Pepper Lunch

3.5
Did all that shopping in Causeway Bay make you famished?
Well of course it did. Luckily, there’s something (reasonably) quick and cheap awaiting you on the 11^th floor food court of Hysan Place!
I had long heard about Pepper Lunch before finally getting around and trying it. The premise is simple: pick your dish (I always choose the signature beef pepper rice), select any add-​ons (like cheese or a fried egg), pay, and patiently wait until your order number is displayed on the screen. It’s a solid process in theory, but the other day they had a long wait and advised me to sit down as it would be twenty minutes. No biggie, as they have a screen which displays which orders are ready to pick up. Unfortunately, my order number didn’t make it to the screen so my beef ended up being quite overcooked and rather tough. Bummer!
If things go as they should, however, you’ll pick up your piping-​hot skillet of beef, rice, spices, and all those other goodies and then you’ll easily (fingers crossed) find a table so you can finish cooking your food to your liking. Pepper Lunch is a DIY-​style of fast food teppanyaki, and all you really need to do is stir, stir, and then stir some more to ensure even cooking. I usually grab a side of the sweet house sauce just in case things get a bit too dry.
I really wish that Pepper Lunch offered beverage options besides Pepsi and Perrier. But at around $ 50 – 60 HKD for lunch and a drink in Causeway Bay, you just can’t beat it!

Not sure what to eat and wandering around CWB/​Hysan? Just go to Pepper Lunch. The food isn’t mouth-​watering, but it’s filling and tastes decent.
For people who’ve never been here before (visitors or people who somehow don’t go out to eat…) you get a hot plate where you can «cook» your own meal. You get to build your own lunch with a choice of protein and add-​ons like cheese and eggs. There are also extra sauces you can get on the side, but I usually don’t get these because the food is already quite salty.
Quick tips: Don’t freak out about «cooking» your food. There are simple instructions printed in English and Chinese on the outside of the hot plate. Just make sure you don’t touch the actual plate while you’re cooking your meal otherwise you might burn your hand. Try to mix things evenly so then the flavor disperses and you don’t get chunks of one flavor/​ingredient in the first few bites, but not throughout your entire meal.

My go to choice for lunch if I am in the food court. It’s a unique take on skillet rice.
You choose your protein and it comes on a hot plate with rice. You have the option of adding an egg or even cheese. There are also 2 choices of sauce to sprinkle on top of your cooking food but don’t add too much or else it will be very salty.
The hot plate also comes with instructions on how to cook your meal. Don’t flip the meat too late or else it will be burnt and overcooked.

Pepper Lunch is my go-​to choice whenever I go to the food court at Hysan Place. On the downside, it’s oily and fattening but on the upside, it’s hot and delicious and peppery. I’ve only tried one thing on the menu — and of course, it’s the beef pepper rice.
I’m not a fan of spring onion, so I always order mine without it and add $ 3 for cheese. The cheese, when melted with the beef and the rice, adds a really nice touch. The trick is to cook it well and move around the ‘ingredients’ on the plate. I don’t like to overcook my beef because otherwise it becomes hard and too difficult to chew. You’re free to get the two different types of sauces at the counter to go with your rice, but I never do because I think they’re too sweet.
Although the beef pepper rice is $ 48 which doesn’t seem too expensive, I do feel like it’s a little overpriced. The portion is quite small and I feel like I would need to eat one and a half of their portions in order to be full, and I’m not even somebody who eats a lot! Also, you can kind of taste that the meat is not really of high quality — I don’t know how to explain it, but it in a way tastes cheap. Also, the $ 48 doesn’t include a drink so you would have to add more money if you want a drink (and you probably do because the pepper rice is actually quite salty!)