Ministry of Crab restaurant

Ministry of Crab is the first restaurant in Sri Lanka dedicated to serving export quality Sri Lankan crabs, as well as the island's best seafood, locally. Co-owned by Mahela Jayawardene, Kumar Sangakkara and Dharshan Munidasa the restaurant is housed inside the newly opened 400 year old Dutch Hospital, in Colombo Fort.

The best of Sri Lanka's crabs have for decades been more easily available internationally than here in Sri Lanka itself. It was a common interest in rectifying this situation, among other things, which brought Dharshan, Mahela and Kumar together to form Ministry of Crab.

For Dharshan Munidasa, owner of the Japanese restaurant Nihonbashi, using the best of Sri Lanka's produce is nothing new. Fourteen years ago he began intercepting the best of Sri Lanka's tuna before it was sold abroad, and now he's set to retain the best of Sri Lanka's crabs.

The difference between export crabs and those usually found in Sri Lanka is vast, Dharshan explains. Not only do export crabs grow to be up to 2kgs in weight, it is also necessary that they have both claws intact. In an export quality crab the two claws will be roughly equal in size, and therefore provide a significant quantity of claw meat, which is darker and richer in flavour than the white meat, which is sweeter.

Though crabs are undoubtedly the star attraction of Ministry of Crab, the owners are all quick to stress that the restaurant will be serving a selection of other dishes in addition to their export quality giants. Largely seafood based, there will also be alternatives - such as chicken and vegetable dishes. In fact Mahela (who was elected chairman of the Ministry by coin toss) is proud to say that the Chicken Curry Rice is one of his major contributions to the menu.

Ministry of Crab menu demonstrates various culinary influences - from Baked Crab, to the Singaporean classic Chilli Crab, to our very own Sri Lankan Crab Curry. What's more the ingredients used at the Ministry of Crab aren't just the best, but also the freshest; think about it - there is no way these crabs can be served to you as fresh anywhere else in the world.

olvement of Kumar and Mahela, huge names in cricket, but lesser known in culinary circles has been causing something of a stir. Some might assume that their involvement is simply as investors who add some PR punch however this does not seem to be the case.

Mahela says cooking is certainly not on his CV, but they both love to eat. Kumar added that he loves to watch cooking shows on TV, as he admires the unique creativity needed to be a chef - a sort of creativity he feels his friend and co-owner of the restaurant Dharshan is able to provide to Ministry of Crab.

Dating back to 1677 the building is thought to among the oldest in Colombo, and is visually stunning. Mahela, Kumar and Dharshan all say that they found the building entirely inspirational. In fact Dharshan Munidasa says that though the project was in motion already, it was only once he saw the building that things just started to fall into place.

The building which is being overseen by Minister Gotabaya Rajapaksa, not only looked ministerial but fitted in perfectly with the theme of the restaurant. The Ministry of Crab has kept all the original design features of the building intact, including the high beamed ceiling and the tiled floor while adding a striking orange and black colour scheme.