Among our favorites for quick meals is Pepper Lunch, a fast food restaurant variant that specializes in sizzling strips of beef, pork, chicken or fish served on a metal plate together with rice and corn sprinkled with pepper and other spices.
I discovered Pepper Lunch accidentally while in Japan in 2008. I was exploring a huge electronic mall and decided to have dinner at the food court at the top floor of the building. Looking for a place where I could get a quick, inexpensive meal, I found a branch of the restaurant and decided to try it out. Ordering was simple because like other fast foods, there was a vending machine where one could select a meal set and pay for it without making contact with the staff. You get a ticket corresponding to your selection and then give it to their staff manning the bar where people sat around.
After Japan, Pepper Lunch next set up shop in Singapore. And so we could enjoy quick meals at their Pepper Lunch Express corners found in mall food courts there. Only last weekend, we had lunch at their branch at the Funan IT Mall before we canvassed the shops for a new router. We didn't feel like eating a big meal like those offered in sets by other vendors at the food court and so we decided to eat something familiar and sure for us.
There were some people who obviously got the idea and set up similar style restaurants in the Philippines. While their menus were very much the same as Pepper Lunch's, the taste still doesn't exactly match the original. And so we were glad that Pepper Lunch finally landed in the Philippines and one of their branches was accessible to us via the Shangri-la mall.
The other day, I decided to check out the Pepper Lunch Express at the Trinoma mall. I was in the area to take my bag to be repaired and remembered that the restaurant had established an express branch at the mall's food court. It was still early (before 12:00 noon) so there were few people and I even got a good table near the counter. Following are a few quick photos I took during my early lunch break.
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| A serving of iced tea with the cup bearing the Pepper Lunch logo. |
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| Customers can see the preparation of their meals from the counter or the window |
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| My lunch for the day - sizzling pepper steak! |
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