Aka Teppan is a take on popular Hong Kong chain, Pepper Lunch, where meat dishes are cooked on tabletop hot plates. I went to the newly opened location on Bloor St W to meet up with some friends for lunch. Aka Teppan is currently running some lunch specials (ends September 15), where dishes range from $7.99 to $10.49. My friends, and I were the first customers during the lunch hour on a warm Saturday afternoon. However, service started picking up once we were in the middle of our lunch, and more people arrived. The overall ambiance was clean, minimalist, and bright with wooden tables.  




Since pictures of this particular dish has flooded my Instagram feed, I opted for the Supreme Beef Teppanyaki Rice ($7.99). It arrived in a personal-sized teppan that was steaming hot at 300°F, and came with raw beef, corn, green onions, sauce, and steamed white rice. All you have to do is mix everything together, and cook the beef to your liking. The heat from the teppan will thoroughly cook the raw meat, and ingredients. Our server asked if we wanted him to mix our teppanyaki rice for us, which we appreciated. I thought that the sauce mixture blended quite well with all of the ingredients including the black pepper, and the beef slices were tender enough. I also added an extra raw egg (+$1) to the mix, and it added a nice texture to the rice.




I have read several reviews that have mentioned the poor service up at the Markham location, as they are often quite busy. However, I thought that the service at the downtown location was attentive, and good. I liked that our server mixed our dishes for us, and quickly took our dishes away when we finished our lunch. My friends, and I were able to continue our conversation after our meal, and never once felt rushed. Overall, Aka Teppan was a pretty solid option for a quick lunch, and I would definitely return.

Address: 394 Bloor St W, Toronto, ON M5S 1X4