Pepper Lunch Express at M-City – Clayton, Melbourne – affordable steaks on stone tops thanks to this popular Japanese fast food restaurant

M-City is home to a lot of simple dine-in and takeaway restaurants. It doesn’t have an expansive food court, but its offerings are pretty decent for a smaller than usual shopping complex. In this food court, you have Pepper Lunch Express, a smaller version of the popular “fast-steak” restaurant from Tokyo, Japan.

Pepper Lunch Express at M-City. It can be found in the food court.

It’s great to see a Pepper Lunch nestled in Melbourne’s south east, outside of the Melbourne’s CBD and Chadstone. At this Pepper Lunch, there aren’t many seats within its quarters to dine in but you can use the table and chairs in the main food court.

Ordering your meal is simple. Most just use the self-serve order machines and pay with their credit card. There is the option of placing your order at the counter, but it’s clear that the preference is to order using these machines.

For people visiting Pepper Lunch, it’s worth remembering that the restaurant is a fast food restaurant so the quality isn’t up there with other Japanese establishments but it usually beats most fast food restaurants by a mile and is affordable for most people. (Now, I think the person who makes the meals is more important than how good the recipe is. So pick your days.)

I love ordering their rice and beef which usually comes with some corn all on a sizzling stone top hot plate. You have the option of pouring more of their teriyaki sauce on top to taste. The main reason why I order this dish is because my favorite part is eating the crunchy rice that forms at the base.

Most meals will be around AUD$15 to $25 and the portion sizes aren’t huge, given that it more or less resembles the portion sizes that Japanese people normally eat.

If you can, I normally visit the branch in the city which is a non-express version of Pepper Lunch. That way you can compare the experiences.

Premium steak with vegetables and pepper at Pepper Lunch Express at M-City

In the photo above, I am having their “premium” steak with some green beans, corn and carrot with a sprinkle of pepper. It’s what you would expect from a place selling under $30 steaks.

Pepper Lunch Express is located within the M-City complex at 2107 Dandenong Road, Clayton VIC 3168:

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