Jpan (aka J-pan) Sushi Restaurant, Lakewood Ranch, would be near the bottom of my list of Sarasota-area Japanese restaurants. (Vizen and Kazu would be near the top. Another place where we have had good sushi is Peking-Tokyo, who sushi chef is Japanese.)
My wife had an appetizer of shrimp and vegetable tempura for $7. The batter was not as light as tempura batter should be, but it was tasty. She said it could have used a little salt.
She ordered two types of sushi - california roll and tempura shrimp for $5 each. Neither had much flavor.
I started with an appetizer of shumai, a stuffed dumpling of Chinese origin for $6. This version was tasteless.
I was delighted when I saw Charsiu Ramen on the menu because I love Japanese ramen, and I don't often find it on menus of Japanese restaurants in the U.S. However, this version was a failure. Charsiu ramen derives its name from having at least one large piece of pork in the ramen. This version had some tiny pieces of mushy pork fat. I actually had to search for them and try to identify them. The taste of the ramen broth was so-so and ingredients other than the noodles and broth were sparse. It cost $10.
(If the owners of Jpan want to try real Japanese ramen, they should try the ramen at Kazu, or at Katana-ya in San Francisco (http://viaggiviniecucine.blogspot.com/2011/10/delicious-japanese-ramen-katana-ya.html) or at Matsuchan (http://viaggiviniecucine.blogspot.com/2010/09/michigan-taste-treats.html) in Canton, Michigan.)
One insensitively named dish on their menu was "JapWrap."
We lived in Japan for 4 years and have dined at Japanese restaurants throughout the U.S., so we have a reasonable basis for making judgements about Japanese cuisine.
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