KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 26 — Crab lovers, rejoice! Sri Lanka’s famed Ministry of Crab has arrived in KL, setting up shop at the newly opened TUAH 1895 in Bukit Bintang City Centre.
Founded in Colombo in 2011 by renowned chef Dharshan Munidasa and Sri Lankan cricketing royalty Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene – the second and third Sri Lankans inducted into the ICC Hall of Fame, respectively – Ministry of Crab has since put Sri Lanka on the global gastronomic map, earning a spot on Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants every year from 2015 to 2022.
I attended the restaurant’s media preview though what I walked into felt more like a swanky temple to crabs.
The entrance leads into a glitzy hallway, where the restaurant’s large, backlit name beams down like a beacon of light — except everything around you is already gleaming.
We’re told the main dining area is conceptualised as a crab cave. It felt closer to something out of MTV Cribs, but if celebrities had taste.
High ceilings and a long, sweeping counter fronting the kitchen serve as an altar to crabs, continuing the house of worship motif.
Above the counter, an array of accurately sized, backlit crab shells illustrates the available sizes, with a loud gong announcing when a size is no longer available – like a steakhouse scratching a cut off the chalkboard for the night.
From this distance, the famed “Crabzilla”, which weighs 2kg and above, outranking the likes of “OMG!!!” (from 1.5kg to 1.9kg) and “Colossal” (from 1.2kg to 1.4kg), looks almost average.
I’d eat my words sooner than I thought.
Their ambition is matched only by their attention to detail. Chef Munidasa insists on serving only “live” crabs, enforcing a strict no-freezer policy across all eight locations: Colombo, Shanghai, Mumbai, Maldives, Bangkok, Chengdu, Singapore, and now Kuala Lumpur.
The crabs are air-flown three times a week, reaching the restaurant within 12 to 16 hours of being caught.
They are then kept in a temperature-controlled environment and even given warm steam baths at regular intervals to maintain their vitality – truly, a pampered existence.
It almost feels like a meticulous, high-stakes logistics operation, not simply a restaurant.
“We once lost crabs because someone put them in a chiller room in Hong Kong – it was too cold. It has to be somewhere between 22 to 25 degrees Centigrade,” Munidasa noted.
Every step of the process is carefully calibrated to ensure that when the crabs reach diners, their flesh is firm, naturally sweet, and free from any trace of odour.
The restaurant’s signature Black Pepper Dashi Crab perhaps best encapsulates what Ministry of Crab is all about – bringing together two of Sri Lanka’s greatest gastronomic exports: mud crab and black pepper.
Unlike the dry, pungent pepper sauces found elsewhere, this version uses a dashi base with black pepper, a nod to Chef Munidasa’s Japanese heritage, allowing the spice to shine without overpowering the natural sweetness of the crab.
A bit of the housemade Kade bread, a typical Sri Lankan street bread reminiscent of Malaysian roti benggali – a white, airy loaf – works well for mopping up the sauce.
And that sweetness? Subtle but present, carried by flesh that’s firm, meaty, and impossibly satisfying to sink your teeth into.
These crabs don’t just take up space on the plate – they fill your mouth with every bite. Sorry fellas, but in this house, size does matter.
Naturally, all this comes at a price, and Ministry of Crab isn’t shy about aiming big.
The smallest crabs start at RM188 for 500-600g, while the largest, the 2kg+ “Crabzilla”, commands RM1,188.
But at this level, the quality is unmatched – this is the apex of crab dining, built on scale, freshness, and absolute precision.
For Munidasa, Ministry of Crab is singular in its focus – crab, done its way.
“Yes, we are from Sri Lanka, but I don’t think our food has a nationality,” Munidasa said. “I use olive oil. I use soy sauce. I use pepper stock. I use chicken stock. It is simply something that I made, and then suddenly everyone started enjoying it, liking it, talking about it.
“We’re not copying anyone else. We’re different in taste, flavour, how we cook, how we present. Wine goes well with our food, bread goes well with our food, and rice goes well with our food. So yeah, just come and enjoy!”
Ministry of Crab Kuala Lumpur officially opens on February 27, with Lotus Capital DKR, the investment arm of Lotus Group, as its franchise partner. The firm previously invested in myBurgerLab and myPizzaLab in late 2023.
Ministry of Crab Kuala Lumpur
Open daily, 5.30-10.30pm
On Friday and Saturday, 5.30-11.30pm
Tel: 017-773 3680
Facebook: Ministry of Crab - Kuala Lumpur
Instagram: @ministryofcrab.kl
