The legendary Sri Lanka-based restaurant Ministry of Crab held a two-day pop-up at Far & East earlier this week, and we were invited to experience the four-course meal. Helmed by celebrity chef Dharshan Munidasa, with cricketers Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene as its other partners, the Colombo restaurant is known for its dedication to showcasing the Sri Lankan lagoon crab.
The set menu featured some of the restaurant’s most popular dishes. First course was the Avocado Crab Salad. It comprised steam-cooked crab meat tossed in wasabi mayonnaise and served over a halved avocado. We enjoyed the subtle flavours combined with the richness of the avocado and mayonnaise.
The Garlic Chilli Prawn with Kade Bread came next. We were served a large lake prawn cooked and drizzled with a sauce made with olive oil, soy, garlic and chilli flakes. The signature dish was simply delicious. The sauce was well rounded and moreish, so we used the wedges of the soft bread to soak up as much of it as possible.
For the main course, we were presented with another of their signatures - Pepper Crab - made with giant Indian mud crab. The sauce was flavoured with black pepper flown in from Sri Lanka, which has distinctly sharper notes than what we grow in India. So needless to say, the gravy - a pepper dashi (an ode to the chef’s Japanese roots) - was brimming with the piquant and fresh taste of the Sri Lankan spice, which was well complemented by the sweetness of the crab meat.
A Coconut Crème Brulée drew the dinner to a close. Served in a coconut shell, the dessert was hard not to polish off thanks to the smoked and charred bits on the top paired with the thick velvety crème.
With its focus on the restaurant’s most popular dishes, the dinner succeeded in bringing a slice of the island country to Bengaluru.