Ministry of Crab serves Sri Lanka style fresh crab to Bangkok diners

Ministry of Crab, located in one of Bangkok’s prime food and entertainment districts on Sukhumvit Soi 31, is a homage to Sri Lanka’s mud crab and the ways in which it can be cooked, and opened in 2019 as the Thai division of the original Ministry of Crab in Sri Lanka.

Guests are presented with a casual and spontaneous style of dining in a colonial-style setting that is inspired by the Colombo flagship. The two-storey restaurant welcomes guests on the ground floor with an open kitchen accompanied by seating for 30, while an upstairs bar welcomes another 56 guests.

The crabs are sourced largely from Thailand’s southern peninsula, and from Sri Lanka. No farmed crabs are used, only those caught in the wild. This means their supply is based on the daily catch, which depends on rainfall, strong winds, and ambient temperature.

The restaurant has a no-freezer policy, meaning that everything is served perfectly fresh. No undersized or meatless crabs are used, and there is no use at all of canned, artificial, or frozen crab meat.

Although the crabs are the undoubted stars of the show, king prawns are also featured on the menu, alongside seer fish, oysters, clams, chicken, vegetarian, and rice-based dishes. The freshness and high quality of the crab means that crab sashimi can also be served.

Prices for the crabs are based on size and start from Baht 2,000++. Those ranging from 500g up to 900g come mostly from the mangroves of Samut Songkhram. The bigger-sized crabs, ranging from 900g to the mammoth 2kg ‘Crabzilla’ are sourced from the mangroves of Sri Lanka. 

Cooking styles include the signature original-recipe Black Pepper Crab, made using peppercorns that are hand-crushed and rolled on a traditional grinding stone called a ‘miris gala’, whole peppercorns, and a pepper dashi. Butter Crab is best served chilled, with warm butter. Six hours’ notice is required for this dish, but it can also be prepared warm, with no prior notice required. Olive Oil Garlic Chilli Crab is a Ministry of Crab original, blending the distinct flavours of Italian olive oil, garlic, Sri Lankan chilli flakes, and Japanese soy sauce. The sauce is recommended to be soaked up with the traditional wood-fired kade bread. Sri Lankan Curry Crab uses a traditional Sri Lankan curry, while Chilli Crab is a version of the famous Singapore Chilli Crab, using the fiery red chillies of Sri Lanka, which add warmth and sweetness to the dish. Spicy Thai Basil Crab is inspired by the street food of Thailand, with an aromatic Thai basil sauce.

For non-crab dishes, the Clay Pot Prawn Curry uses half a kilo of two varieties of prawn served in a medley of delicate spices with cubed bread to mop up all the flavours. Desserts are limited to the Coconut Crème Brûlée, a tropical island twist on a French classic that’s baked in a coconut shell.

There is an extensive list of wines, with champagne, rosé, red and white available, and a large selection of spirits and cocktails. 

Ministry of Crab is open from Tuesday to Sunday (closed every Monday) for lunch 12:00 noon to 2:30 pm (last order 2.00 pm) and dinner from 5:00 pm to 11:30 pm (last order 10:30 pm).