Pepper Lunch

It wasn't my first time for being here 'cause this restaurant is actually serve good meals (surely comes with the price they charged you), but don't expect they will provide you with the good service. When we arrived, after we made our order through the machine (FYI that the touch screen order machine didn't work well as you need to really pressed it as it has sensitivity issue of the screen) and the other machine was out of service! then none approached us/trying to arrange seat for us. We were group of 4, we're customers and spent fair bit of money in there. The points are : 1. You have sensitivity issue with your touchscreen order machine, the other machine was out of service. 2. Lack of servers (hire more people then)! 3. Rude customer service, stated that "We might be busy later so you need to wait 'til someone arrange seats for you", but NONE approached us after we made the order and once we looked for our own seats, the venue wasn't busy at all, some area were empty. 4. Dirty place with flies come and goes. 5. The only good thing about this place is only for the meals, no more than that. 6. Your service need to be fixed and you need to train the lady with the ridiculous eyebrows how to be nice and friendly to the customers.

the whole dining experience was unpleasant. The girl who served us was very rude, it felt like we were wasting her time. there were old plates my friend and I got really salty pepper rice, k tried adding “sweet sauce” but it did not help. the chips came 5 mins after the food and was barely seasoned with salt only.

Oh Goodness was good to be back there after a long time BUT.. Food was amazingly delicious and lots of fun as expected as the hot plate sizzling is a very nice conception. 😋 🥘🥘😁 But definitely need to work on the portion for adult 🙄 because your food was so good but feel like we needed some more to be full. And also if at least one employee could assist first timer customer it will help to get rid of the long queue for the self ordering service See you veryyyy sooon🍱🍛

Date/time of visit: 28 May 2022 @ 7:00pm (approx) This was my second visit to this particular Pepper Lunch (the first was years and years ago), I have also visited the one in Hawthorn (years ago), and one in Tokyo (in 2019). Pepper Lunch feels like it is kind of a fusion of Japanese-western (Australian/American) foods. For me, some things work, some don't. I didn't like the Pepper Lunch meal I had in Tokyo but I have liked the meals in Melbourne. So, for this particular review - the ordering system was via touch pad (ipad-like) at the entrance to the restaurant. This was painful and slow. Payment was via the same touch pad using EFTpos machine attached to the pad. Then you had to wait to be seated. This whole process put me off Pepper Lunch (until tasting the food). Pepperlunch used to have paper protection around the sizzling plates to stop sauce/fat splashes onto skin and clothing. This no longer appears to be the case. The chicken katsu curry was delicious. The curry sauce reminded me of Japan, having good Japanese flavours. The chicken katsu wasn't what I would consider a traditional chicken katsu. However, the breadcrumb on the chicken was delucate, light and the chicken katsu was cooked very well. The chicken was kind of sliced but I would've preferred a knife to cut it properly (you are given a spoon and fork). The curry sauce was served separately and you add it to the dish. Be careful vecause the dish is extremely hot and the curry sauces sizzles and spits when added to the hot dish. The curry on the hot dish can also evaporate, which was disappointing but I had enough on the chicken and rice to ensure the flavours remained. This dish made up for the painful ordering process. My partner's sizzling kimchi pepper rice (with beef strips) was also enjoyed - my partner loves Pepper Lunch. Drinks might be slightly over priced. Chicken Katsu sizzling curry was good but may also be slightly overpriced. Kimchi pepper rice price was fine. Overall enjoyed the meal and happy with it.

First time trying pepper lunch in Aus but was a bit let down! Had to order the food through touch screen which was not very convenient in first place and who know how many people would have touched it! Was sated on a bumpy table, waiting eagerly for our food to arrive. My partner was so excited but just a let down at the end, meat was tiny and fatty! Don’t think would be going back again.