Ministry of Crab sinks its claws into restaurant scene
View(s):While there was speculation when the Ministry of Crab opened that the involvement of cricketers Mahela Jayawardena and Kumar Sangakkara was a PR gimmick, it has become apparent over the past year that their involvement goes much beyond this. That being said, one of Ministry of Crab’s greatest strengths has been in ensuring that the crabs, not the cricketers are the stars of the restaurant.
Though the involvement of Mahela and Kumar was certainly a draw for the international media in Colombo during the T20, with CNN, ESPN, NDTV, Gulf News, and The Hindustan Times, among others, doing features on the restaurant; Ministry of Crab’s loyal following returns regularly, not for a glimpse of the cricketers but for the inimitable dining experience.
Ministry of Crab celebrated its first anniversary earlier this month. The restaurant, which launched with the Dutch Hospital Shopping Precinct in early December last year, officially opened its doors to the public on December 12, 2011 and has exceeded even the expectations of its three co-owners, Mahela, Kumar and chef and restaurateur Dharshan Munidasa.
Dedicated to serving the best of Sri Lanka’s export quality lagoon crabs, Ministry of Crab promises to serve them fresher than they can be served anywhere else in the world through its no freezer policy.
Its signature Pepper Crab famously combines two ingredients endemic to Sri Lanka, and even the salt used is locally sourced.
Dharshan explains that this inclination towards local produce is not purely patriotism, but because we are lucky to have some of the best fresh ingredients in the world at our disposal.
Ministry of Crab prides itself on being one of the few fine dining restaurants in Colombo to serve local dishes. In addition to Crab Curry, Clay Pot Prawn Curry, and Chicken Curry Rice, there’s Pol Sambol, which is scraped on order, and the Kade Bread- the perfect accompaniment for any of the crab dishes, which have proved the unexpected successes of this past year.
The other favourites include the Chocolate Biscuit Pudding, the only dessert on the menu, which uses dark Belgian Chocolate to elevate this ubiquitous desert, and the Iced Tea Soda, an all-natural preservative free alternative to traditional soft drinks.
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