Pepper Lunch USA

Simple menu, I like the #1 beef and rice on a sizzling plate. Sometimes I add egg or extra beef. When the older Japanese lady used to run the place, I could request my food be mixed already in the kitchen. Our eldest kid grew up eating in this cheap popular place.

I’ve seen a LOT of my friends go here so I wanted to see what the hype was all about. I got the Number 3 ($ 9.50 but I believe it’s $ 7.50 for lunch) without the fried egg on the side ($ 0.75 extra) and I have to say that the udon noodles weren’t as satisfying as they look. Either I have no idea how to eat pepper lunch or the noodles just tasted really dry. I added a bunch of soy sauce and chili powder to make it taste better and it was pretty good. I felt like it was an ok price but I wouldn’t say that it lives up to the hype. The waiters were pretty attentive and nice though! I would go back again but maybe during lunch just because it’s a little cheaper (that broke college student life though) but I feel like it’d be even more busy than it was during dinner. Overall, so-​so but I’d probably prefer going somewhere else to eat.

I order the #5 and… it was okay. The meat wasn’t as tasty as I imagined. The wait wasn’t too long and the server was very nice. I liked the complimentary miso soup they gave us and that was pretty much it.

Beautifully restored and finished tables, here, at Pepper Lunch!
Kota and his waitress Joleen are the only two working today… Short staffed, and still handling business like professionals! On point! Great service!
Absolutely recommend in every way possible!

Today was not good. We ordered #8 and the beef was super dry, not enough garlic butter and just didn’t taste appetizing. Additionally the server girl that served us the hot plate pretty much dropped it super quick next to me into the table. She apologized because it was hot for her, but it almost touched me. I guess it didn’t so I’ll let it go, but where gloves if it’s necessary. What’s more annoying is it didn’t even cook so we had to send it back to reheat.
Another complaint was the main guy server when asked about our soup, he shot my wife down and said it’ll come when the food’s ready. What?!? Dinner ended and he never brought it! Disappointed.
The tofu, croquet, and Udon was pretty delicious though.

I have been going to Pepper lunch for a long time now and i must say that it has been always consistently good! Its located at the Asian side of McCarthy ranch, which means that parking will be a B*$%H! and dont say i didnt warn you for the tourists…
The place opens promptly at 11:30 and theres always a group waiting already. My co workers and I travel all the way from fremont just get some some pepper lunch goodness. And our other coworkers would know that we came here because we always bring back the aroma of garlicbutter/​meat/​garlicsoysauce goodness!
I always get the #2 which is the beef sprinkled with curry powder over rice with egg and garlic butter. When in doubt always add an egg. For paydays or when i am pretty hungry i get the #13 which is the big slab of rib eye steak and of course dont forget the garlic butter.
Once the sizzling plate comes be ready to add the garlic butter and soy sauce because you only have a 10 sec window to properly sear and cook the meat. Take your time and try to turn the beef so it cooks evenly. I always burn the roof my tongue but the soup will sooth the pain. And like i said the aroma will follow you, fair warning for the women because your hair will smell like garlic butter… mmmmmMMmmm garlic butter.

This is the only Pepper Lunch that I know of in California! I always get #2 and add an egg to it! The garlic butter that comes with the rib eye steak #15 is so good! Remember to start mixing the raw meat with the rice on the sizzling plate or else you will end up with raw meat that won’t cook later on! Add the special soy sauce to the rice to give it some extra flavor and wah-​lah, it will taste amazing.
The manager or/​and owner of this place is really friendly!
Always come here early on the weekends or you will be stuck on a waitlist!

Don’t listen to all the sour-​ass haters. «Wah the meat isn’t high quality», «the meat didn’t cook», «it’s not authentic Japanese». Shut the hell up already.
It’s exactly what it is… a chain that has somehow reached a few places in the United States and in particular, Milpitas. It’s better than fast-​food and if you stick to a few things its actually great.
This whole internet-​foodie thing has gotten out of control. People’s expectations are just ridiculous. Just try it for yourself and relax. It’s a sizzling rice place… stir your meat and get extra and douse it with that teriyaki «juice» and curry butter, hell get an egg on top.
If you’re talking ish about this place its because you got the wrong thing… silly.

