Taishi is the main protagonist of Hot Lunch. A charismatic tiger on a mission to bring down the Circle of Flavour, piece by piece. His usually cool temperament is only ruffled in the face of injustice. Taishi is a very talented cook with a taste for sushi and often carries around his own custom made red chopsticks. Taishi's father Hiro helped set up the Circle of Flavour 20 years ago but died before its official establishment. After Taishi is booted out of the Circle of Flavour he recruits Tancho and Bruce to join his crew, infamously named the “Chopstick Bandits”, to help bring down the organisation.

Fiona first meets Taishi in the Circle of flavour trials. At the time, they both want to make it into the Circle and their talent and passion for cooking leads them to form an early friendship. However, where Taishi has a rebel edge to him, Fiona is a smart fox firmly on the straight and narrow. She is as honest as they come and doesn’t like to make trouble. This makes it tough when Taishi is booted out of the Circle of Flavour. Although she is sympathetic to his feeling of injustice, she stays the course to join the Circle of Flavour.

Tancho is the second member of the "Chopstick Bandits" to be recruited by Taishi. He is a tall red-crowned crane and a grade A narcissist. Tancho has a gentlemanly manner with a sarcastic edge and does his best to avoid getting his hands dirty. Tancho often wears dark glasses which "completes his look" along with his white suit. Personal appearance is very important to him, but his talent is planning. Tancho is excellent at executing grand plans and his meticulous nature means the details have been thought of from all angles....all he needs is other people to do the heavy lifting.

Bruce is a member of the "Chopstick Bandits", the third member recruited by Taishi. Bruce is the guy that knows a guy. Vastly experienced with all sorts of “less than legal” dealings, he became bored with making things happen for other people and retired to run a seemingly legitimate bar and restaurant. But he never lost his itch for an exciting challenge and Taishi offers him an opportunity to get back in the game that he can’t refuse. Bruce is a rhino low on patience and his blunt personality makes him very easy to read. He is often arguing with TAncho and at times it seems Taishi is the only one keeping the team together!