The Origins of Ministry of Crab date back to the first season of Dharshan’s TV Show “Culinary Journeys”, to an episode focusing on Sri Lanka’s Lagoon Crab. Up until then Nihonbashi had only been using export quality crab for special events such as Japanese New Year and New Year’s Eve, allowing Dharshan the foundation to build up relationships with exporters.

The episode dedicated to Lagoon Crab was filmed not only in Sri Lanka, but also in Singapore, which is the largest importer of our crabs, leading to a friend questioning Dharshan on why he didn’t open crab restaurant in Colombo; and from then on the idea grew into a plan, Kumar and Mahela who were close friends came on board. Next was the task of acquiring a location majestic enough to bear the name Ministry of Crab, which was finally found in the form of the iconic 400-year-old Old Dutch Hospital that is not only one of the oldest buildings in Colombo Fort, but also undoubtedly one of the most beautiful. Ministry of Crab opened its doors in 2011; a culinary home coming for Sri Lanka’s giant crustaceans (The largest served to date being3.2kgs!).

Ministry of Crab is doing things more differently and has more dishes than ever before. The Garlic Chilli Crab has a large following, with its olive oil to dip in bread becoming an iconic thing to do at MOC. From our humble beginnings Ministry of Crab has become a restaurant that, while still humble in our food, is gaining popularity worldwide and we are grateful to our guests for making us who we are.