Ministry of Crab

Ministry of Crab is the restaurant most food-minded visitors put at the top of their Colombo list. It was founded by the chef and restaurateur Dharshan Munidasa together with two former Sri Lankan cricket captains, Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara, and it occupies part of the Old Dutch Hospital, one of the oldest buildings in Colombo Fort. The restaurant describes itself as an Asia's 50 Best award winner, and Munidasa is noted as the only Sri Lankan to have had two restaurants on the Asia's 50 Best Restaurants list. His partners have kept busy since retiring from international cricket: the restaurant notes that Jayawardene is Global Performance Director for Mumbai Indians and Sangakkara chairs the MCC World Cricket Committee.

The menu is built around Sri Lankan mud crab. The crabs are wild-caught, not farmed, and sizes depend on the day's catch, running from 500 grams to two kilograms and beyond. The largest are billed as Crabzilla, and there is an equivalent for freshwater prawns of 500 grams upwards called Prawnzilla. The two signature preparations are a dashi-based pepper crab and a garlic chilli crab, and the menu also includes freshwater clams and oysters. Eating with your hands is encouraged; the restaurant's own rules point out that forks and knives are merely an option.

Because crab is sold by size, it is easy to scale a meal to the group. A couple might share one mid-sized crab with a few sides, while a larger party can order a Crabzilla as a centrepiece. Ask the staff what sizes are available that day, since the catch varies.

Ministry of Crab opens daily from noon to 10.30pm, with last orders at 9.30pm, and it closes on poya (full moon) days, which the restaurant lists on its website. Booking ahead is wise, especially for dinner and weekends. Reservations can be made online through the website, by email or by WhatsApp.

The Old Dutch Hospital sits in the heart of Fort, close to the harbour, and was turned into a shopping and dining precinct in 2011. Galle Face Green is a short walk to the south for a stroll before or after dinner, and Pettah's markets are just to the east if you want to explore by day.