House of Pepper Rice: Over 20 kinds of pepper rice & hot plate udon in Yishun coffeeshop, including truffle cheese & tom yum pepper rice

In Singapore, pepper rice has become synonymous with the famous Pepper Lunch brand. However, did you know that you can enjoy hotplate pepper rice at other stalls, too? House of Pepper Rice is a Pepper Lunch dupe, housed within Kedai Kopi in Yishun.

House of Pepper Rice offers over 20 types of hot plate dishes, and aside from pepper rice, they also have pepper udon! The stall offers a wider range of ingredients, with pepper rice flavours like truffle, tom yum and belacan. However, does the taste compare to the iconic Pepper Lunch? I paid a visit down to find out.

What I tried at House of Pepper Rice

To get the best of all worlds, I opted for the Trio Pepper Rice (S$12.90), which came with 3 types of protein. I got to choose from 4 proteins: Chicken, Salmon, Lamb and Beef, and opted for all the meat options. To zhng up the dish more, I added on an Egg (S$1) and Mozzarella Cheese (S$1), bringing my total to S$14.90.

The high heat of the hotplate caused the food to char very quickly, so be sure to mix up the dish the moment you receive it.

Mixing up the dish allowed for the cheese to be well-incorporated into the rice. I enjoyed how flavourful the rice was, as it contained butter and a savoury sauce— the cheese was a great addition, elevating the texture of the rice and giving it a more piquant flavour. Taste-wise, it was pretty similar to Pepper Lunch, especially when I added in some extra sauce form the counter.

Each of the meats sizzled up nicely and were pleasant and satisfying— I most enjoyed the chicken, which was pretty tender. The beef and lamb slices were much thinner, causing the hotplate to cook them to a crispy texture.

I was left a little disappointed with the portions, though, as although there were 3 types of meat in the dish, the overall amount of protein was very little, especially given the steep price. Though the Trio Pepper Rice was satisfying in terms of taste, the price was not justified.

Next, I tried the Cheesy Truffle Chicken Mushroom Rice (S$10.90)— as a huge truffle lover, I was interested to know how House of Pepper Rice would incorporate this popular element into their dishes.

In all honesty, I could barely taste the truffle in this dish. I liked how juicy the chicken pieces were, and the mushrooms provided a good contrast, with their chewy textures, but I was a little let down by how mild the actual truffle aspect was. I liked that there was at least a lot of cheese, which satisfied the cheese lover in me.

Like the Trio Pepper Rice, the chicken portions were pretty meagre and did not justify the S$10.90 price.

The Truffle Mushroom Beef Pepper Rice (S$11.50) was similar to the Cheesy Truffle Chicken Mushroom Rice, except it was served with beef slices and no cheese. I hate to say it again, but the portion of the beef was far too stingy— I counted about 3 strips of thinly sliced beef, hastily covered by a smattering of chopped mushrooms.

The truffle taste was a tad more prominent here as compared to the Cheesy Truffle Chicken Mushroom Rice as the lack of cheese allowed for the flavour to come through more. However, it was also quite mild, and practically disappeared once all elements were mixed into the rice.

The heat of the hotplate caused the thin beef to char and turn very crispy— while I personally did not mind the crunchy texture, if you’d prefer for your beef to remain soft, I’d recommend mixing up the dish as soon as you receive it.

Again, the steep price was not justified by the small portions.

Finally, I tried the Beef Hamburg Pepper Noodles with Egg (S$10.50) at House of Pepper Rice, which came with udon noodles, a beef hamburg patty, an egg and assorted vegetables. This was my first time trying udon on a hotplate, but I was sadly let down.

The beef hamburg had an odd, mushy texture within, and tasted pretty one-dimensional. The veggies on the side were pretty average, like they had come from a frozen pack in a supermarket.

I didn’t find the udon to be too pleasant either— the heat from the hotplate dried out the noodles quite a bit, giving them a slightly rubbery and oddly chewy texture. I had to douse the udon with some additional sauce to perk up its flavours, and generally was left disappointed in the dish as a whole.

If you’re a lover of udon, perhaps you’d enjoy this dish more than I did. I would still recommend the rice dishes over this, though.

Final thoughts

The biggest downfall of House of Pepper Rice was undoubtedly its stingy protein portions, especially when compared to its prices. Most dishes I tried costed more than S$10, yet all only came with a tiny amount of meat that was disproportionate to the serving of rice. I can’t deny that the rice dishes I tried were pretty tasty, but paled in comparison to its main competitor, Pepper Rice, which offers larger portions at a lower price.

House of Pepper Rice certainly has much promise with its vast menu and unique selections. Unfortunately, I don’t foresee myself choosing this stall over Pepper Rice, given the high prices and disappointing serving sizes. Hopefully the stall will be more liberal with its portions next time to better justify the prices.

Expected damage: S$6 – S$12.90 per pax

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