Sunny-smiled staff greeted us with a chirpy chorus of "Irashaimase!" as soon as we stepped into the bright and cheery Pepper Lunch, the new kid on the block when it comes to fast food chains. However, it is rapidly growing from strength to strength, with a second branch swiftly opening at the basement of Isetan Scotts after the phenomenal success of the first outlet at the basement of Ngee Ann City. Catering to Singaporean tastes, the outlets have opted for a cafeteria dining style with orders being served to your table for some DIY fun with your meal.

Pepper Lunch lists sides on their menu and these include their Shake! Shake! Salad range ($3.30) which comprises of tasty salad with an array of toppings and come drenched in a very appetising and very Japanese dressing; however you'll have to shake the containers vigorously before you consume its contents, an alternative way to work up the appetite I suppose.

Delicious sides notwithstanding, the star items are obviously those that come sizzling oh-so-tastily on a patented hot plate which is integral to Pepper Lunch's success, with a special electro-magnetic cooker being able to allow the temperature of the hot plate rises to 260 degrees Celsius in just 70 seconds. The technology enables the hot plate to remain hot at about 80 degrees Celsius for more than 20 minutes, thereby allowing food on the plate to be kept warm until you're almost done with your meal. For the absolute clueless, the waiters will even helpfully mix your food for you!

As the chain emphasises on mainly beef items, we found ourselves ending up with their best-selling Beef Pepper Rice (rice topped with corn kernels, spring onions and accompanied by sizzling slices of juicy, marinated beef topped with special butter and accompanied by a liberal sprinkling of black pepper - $7.80), which was awfully fun to mix around after generously dousing everything with honey brown sauce and garlic soy sauce and - being the messy eaters we are - resulted in a tasty, pseudo-Jappy concoction that stayed warm and delicious till the end.

Not satisfied with just one serving, we went back to order the Hamburger and Cut Steak Set (hamburger patty and steak slices, topped with butter and accompanied by bean sprouts, carrots and green beans - $12.50 for a set which comes with rice and a drink or soup), which was heartily satisfying as well and equally messy considering we dumped all the rice onto the plate and proceeded to turn everything into a garlic-soy-honey mix which had a wonderful beefy aroma to it. The hamburger patty, especially, deserves two thumbs up for bursting with flavour and juiciness - which I attacked with relish while my dining companion preferred the tender cut steak slices.

Towards the end, we were stuffed beyond disbelief before we even realized it, having agreed in unison that Pepper Lunch had a wonderful concept and some really tasty food while being mightily impressed by the cute tissues in packaging with Japanese words printed on them as such a thoughtful gesture by the chain. We'll definitely be back, if for nothing more than to satisfy our lust for the scrumptious looking Kuromitsu Soft Ice Cream ($2), topped with rich raw sugar caramel and which would have made us extremely happy people indeed had we not already been bursting at the gut.

PEPPER LUNCH is at Basement, Takashimaya and Basement, Isetan Scotts.