So for all of those people who don’t like this place, I think its because you’re getting the wrong thing… its all about the noodles, not the rice!
I grew up in Milpitas and this is one of two places that I return to almost every time I come back. Minus one star because the service here is slow and they almost always forget the garlic butter when you ask for it… sigh… anyways, that doesn’t matter much to me because the food here always hits the spot and its damn cheap.
WHAT TO ORDER: Get the #5 (soba noodles with beef), pour the garlic soy sauce on the meat as it cooks. Ask for garlic butter on the side so you can put it all over the noodles and meat. Add a little of the Togarashi pepper spice on top, mix it all around and eat the meat medium rare and I promise you won’t be disappointed!

This place is definitely too hyped up. I finally tried after living in the bay for almost 2 years now and I can see why my sixth sense had told me to avoid it all along.
I got the udon beef plate with extra corn. It comes unseasoned and you pretty much pour whatever amount of the side garlic sauce as you’d like while the meat cooks.
*WARNING* Keep stirring your meat around or else not all of it will cook evenly as the heat eventually dies out. BTW, speaking of the meat, it is VERY poor grade with lots of fat. Oh no.
The garlic sauce — *another WARNING* POUR SLOWLY AND MIX TO TASTE. As a first timer, I made horrid and irreversible mistake of wanting all my udon noodles to turn that brown garlic sauce color. In the end, I made it WAY. TOO. SALTY.
Sure, this is probably my fault so they don’t really deserve 1 star. But to me, they really do because the garlic sauce honestly wasn’t outta this world good. It’s literally garlic and soy sauce. Their use of sizzling clay plates may be unique, but it shouldn’t make poor quality food an OK thing.

Number two: sizzling plate of beef rice, corn, curry powder and various other seasonings, with a fried egg on the side. It was quite a site seeing a plate of raw meat go from fresh meat to cooked meet in a matter of minutes. Doesn’t get as fresh cooked as that. The beef isn’t as salted as i would have like, but i added chili powder on top of my dish, this added a bit more flavor.
Service: Extremely attentive staff, and friendly, though i went there when they were just opening, so there wasn’t as many customers as one would normally see for dinner or lunch, which was nice.

Food was fine but not great. At ~$ 14 per bowl of Udon, it’s no deal. Service was spotty and not friendly. The worst part of this experience is that the place is FILTHY. We sat next to a chair rail molding that looked grimy and I wiped it with a napkin before we left. It was grotesque! The art on the walls is covered with grease and dust. Floors look unwashed and tables are iffy. There isn’t a reason to go back, especially with so many choices nearby.
This is a NO for me.

This place is always good. However, if you go at the wrong time parking is going to be a nightmare.
The last time, it wasn’t a nightmare. It was however, closed! What a fail. Ended up walking around for the next 10 – 15 min trying to figure out what’s comparable. The food comes out in a sizzling skillet so, if you don’t mind the food smell when you leave, this would be a place to go.

This place is small and easily packed. Parking sucks, it’s located in a plaza surrounded by many other stores ad restaurants.
The staff try their best to satisfy the customers. Since everything is moving in a fast pace, they don’t clean the tables well. Get what you need one time around, it’s difficult getting their attention. I had to ask two employees to get me a fork. The food comes out fast and to be well feed. Good place for lunch.
#4 w/​egg: The order comes with miso soup; basic and salty. Good amount of udon and beef. I didn’t get enough of the curry powder as I like, therefore there was no taste of it. I recommend people mix up the egg before the yolk gets over cooked. & remember to add the chili sauce and teriyaki sauce! (there are other complimentary sauces too)

My girlfriend and I are from SoCal so this was our first time trying this place. I got number 4 and well TBH. It’s good but more hyped than good. I also got a fried egg with extra meat for 2 $ cause I need that protein ya feelz? Trynna make gainz. The customer service was superb so this place earned that extra star otherwise, I would’ve given it a ³⁄₅ just for the food. The portion is rather small for me. So would I come back? perhaps.
My other friend got the salmon plate and man was I jealous. That combo looked super scrumptious

Talk about taking a sizzling plate game to a whole new level! Maybe I’m just really used to having my food quiet by the time it gets to me, but it was a new kind of cool for me to get a plate still hot enough to cook my meat (thin sliced, but still) and egg. XD
Novelty aside, I was a little disappointed that the chopsticks where are the flat break apart kind that usually has a lot of splintery sadness. :(On the plus side, I really appreciated the bowl of miso soup that came at the beginning of our meal. I got the #1 rice with egg sizzling beef platter which was absolutely delish, and my friend ordered the #5 ramen curry with egg. The ramen seemed like thinner kind you see with (dare I say) instant noodles, but texture was better and the sauce was nice and flavorful. At the suggestion of many a Unilocal review before hand, we got the garlic butter as a side and spread out all over our hot noodles/rice…oh god… so gooooooddd. Definitely, definitely, definitely do not skip the garlic butter!
Portions are greatly filling!

