Sri Lanka's famed Ministry of Crab will appeal to fans of the crustacean

The Mumbai outlet has added a few Indian dishes to its menu. But Munidasa says people eventually stick to the restaurant's signature offerings

Time should be on your side if you decide to visit the newest luxury dining space in Mumbai: Ministry of Crab, the first India outing of the famous Sri Lankan restaurant that has regularly featured in Asia’s 50-best list. 

Brought to India by Gourmet Investments, the 100-seater has opened in Bandra near Linking Road, Mumbai’s prized high street. 

In Sri Lanka, Ministry of Crab operates out of an iconic 400-year-old Dutch hospital in the heart of Colombo. Here in Mumbai, a jewellery store has made way for the three-storey restaurant that also offers outdoor seating. The lower deck, which is the main section, can accommodate 45 people at a time and has the kitchen and the bar. Two of the main attractions of the restaurant in Colombo — an open kitchen and live crabs on display — could not be replicated here due to restrictive local rules. The restaurant tries to make up for this through its signature signboard that depicts 10 crab sizes — from half a kilo to “crabzilla” (upwards of 2 kg). 

We are here for a preview ahead of the opening. A curated, four-course meal that begins with Avocado Crab Salad — white crab meat mixed with wasabi stuffed in half-cut avocado — awaits us. The avocado helps neutralise the pungent flavours of wasabi, making it a delicious offering. The second course, Clay Pot Prawn Curry, has over a dozen small prawns floating in a stew alongside two lobsters. The dish is rather bland and the curry and prawns somehow don’t blend well. The curry is to be had with slices of kade — traditional Sri Lankan wood-fired bread. Here in Mumbai, Ministry of Crabs has tied up with a local Irani bakery for the breads — which explains the distinct flavours that you would find in the city’s many Parsi bakeries. 

Next up is Pepper Crab, Ministry of Crab’s most famous offering. We are offered a medium-sized crab cooked in black pepper imported from Sri Lanka. While the spices will all be imported from the island nation, export-quality wild crabs will be sourced locally for the Mumbai outlet. The crabs available in Mumbai taste exactly like those in Sri Lanka, explains Chef Dharshan Munidasa. And while the restaurant is known for its gigantic crabs, their availability in Mumbai isn’t a given.

Besides the regular cutlery, every table is equipped with bibs, crab crackers and pincers, all of which come in handy during the third course. We were advised to don the bibs and also dirty our hands while on the third fare. Eating crabs requires practice and skill — removing the shell, breaking the legs and the claws from the main body and using the pincers to draw the meat hidden inside. It is more immersive than your usual dining experience.

What doesn’t require any technique is the final item on the menu, The Story of Cacao, an egg-shaped pastry made with cacao from the plantations of Sri Lanka. It has a bitter-sweet taste with a dash of chilli.

Ministry of Crab’s Mumbai outlet has added a few Indian dishes to its menu, such as Goan Curry and Avocado Tomato Salad. Munidasa says people, however, eventually stick to the restaurant’s signature offerings.

“When we opened our first restaurant outside Sri Lanka at Shanghai, people wanted us to do some Schezwan-based dish. It never sold as everyone came to try just our offerings. The same might happen here,” says the chef, adding that their dishes don’t conform to any particular palate.

Crab dishes are a given at most Mumbai seafood restaurants. Ministry of Crab will probably be the first to make it the core offering. Munidasa says the same was the case when they started in Sri Lanka. “When we first started (in 2011), we didn’t know what was going to happen. Most crab-centric restaurants served Chinese cuisine. Our Sri Lankan curry-based dishes stood out and that made all the difference,” he recalls. 

A typical sitting at the Ministry of Crab takes about two hours. To begin with, the Mumbai outlet will open at 7.30 pm and do just two rounds of seating. The restaurant recommends pre-booking. 

A four-course meal for two at the Ministry of Crab can cost upwards of Rs 10,000