We at Hooked took it upon ourselves to sample the offerings at their Ngee Ann City outlet. Ah, the things we do for the sake of our beloved readers…

Stepping into the restaurant, you might be misled into thinking this was some teeny-bopper joint – blame it on the garish colours and blaring J-pop music. The prices however, were not that of your typical el cheapo fast food place, with the cheapest dish selling at $ 7.80.

At the same time though, the concept and serving size of the meals proved that it would be money well spent. If you’re the control-freak-type, you’d love the D.I.Y. concept that lets you cook your own meal. Incidentally, that means no service charge – take that Seoul Garden!

We were greeted by Pepper Lunch’s supervisor, Mr Takayoshi Kofune, (by the way, he’s hot! – Ade) who recommended 3 of the restaurant’s best sellers- Beef Pepper Rice ($7.80), Salmon Pepper Rice ($8.80) and “Shimofuri” Pepper Steak ($13.80).

Each dish is served on a hot plate heated up to 260 ۫ C, prudently surrounded by wraparound paper to prevent oil splatters. Fun fact: even after 20 mins, these hot plates retain temperatures of 80 ۫ C, ensuring your food remains piping hot.

Beef Pepper Rice, ($7.80)

The preparation of the dishes is quite a thrill ,and a no-brainer for home-econs dunces out there. Just follow the instructions of the affably obliging staff, and we guarantee you won’t incinerate your food. Their constant mantra is “Mix! Mix! Mix!”, so no prizes for guessing what you have to do.

But enough with the gimmicks - onto the food! The Beef Pepper Rice  was alright... but the Salmon Pepper Rice was pretty damn good. Both dishes consist of aromatic slivers of meat, accompanied by delectable pepper rice and fresh corn - formulaic, but hey, it's fast food.

“Shimofuri” Pepper Steak ($13.80)

The best dish however, was the slightly pricey but bang-for-your-buck “Shimofuri” Pepper Steak. The huge hunk of marbled steak with a slab of butter sitting atop tastes just like heaven – Shinto-style heaven that is. Add that to the hefty portion of fresh greens on the side and it might just make a convert of you Jack’s Place lovers.

All in all a pleasurable meal, garish colours and blaring J-pop music notwithstanding. Hotter-than-the-hot-plate Takayoshi said bye to us, and we left with happy memories of a highly-satisfying meal. hooked

Pepper Lunch’s outlets ARE located in Ngee Ann City #B2/33 and Basement 1, Isetan Scotts. They are open from 11am to 10 pm daily.

Click here for Offers from Pepper Lunch!

Comments

Written by symphonious on 2005-10-15 22:50:18 agreed. the food is good

Written by Guest on 2005-10-16 14:15:53 OMG!!! Looks good!!!!!! I want~~~

offers from pepper lunch! Written by Guest on 2005-10-17 09:59:42 look under freebies!!

Written by Guest on 2005-10-20 02:24:30 yeah... the food is nice.. im addicted...=p

Written by Guest on 2005-10-20 02:24:56 yeah... the food is nice.. im addicted...=p

Written by Guest on 2005-10-20 02:25:04 yeah... the food is nice.. im addicted...=p

Written by Guest on 2005-10-20 12:12:54 I went once to the pepper lunch at taka, the service was awful. me and my friend wanted to sit side by side and she said we can't because "the seats are all like this" when the table i was seated at was two together and she had to pull the other table aside. The seats were cramped, you know how big the plate is and there was absolutely no place for bags. It was to the extent that if you were to come out of your seats, you had to push someone else's table aside (a tiny person might be able to squeeze through but but only tiny people. I'm not exaggerating!)     Anyway, the people sitting next to us was sitting opposite each other but as i said, the tables were cramped. Then this same lady who showed us the seats, she took their drinks and slammed it back on their table and pulled the other one aside for the new customers. they were shocked! Well, so were we. It was plain rude, the ladies seated next to us wasn't too happy.     Later on, we wanted to give the feedback to the person in charge and horrors, the one giving us the bad service? She was in charge.    And my story doesn't end there. I called the branch to give feedback. The lady there wasn't too convincing, so i asked for the main office line. She told me, oh, we normally give the number to suppliers and that she will get the manager to call back after he gets back from out of town. Well, i waited two days after he's supposed to come back. I haven't got the call yet. Put it this way, i called the isetan branch and they gave me the number immediately and i called the main office after waiting for the manager's call. Well, they told me, that should not be the case. So i need not say more.     The verdict, the hamburger and beef was alright, the chicken that day was awful. Coupled with an uncomfortable evening (I was giving my friend a treat!) A waste of my thirty bucks. I'm never going back again.

Written by Guest on 2005-10-20 12:14:47 oh ya. i missed out. Why i say that she was so ride for pulling aside the tables, she didn't say sorry or excuse me. she just pulled the tables away. (YIKES!) How's that for rude

you don't say Written by Guest on 2005-10-20 21:03:29 well that's what you get for service in singapore. you should have remembered his/her name.   Do they wear name tags? I noticed subway and cineleisure stopped using name tags. So that it's harder for us to expose bad service maybe?

errata Written by Guest on 2005-10-20 21:04:11 subway at cineleisure i meant

Written by Guest on 2005-10-28 22:09:54 just a teeny-booper trend that will fade..

Written by Guest on 2006-06-25 00:58:16 http://www.sonikbyte.com/blog/?p=56  pepper lunch express sucks

Written by Guest on 2006-10-06 13:12:35 the food is great

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