Crown Melbourne is welcoming one of Sri Lanka’s most celebrated and renowned restaurants, Ministry of Crab, to its Evergreen dining space in October for a month long pop-up.

Treasury Wine Estates will be the exclusive wine partner of the pop-up, with a selection of its wines available from Penfolds, Wynns, Seppelt and Coldstream Hills. 

Ministry of Crab was founded over a decade ago by eminent chef-restaurateur Dharshan Munidasa alongside Sri Lankan cricketing legends Mahela Jayawardena and Kumar Sangakkara, and has since become one of Sri Lanka’s most famous restaurants and arguably one of the best crab restaurants in the world.

Ministry of Crab has repeatedly appeared on ‘Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants’ list, recently ranked number 35, and is celebrated as a culinary homecoming of Sri Lanka’s legendary mud crab, which has long gained popularity beyond Sri Lanka. The restaurant has since opened successful overseas outposts in Shanghai, Chengdu, Manila, Mumbai, Maldives and Bangkok.

The menu will feature a variety of Ministry of Crab’s most iconic dishes, including the fiery pepper crab, avocado crab salad, crab liver pâté and garlic chilli prawn.

Crown Melbourne’s Executive General Manager of Food and Beverage, Enda Cunningham, says he was looking forward to bringing such an iconic global restaurant concept to Melbourne.

“There’s no denying we’re all still yearning for the bucket list food experiences that come with the adventure of travel and Crown Melbourne’s Ministry of Crab pop-up is set to satisfy that hunger,” he said.

Founding chef-restaurateur Dharshan Munidasa said: “We are excited to be bringing the Ministry of Crab experience to Melbourne for the first time.

“Australia is a country that is home to mud crabs and we are honoured to be cooking and plating up these crustacean giants in our unique style at Evergreen at Crown Towers.”

Bookings for this limited time only dining experience, which kicks off on October 14, are available here.