My friend also told me that the paint used on the...
Pepper Lunch vs. Sizzling Pepper Steak
My wife and I are avid Pepper Lunch patrons. Every time we go to a different Asian country, we would check if there’s a Pepper Lunch there and try it out.
For lunch today while in SM Megamall, we decided to check out Pepper Lunch’s direct competition which is Sizzling Pepper Steak. I say direct competition because most of their meals are slightly identical in presentation.
Here’s my take about the two DIY restos based on experience.
The Place
In Pepper Lunch, you order first at the counter before you are seated and they serve fast as long as you already have a table. The long wait will be at the counter.
In Sizzling Pepper Steak, it’s like a typical restaurant where you are seated first and call for a waiter when you’re ready to order. I wonder why Pepper Lunch doesn’t want it to be like this.
Both places have friendly staff but service seems to be quicker in Pepper Lunch.
Sizzling Pepper Steak in SM Megamall have air vents hanging low (for my height) above the dining tables to get rid of smoke quickly. Those vents are nice but doesn’t quite seem effective. I’m not sure if Pepper Lunch has those too but their ceilings are usually high.
Prepare to smell like sizzling pepper steak in both places.
The Price
I love steaks and I’ve already tried the Shimofuri Pepper Steak (P570) and Tokusen Rib-Eye Steak (P585) from Pepper Lunch.
In Sizzling Pepper Steak, I tried their regular sized Rib-eye Steak which costs P335.
The best-seller (usually meaning cheapest) for both is the Beef Pepper Rice, it’s P198 for Pepper Lunch and P185 for Sizzling Pepper Steak.
Sizzling Pepper Steak wins hands down here. It’s practically a poor-man’s Pepper Lunch.
The Food
As I’ve said, food presentation are the same for both places. For my steak, they have bean sprouts, slices of carrots and baguio beans for the side dish.
What’s lacking in Sizzling Pepper Steak though is the special yummy butter that Pepper Lunch gives you to spread on your food. Or maybe the butter from SPS is not that special so they already applied it for you? Hmmm.
Pepper Lunch offers you a choice between two special sauces, honey brown sauce and garlic soy sauce. SPS gives you a serving of sauce that tasted like a mix of both sauces from Pepper Lunch. Hehehe.
Somehow, we found the serving from SPS a bit on the short side compared to Pepper Lunch. Or maybe we were just too hungry from waiting?
Sizzling Pepper Steak however offers a wider variety of food including pasta and mixed seafood which might appeal to those you drag along but don’t really want to eat meat. They also have kiddie meals if you’re planning to bring your children.
Pepper Lunch only has salmon as an alternative to meat and kids might have a hard time finishing their meal.
I wasn’t able to try their desserts but SPS has mostly cheesecakes while Pepper Lunch has what they call soft ice cream and that mouth-watering molten milk chocolate cake.
The Taste
Ok for the moment of truth. How was the steak?
The Rib-eye Steak from SPS is good. The sauce included worked for me. The steak itself was ok, nothing special. Even my wife can cook it like that sans the sauce. P335 is an ok price to pay although a bit expensive for something ordinary tasting.
The Shimofuri Steak from Pepper Lunch however was fabulous. I practically got the “Cooking Master Boy” experience where you get visions of dragons and rainbows and koi fishes bursting from your taste buds. Even if it was expensive, it was well worth it.
Oh yeah, I had that steak in Singapore so I don’t know if sources of meat are different here in Manila.
For the Beef Pepper Rice that my wife ordered, the taste is quite similar to that of Pepper Lunch.
Another thing that I notice in SPS is that their so-called Japanese rice tastes ordinary. It doesn’t taste like special rice usually served in expensive places. The rice that was served to me was not warm too and it didn’t have the typical bowl shape so heat is not trapped inside.
Conclusion
If you’re on a budget and want to try the DIY dining experience, go ahead and eat at Sizzling Pepper Steak. But don’t expect much in terms of taste, well at least from the steak that I tried.
Pepper Lunch is the original I guess but it’s a bit on the expensive side for some. However, with their great price comes great tasting pepper steak. I would really love a tubful of that special butter that they use.
Note: Some of the images used in this post are not mine.
You might also be interested in:
- Craving for Pepper Lunch
- Pepper Lunch Philippines menu
- Pepper Lunch in Hong Kong
- Pepper Lunch Philippines Experience
Filed under: Food
sana magkaroon kaya sa mga SM malls the last time i ate Pepper Lunch was in Japan.Sobrang sarap pero for sure sing sarap din yun nung nasa japan kaya try din namin eat dun kaya lang malayo sa amin,pero still punta parin kami…….lol
marami na rin branches ang pepper lunch although maka Ayala ata sya eh. hehehe.
Bad experience with their Glorietta 5 branch. Very bad service. Not ever coming back. I’ll go to Pepper Lunch, even if a bit more expensive. The orig is the best. A copy cat, a poor if i may add, is just that, a copy cat, nothing more.
My first Pepper Lunch experience was in Manila and it was AMAZING! Big serving but phenomenon! I forced myself to eat everything because it was soo good.
I tried eating at sizzling pepper steak yesterday for the second time cause my first tasting experience wasn’t that good. I thought a second try would be better, I was wrong! And I thought I was going to satisfy my craving of pepper lunch!!
To my dismay, it wasn’t that good, the plate burnt my rice! haha
me and my fiance love pepper lunch, but since there wasn’t a branch in robinson’s galleria, we were forced to settle for sizzling pepper steak. after the experience, we decided never to eat at sizzling pepper steak again. it just wasn’t good enough to go back to, even if it were cheaper. i enjoyed watching the girls gyrating in the videos, but nothing else. for my money, it’s pepper lunch all the way.