though I've never actually tried this one, my brother says that the meat is very tasty and juicy.

My parents' usual order: Salmon Pepper Rice. Since they keep ordering this one, this must be really good! And yes, I've never tried this one either. Hmm, maybe I should try "exploring" their menu more next time.

Their Beef Pepper Rice is one of their signature dishes, and this is the one that I usually order. I honestly think that the Beef Pepper Rice that Pepper Lunch serves is WAY better than the one that their local competitor (or imitator?) serves. Though they have less sauces to choose from (Pepper Lunch's two--honey brown sauce and garlic soy sauce--versus the competitor's seven), they are of very high quality and really go well with the meat. The beef that the competitor uses also tends to be tough, and the rice isn't as soft either. Their hot plate also cools down a lot faster, unlike in Pepper Lunch where the food remains hot even until you finish everything on your plate. Pepper Lunch definitely wins, hands down.

The art of "cooking" your hamburger steak, as explained here. Whoops, looks like I should have taken a photo of the part where they explain how to cook their pepper rice meals as well.

All mixed up and ready to eat!

Pepper Lunch

Various branches around Metro Manila

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P.S. I don't know if it's just me, but I keep getting a virus warning each time I try to access the Pepper Lunch website. Maybe the Pepper Lunch IT department could perhaps check this out?