As Trixie, Marian (intern) and I were out, doing the usual patrol of Manila, we happened to drop by Rockwell. And what do you know? There’s a new restaurant in town – Pepper Lunch. Okay it wasn’t really like that. We got wind of the arrival of the famed Pepper Lunch franchise in the Philippines awhile back. So when we received the email about the soft opening today, we jetted down to Rockwell to check out the place.

So here’s the lowdown – the blog said that they would open to the public at 11 AM. Since online media people are always early, we were one of the first people there (11 AM on the dot). We weren’t actually blown away by the interior of the place, which is good - it makes the restaurant easier to relate to. After all, the whole point of Pepper Lunch is that it’s do-it-yourself. You cook your own food so it helps if you also have an environment that you can easily adjust to.

Another thing that we liked about Pepper Lunch is that the cashier’s screen is faced right in front of you. It’s just nice that you get to see the amount that you’re paying for right away so you can prepare the money. And besides, it’s always nice to have a colorful LCD screen right in front of you (now you can see why we’re in the web business). The service is also impeccable. We were sitting for less than 5 minutes and the pepper goodness was already at our table.

We all know that the Japanese have a different way of doing everything (which pretty much means that they do everything faster and better because they have robots to do stuff for them). But if it means efficiency in serving great food, then Pepper Lunch is definitely welcome here in the Philippines. We just hope that somehow the Japanese art of fast food service will have positive effects on the overall industry here in the country.

Bottom line, everything about Pepper Lunch seems flawless - for now. But wait, we’re missing the actual food review right? You guys will have to wait until after May 20 (Pepper Lunch’s grand opening) so you better scoot on over to Powerplant Mall in Rockwell. There was a line extending to the outside of the restaurant when we left. Go. Now. Bye.

Pepper Lunch is located at the Concourse Level of Powerplant Mall in Rockwell, Makati City.

Images and text by Karl Bustamante