The food comes on a sizzling platter so you get to cook the food yourself. They portions are big and will definitely keep you full. I’ve been here a couple times and always stick with the regular #1 — slice beef /​corn /​rice. The food is decent! There are complimentary sauces such as garlic soy sauce, chili sauce, soy sauce, and teriyaki sauce. Also, ask for the garlic butter! Without these sauces, it would be pretty bland.
The food comes out pretty fast and the waiters are attentive.

This place is always my go to place when I am craving dry noodles back in the bay! I always get the curry udon noodle hot sizzling plate when I come here, and it comes with a good portion of beef, noodles, and corn. I usually ask for a side of garlic butter and some teriyaki sauce to add to it since I love how much more flavorful the plate can be when I add more of everything.
In terms of service, I feel like the place can be a hit or miss when there is a huge rush. There are times where I come, and I almost feel like they have forgotten about me because I have to ask them to take our orders, but as of lately, they have been more on top of their game and have been more keen to their customers. Parking can be a little crazy in this plaza because there is a super market here along with many other restaurants and dessert shops.
If you’re in the area, definitely give this place a try! It is worth checking out, and it’s suuuuuper yummy.

Been coming to Pepper Lunch for over 15 years now and I’ve seen the price increased over the years. Still worth every penny. It’s the only Location in the US.
I would have to say my ultimate favorite dish is the garlic butter ribeye. Full of flavor and cooked to perfection. You can always ask to re-​heat your skillet if you want it cooked more.
Their miso soup is unique as it come with noodles — Love it! On days I dont feel like having steak, I opt for their sizzling teriyaki chicken.
This place is always packed. No reservations.

This place has increased the price over the years. It used to be $ 7+ for a sizzling plate, and now it’s $ 9.50. It is not a shocker as the place continues to be popular. They opened at 5:30pm for dinner, and there were already several customers waiting around in the front of the restaurant. My boyfriend and I waited in the car since it was chilly outside at this time of year. We headed inside roughly 3 mins after opening, and there were plenty of tables available to be seated right away. 30 minutes into dinner service, the place was at maximum capacity. People had to sign their names on the waiting list.
Complimentary miso soup was provided. I was a little surprised to find that noodles were added to it. Just a side note, hot tea will cost you an extra dollar. I recommend getting the original sizzling plate, either #2 (rice with curry powder) or #5 (egg noodle with curry powder). Adding extra meat ($ 2) and/​or fried egg ($ 0.75) is worth it. The plate will arrive sizzling with uncooked meat. I like to spread out the meat to ensure cooking, and move them around as the meat can readily overcook. The meat is not the most tender. However, the meat is flavorful with a good quantity on each plate. I highly recommend adding in garlic soy sauce and chili pepper for additional favoring. They also have teriyaki sauce if you prefer that instead. Ohhh… definitely ask for a spoon. As much as I love using chopsticks, your life will be much better with a spoon to scoop up the meat/​rice efficiently.
Service was fast. The servers were very good at refilling our waters, and promptly bringing the check. I recommend getting here close to opening to avoid the wait and hectic parking.

Ich war im benachbarten Hotel und sucht was zum Abendessen und las die Bewertungen und dachte mir das probiere ich aus. Fatale Idee Freitag Abends, aber ok. Nach ca. 20 Minuten bekam ich einen Platz. Als Nicht-​Asiate kommt man sich etwas komisch vor, da sonst nur Asiaten hier waren. Nichts desto trotz war die Bedienung okay und sehr schnell.
Miso Suppw war Standard.
Die Sizzeling-​Plate mit Nudeln und Rind war wirklich sehr lecker. Bis alles gemischt ist und entsprechend gebraten dauerts schon ein bißchen!
Auf jeden Fall Wartezeit bis zum Seating einplanen!