Ashik Shrestha is the Director at Panchakanya Group and Run Ktm and also known as DJ N3ptek. A food fanatic by heart, he loves trying new cuisines. Dan Ran in the so-called Jhamel area is probably one of the oldest restaurants in Jawalakhel; having been around for over 11 years. It says quite a lot about a restaurant to not have changed much in all this time while the whole area around it has completely transitioned from a quiet neighbourhood to almost 15-plus restaurants on the same street. Specialising in Japanese food, the restaurant has always been a pleasant experience every time I dine there. I decided to visit for lunch on a weekday and wasn’t surprised to find the restaurant relatively empty as it usually is. I chose a table on the outside and as soon as I was seated, a server came with cold towels which was a relief considering how hot it was. The restaurant feels more like a home in terms of its ambience. Especially on the tables outside, you are surrounded by greenery and flowers which gives a unique setting to it. I started with a cold coffee and salmon sushi. The coffee was average at best. I usually prefer my cold coffee premixed in the kitchen and brought to me ready to sip. Here they serve black cold coffee with the milk and syrup separately. (Not really my thing.) The salmon sushi roll also wasn’t too impressive. Although the presentation made it look very appetising, I felt the sushi lacked overall flavour. I also feel that the restaurant needs new silverware because some of the spoons and forks looked old and parts chipped out of them. However, these disappointments were more than made up for with my main course. I decided to try the Fried Chicken Lunchbox with Spicy Sauce and my friend ordered the BBQ Pork Lunchbox. I was surprised at how quickly they got the meal ready. Before I could even finish the sushi, it was brought to the table. The lunchbox was neatly presented by the friendly and professional servers ins a traditional bento box along with white rice, spinach, tofu, lettuce, green beans and Miso soup. The soup was light and perfectly flavoured with onions and pieces of fried tofu. It was a great start to the entrée. The side dishes which were mainly green vegetables that tasted fresh and full of flavour. It complemented the rice and chicken. If there was one word to describe the fried chicken, I would choose ‘heavenly’. It was perfectly fried to a crisp. (Neither too crunchy nor too soggy.) The spicy sauce on top of it added that extra punch of flavour. The BBQ pork was equally flavourful without excessive use of the BBQ sauce. There was just the right amount of it to complement with the pork. Both the lunch boxes were presented in a way that made them look very appetising. For dessert, I chose to stick to the safe side and ordered the chocolate sundae. I tried the green-tea ice cream the last time I was here. Let’s just say the flavour takes getting used to. It definitely wasn’t my cup of ‘tea’. The chocolate sundae wasn’t anything special but all the same it was delicious. A scoop of vanilla ice-cream presented in a glass bowl topped up with fresh fruits and of course… lots of chocolate sauce. There were also bits of crunchy corn flakes that went well with the ice cream. It was the perfect way to end my Japanese lunch session at Dan Ran. Ratings Dan Ran Restaurant Ambience: 6 Food quality/ presentation: 8 Quality of service: 8 Hygiene: 8 Value for money: 7 Overall satisfaction value: 7