~ Curious Charlie ~

#KeeponSizzling with Pepper Lunch @ Sunday, March 05, 2017

Tuesday 11th January & Wednesday 22nd February

Dinner at Pepper Lunch, a steak-ish house known for their 260 degree hotplates. Its been on the list for years, though we've yet to visit till now due to fear of getting burnt! Keep your hands off the table and you'll be fine though. :P

I've just realized we have have actually been here before for their soft serve!

There's plenty of seats, at communal tables or the bar where you can watch people go by.

Introducing Pepper Lunch's Self Serve System! It's quite easy to use and you can pay by cash (McD doesn't have that option) or card. Start by scanning your QR code which has a number for your table, there's meal options or single items.

Let's start with a drink. We're loving all the teas, floats and soda choices! So much for those who don't drink. Nitro infused drinks are pretty awesome. The nid milk tea would be like a sparking milk tea!

Apple Mint $4.95 & Nitro Infused Milk Tea $5.95

With recommendations from our friendly waiter we ordered the apple and lime flavoured soda with mint leaves. Tastes like a sparkling apple soda with a light fanta apple flavor (think mcd float)! It's Pepper's best selling/signature drink and you could see why.

We're fascinated by the nitro infused drinks, and ordered the NID Milk Tea, slightly sweetened I'd say this is 50% sugar if we had it at a bubble tea place. It's like a lighter but still refreshing milk tea!

Known for their signature dishes the 'Beef Pepper Rice' $10 (classic) ($16 combo/meal) and 'Pepper Steak' (you can ask for less pepper :P) they've recently added some new items.

The menu's extensive and there's something for everyone (except maybe vegetarians). Like McD you can order the dish on its own or add more to it, and/or make it into a combo.

ala carte = on its own
make it a meal = add a drink and side

Add ons are $1 each (cheaper than ramen add ons): egg, cheese, mushrooms, onion - still reckon onion should be an free option. The combo (+$6) adds a regular drink and a side: rice/chips/miso/salad, note that some dishes already come with rice.

As well as meat combos, hot plate meats there's curries, pasta (for fussy kids, Freud approves) and salads.

Miso Soup $3.95

Fried tofu, cubes, spring onion and seaweed. An exciting range of textures and flavours. The broth itself wasn't too salty or bland but just right. I have to say this miso had more things floating it in than the usual.

Sweet Potato Wedges $4.95

Perfectly crispy and fluffy! Lightly salted all that's missing is a sweet chili mayo. These were perfect with a crinkle cut, Grill's and LOTF always seems to overcook sweet potato, but Pepper's just perfect! I may have consumed a wedge before taking this photo...

Onion Rings $4.95

Served in a cute deep frying basket these were crunchy and light! I love them served with tomato sauce and a sprinkling of sea salt and rosemary. (Serves 2, as a side).

Hot Plates - Patented in Japan, it's all about an electromagnetic cooker that heats up to 260 degrees in 70 seconds, and remains hot at 80 degrees for more than 20 minutes. It's quite different from other hotplates as they don't stay as warm for anywhere as long.

For mains we had the beef ribs $25 with what the description says brown sauce, it's gravy. Soft and juicy inside and crispy on top. It was beautiful and great quality as it reminded me of the beef belly we had at a hatted restaurant earlier this month.

I did feel that I couldn't really taste any of the seasoning that I could see though. It definitely needs more herbs, and seasoning, of which salt and pepper are provided. There's also a range of sauces on the counter, though the ribs came with gravy. Not too salty which was nice.

Accompanying the ribs was some veggies (yes I count tomato as a veggie) these little cherry tomatoes like to squirt! There's green beans and carrots, half cooked so soft but still with a crunch to it.

Adding mushrooms and caramelized onions would be perfect! (Notes for next time). There was also a super starchy potato topped with corn and cheese mozzarella, unlike nothing I've had before. It was quite different though personally I would have used a stronger cheese, or added tomato sauce.

Martha had the teriyaki salmon served with a sauce similar to plum sauce. The serving was a bit on the small side, which she said would be perfect served with a side or two, or on its own as an entree dish.

Lamb Rack with Teriyaki Sauce

Tender and lightly seasoned lamb served with a sweet teriyaki sauce. Sweeter than usual. We only sprinkled a few drops rather than pour over the lamb. It was also quite nice to dip the veggies in.

As part of the seasonal menu there were new dishes added to the menu including an 'on the bone' range which we were excited to try. Now this post covers two visit, consumed by two people, that's why there's so much food.

There's almost always room for dessert! Especially if we're sharing it.

Green Tea & Red Bean Soft Serve

Cool and sweet with the red beans, the green teas wasn't too sweet and two elements complimented each other quite well. I love the soft served which was much better than McD, different from Ikea and reminded me of MilkCow. This flavour's my favourite of the soft serves.

An addition of the dessert menu is the volcano waffles. Three doughy waffles (think Belgium) with bananas, strawberries and ice cream. All the classics minus cream and sprinkles. The soft served was drizzled with ice magic chocolate! And if you didn't think that's enough chocolate the dish comes with a gravy boat of chocolate to pour on top! More sauce than ice magic though. This is a dessert to share.

Thanks for a sizzling evening!

Have you dined at Pepper Lunch? Do try the soft serve!

We'd love to hear what you think!