The first page of the Ministry of Crab’s (MoC) menu reads like a declaration of rights, which is why it is called “the constitution”.
A summary of the 10 articles listed is that they use only fresh, perfectly-shaped wild-caught mature crab and treat all ingredients with the utmost respect and support eating with hands.
The second page is where customers can learn about the 20 different sizes of crustacean on offer. They range from 150g black tiger prawn and a half-kilo mud crab to a 400g “OMG Prawn” and 2.5kg “Crabzilla”. There’s also a presentable selection of recipes crafted around South Asia aquatic harvest, especially Sri Lanka mud crab.
MoC labels its cuisine as a “Celebration Of The Lagoon Crab”, marrying Sri Lankan delicacy with Japanese cooking philosophies.
A brainchild of Sri Lanka’s renowned chef-restaurateur Dharshan Munidasa and cricket legends Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara, MoC first opened in the country’s capital city Colombo in 2011.
Its one-of-a-kind culinary approach has given the island nation a revolutionary gastronomic perspective and favourably put it on the global culinary map. Shortly after opening, MoC was named among Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants list (2015-2022).
Today, MoC has seven outlets in big cities across Asia including Chengdu, Shanghai, Mumbai, Maldives, Manila and Bangkok.
The 92-seat Bangkok edition, launched in 2019, is housed in a purpose-built, glass-facade mansion on Sukhumvit 31.
Just like what you would expect from a casual fine dining restaurant, the meal here may start with the signature starter, crab liver pâté (390 baht), a creamy mixture of crab roe and tomalley to be enjoyed with flatbread crisps and smoked palm sugar honey.
It is to be followed by the mud crab main dishes, priced from 1,300 baht to 8,250 baht per crab depending on the size. The cooking styles include stir-frying with hand-crushed black peppercorns and pepper dashi; stir-frying with Italian olive oil, garlic, chilli flakes and Japanese soy sauce; bathing in the original chilli-egg sauce; and serving chilled with warm clarified butter.
Recently, to honour the culinary heritage of the location, MoC Bangkok came up with a local addition, spicy stir-fried mud crab with Thai basil and chillies.
The crab dishes are recommended to be enjoyed with wood-fired grilled kade paan (spongy soft Sri Lankan white bread, 100 baht) or grilled garlic bread (80 baht).
Other than the crab, worth having are also prawn curry in a clay pot (1,380 baht for a large pot to be shared among two to four people) and pan-seared seer (narrow-barred Spanish mackerel) with teriyaki sauce (420 baht).
For an individual-sized dish, there is also kaphrao crab (490 baht), served with rice on a crab shell, and chicken curry rice with a sweet and salty pol sambol coconut relish and a fried egg (380 baht).
Helping the food go down is MoC’s housemade iced tea soda made from Ceylon tea (100 baht). The meal is promised a nice wrap-up with homemade coconut cream brulee (250 baht).
There are three private dining rooms available for a group of six to 25 guests. Reservations are recommended.
Ministry of Crab Bangkok opens Tuesdays to Sundays, noon to 2.30pm and 5-11.30pm.
