SOVAN MALAKAR (CO-OWNER OF TRISARA GARDEN)

According to a study, a new restaurant pops up in the city every three months. It might not be a very reliable or real study but it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see that the restaurant business has been booming in Nepal. However, it takes something special to sustain the hype of a newly opened restaurant and keep tables packed on a regular basis. Trisara Garden, located in Lazimpat, seem to be doing something right.

Trisara has been the go to place for the people of Kathmandu thanks to their consistent food quality and enjoyable ambience. We caught up with Sovan Malakar, one of the people behind the successful joint. Known to be friendly and outgoing, Sovan is the heart of the party who loves making people laugh. But when it comes to business, he knows how to lock things down and focus on the goals at hand. “My strongest asset is that I know how to do business. So, I don’t have to worry too much about competition. Competition is everywhere, and you have to deal with it. In fact, you have to make the best of it”, he explained.

WAS YOUR DECISION TO BE A RESTAURATEUR A MANIFESTATION OF YOUR LOVE FOR FOOD OR SOLELY A BUSINESS PROPOSITION IN A THRIVING MARKET? IF BOTH, HOW MUCH OF BOTH IN TERMS OF PERCENTAGE

My journey into business began from the garment industry, but even then me and a few of my friends always wanted to open up a restaurant. And we knew we had to get the location right and this was where we always wanted to see ourselves when we finally started a restaurant. Luckily, we found a friend who had land in this location and got it from him.

Me and my friends always wanted to start our own business and I think that was what played the biggest role in our decision to start Trisara.

ME AND MY FRIENDS ALWAYS WANTED TO START OUR OWN BUSINESS AND I THINK THAT WAS WHAT PLAYED THE BIGGEST ROLE IN OUR DECISION TO START TRISARA.

WHAT MAKES TRISARA SO POPULAR AND CONSISTENT?

There is a running trend that hints at a fast decline of a restaurant comes very fast mainly due to the mushrooming competition in the industry. There are so many restaurants to choose from and the numbers are increasing.

We have been consistent throughout and that is a major accomplishment. One of the prime factors to this is the ambiance of our restaurant. Equally important is the teamwork and effort put in my all the members along with the quality of food and service we provide. This has been a winning combination and you need to keep improving and improvising to make things better. You cannot afford to stagnate in a business, you can’t expect to always stay in the market just because you have been in this industry for a long time.

When we started out, we had the half of the current food and drinks available in our menu, and we hadn’t even thought about having live music shows and events. The added menu items and decision to conduct live music and events has proven to be a very good decision. Our customers like it very much.

AS A SUCCESSFUL RESTAURATEUR, WHAT WERE THE MAIN HIGHLIGHTS OF YOUR SUCCESS STORY?

We have so many regular customers that we have become somewhat a family. I don’t have particular moments as such, but when we get feedbacks of appreciation and happiness, I would consider them all to be successes.

And it is all thanks to the team that we have followed by the food, drinks and the customer service that we provide. The main goal is to make the customers happy, yes we also want profit because at the end it is a business and we need to sustain in the market but being ethical in doing so is very important.

WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOURSELF AS A RESTAURATEUR OR A BUSINESS PERSON? APART FROM TRISARA, WHERE ELSE ARE YOUR INTERESTS AND FOCUS? WHAT ELSE ARE YOU DOING?

I would like to describe myself as an entrepreneur because this is not the only business that I run. We supply garments to Bhat Bhateni, we also have a wholesale of metal statues.

Favorite Drink: I Like Vodka, And The Capriosa Is My Favorite Cocktail.