Reviewer: Jason
Total Reviews: 1020
Reviewed: 9/8/2007
Rating: 9
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Yeah, we know Pepper Lunch is a gigantic chain but we had a reliable source tell us it's the real deal. Not wanting to pass up on any good food, Terry and the rest of his family met up to celebrate 4 years of jatbar eating. Pepper Lunch was a perfect match for us; food is cheap, restaurant is clean, and price is just right.
We arrived around noon and grabbed a table in the back. The fun thing to order is anything that sizzles on the iron plates. They serve you raw meat and cooks right before your eyes. Think of it as mini-teppan dining without the flashy cook.
I ordered the number 10 (picture 9) which is sliced beef, garlic butter, spinach, and corn. I would convince you to order a fried egg but when the waiter delivered my plate, he forgot about my egg! Service is much faster if you order the sizzling plates. Terry mentioned service was a bit slow because THEY HAD TO COOK HIS MEAL. I thought the service was fine.
The waiter brought out a steamy plate with huge chunks of garlic better melting over the beef. This is going to taste good, who doesn't like melted butter on their food? Do not touch the plate unless you want to cook your hand. With the steam blowing towards me, it would mean I'd smell like garlic butter steak on the way home. Yummy.
Garlic butter on steak confuses the brain into thinking the meat is actually better than it is. Call it cheating, call it frickin good. The meat is fatty but no surprise it's filled with lots of flavor. Take your meat, spinach, and place it over your steamed rice. Enjoy a couple of bites and repeat until finished. I love this stuff. I could only dream of eating this stuff once a week.
We shared an Ebi Fry appetizer. Heavily breaded and if it had less batter, I'm make it a hall of famer. Crunchy on the outside and moist on the inside. Cooked perfectly. Batter was a bit much for me but wouldn't stop me from ordering again. My fantasy is, I'm lying on the rotating conveyor belt and every time I pass by the kitchen, they'd drop a Ebi Fry in my mouth. Let's make this happen!!!!
Guilty pleasure, or whatever, jatbar loves Pepper Lunch. It's considered fast food in Japan and I hope they expand in the bay area. I'm going out on a limb here but what the hell, I'm giving them a 9. Their food is cheap and quite honestly, it better than some of the homestyle Japanese food I've had in San Mateo.
You know, I wasn't really in the mood for Japanese food today but this place was on our list FOREVER. Like, since the beginning of Jatbar 4 years ago. So what better place for our 4 year anniversary. We go here this saturday afternoon and its not very busy; we get our table quickly.
The menu is not overly large, but it was not difficult to find something. The specialty here is the raw meat dishes that grill on the plate as it is brought out to you. I didn't want any beef or chicken, so settled on the shrimp curry rice bowl (and added egg, which was extra cost). I also tried the croquette appetizer.
The appetizer came out first and to be honest it wasn't quite as good as I was hoping. A bit dry and bland in flavor. The sauce it came with was a bit tart, but didn't lend itself well with the croquette in my opinion.
The rice bowl arrived and saved the day. This thing seriously kicked butt. The bowl was large and had the sweet curry mixture along with the shrimp strips (similar to the ebi appetizer that Jason ordered but dipped in the gooey sauce that was so tasty. The egg was cooked on top of all of this and mixed in nicely with the rice when stirred up. It reminded me a lot of Kaz Teriyaki Grill in San Mateo, but larger - and more expensive.
I polished this bowl off in record time and look forward to ordering it again it was that good. I am still dreaming about it now - really good stuff. I was tempted to go up to 9 but the curry wasn't mindblowing - very good, but not mindblowing level. Service was a bit slow, but its a Saturday so forgivable. Prices were reasonable, yet not inexpensive.
Reviewer: ne00
Total Reviews: 176
Reviewed: 9/30/2007
Rating: 8
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Pepper Lunch is a Japanese Cuisine restaurant known for their teppan style dishes. Teppan is a style of cooking raw meat, seafood, or veggies on flat grill surface. You’ll need to cook the meat on this hot iron cast yourself, allowing you to choose how done you want the meat or seafood on your plate.
When you enter the restaurant you seated if it is not busy, served cold water and hot miso soup with some thin noodles within the soup. There’s a vast selection within the menu. You can choose to cook your own food on the hot cast iron plate or choose food already ready to eat once served.
Pepper Lunch serves large individual portions for decent prices. Some items on the menu include teppan beef with raw egg and rice served on the iron cast plate, teppan beef with corn and mashed spinach, teppan salmon with veggies, Japanese bento boxes, or donburi bowls. For drinks, choose from Italian sodas, sodas, Japanese green tea, or just plain cold water. Tea costs 1.00 as it comes with a tea bag in hot water. Desert includes choice of vanilla or green tea ice cream.
The cheaper your plate the less food served to you. The common choice is the teriyaki beef with an egg. They heat up the plate, dump raw beef on it and crack open a raw egg on the side. You are left on your own to cook the beef before the plate stops sizzling, which then you have the option to let them heat up your plate again. If you worry more about cooking your beef while your plate is hot than eating it, you will fine. Do not expect to cook a perfect egg as the egg white will stick to the hot plate and all that remains is the sunny side up yolk, which you can drizzle on your beef.
The Katsu don had plenty of fried pork but not enough of the egg as the rice outweighed the other ingredients. But it was served hot and quickly from the time it was ordered. More watered was poured, without being asked, as the waitperson saw the cup empty. It’s possible to seat yourself as the menus are already on the table. Easy to spot the available help and wave them over for support.
The teppan items come already seasoned in a special light garlic sauce, smells and tastes delicious as long as you don’t overcook your food.
Restaurant is small but very comfortable feeling without being overcrowded, a good place to bring friends or family or business associates.
Price is decent as total for 3 came out to be 29.00 with two teas plus tips and tax. The Dons here are a bargain in terms of portion and price.
“Awesome. I love this place. Also, you can order a fried egg sizzling with your meat. You can't go wrong with garlic butter.”
9/11/2007 11:33:41 PM
randall ate...
Katsu Donburi & 2 Lunch Special
“I love this place. I got turned on to it by a close friend who has visited the establishment in Japan.
Their Donburi kick ass. It is a little sweet, as Terry reviewed, but it taste soooo stinking good. Their rice plates are awesome as well, esp 2”
