Dharshan Munidasa, Sri Lanka’s most renowned chef-restaurateur, is the mastermind behind some of the best restaurants in the country including Nihonbashi and Ministry of Crab; the only restaurants from Sri Lanka to have ever been ranked on Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants List. Born in Tokyo, to a Japanese mother and Sri Lankan father, Munidasa unearthed his passion for cooking during his time at Johns Hopkins University, USA, where he obtained a Double Degree in Computer Engineering and International Relations.

Nihonbashi, Dharshan’s first venture founded in 1995, serves inspired fine Japanese cuisine and uses local ingredients, to create unique masterpieces stemming from Japanese culinary philosophies. It was the first restaurant in Sri Lanka to be listed on the prestigious Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants List in 2013 and ranking successively on the list until 2018. He followed this up with Ministry of Crab in 2011, partnering with Sri Lankan cricketing legends Mahela Jayawardena and Kumar Sangakkara. The restaurant, which heroes the island’s iconic Mud Crab has been consecutively listed as one of Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants since 2015, ranked at No. 35 on the 2022 List. Ministry of Crab now has six overseas outposts to its name, located in Shanghai, Manila, Mumbai, Maldives, Bangkok, and Chengdu.

In 2014, Dharshan established The Tuna & The Crab in Galle; a hybrid Japanese and Seafood restaurant that combines the best of Nihonbashi and Ministry of Crab. Having opened Café Nihonbashi at the Radh Hotel in Kandy (2018), Dharshan introduced Casual Washoku to the hill capital, serving a selection of signature Japanese dishes in an informal setting.

In 2020, Dharshan expanded Nihonbashi to the Maldives, with the launch of Nihonbashi Blue at The Marina @ CROSSROADS (where Ministry of Crab Maldives is also situated), the most comprehensive and ambitious integrated leisure and entertainment development undertaken in the country. Nihonbashi Blue offers a sophisticated cuisine philosophy inspired by the principles of Washoku and emulates its Colombo flagship, with its sake bar, tatami-seating area, and sushi counter with dedicated sushi chefs.

His newest venture (also at CROSSROADS in the Maldives) is Carne Diem Grill, a steakhouse built around a unique charcoal grill created by Munidasa himself, that operates at a temperature of 750˚C and cooks premium cuts of Australian beef and Japanese Wagyu in a matter of minutes.

Known for his commitment to using only the highest quality ingredients, Dharshan scoured local markets for the best produce and worked with local fishermen to procure the freshest seafood for his restaurants. This was evident in his frequent visits to the Mutuwal Fisheries Harbour in Colombo, where export-quality premium tuna was graded before being shipped to the Tsukiji fish market in Tokyo; where he sourced whole tuna for Nihonbashi at a time when this was unheard of among restaurants in Colombo. He also studied methods of identifying the best crab from the local seafood vendors at the Pettah Market in Colombo, which led to the implementation of strict quality-checking at Ministry of Crab to ensure that guests are served only crabs of the best quality.

Dharshan has gained a reputation for his out-of-the-box thinking and his knack for pushing boundaries, often pairing Sri Lankan ingredients with Japanese culinary philosophies. He is known as a risktaker, in that he created the first restaurant in Sri Lanka (Ministry of Crab) which focuses on a single ingredient – Sri Lankan Mud Crab. Ministry of Crab aims to be one of the lowest food-mile restaurants in the country, as almost all of its major ingredients are locally sourced. The restaurant also has a daring no-freezer policy, as he believes that freezing detracts from the taste and renders redundant the use of fresh produce. For his unique focus on high quality fresh ingredients paired with Japanese cooking philosophies, Dharshan has been invited to prepare degustation menus in various establishments across the world, including the Regent in Taiwan, the Intercontinental Hotel in Sydney, the Crown Towers in Melbourne, the World Gourmet Summit in Singapore, Mandarin Oriental in Bangkok, Cheval Blanc Randheli Resort, Waldorf Astoria Maldives Ithaafushi, Four Seasons Hotel Hangzhou At West Lake, Anantara The Palm Dubai Resort in UAE and Shangri-La Hotels in London, Tokyo, Paris, Abu Dhabi and Hong Kong.

For staying true to the roots of Washoku, Dharshan was the first non-Japanese chef to be featured on the Japanese TV series Nippon Shokudo for TV Tokyo in 2011, which was filmed in Sri Lanka at Nihonbashi Restaurant. He has also been featured on episodes of Rick Stein’s Far East Odyssey on BBC, UK and Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown on CNN.

Moreover, being of Japanese-Sri Lankan descent, Dharshan’s contribution to Japanese Culture was recognized by the Japanese government, when he was presented with The Minister’s Award for Overseas Promotion of Japanese Food for the year 2014. Dharshan is also an ambassador for ‘Cool Japan’, appointed by the Japanese government for spreading Japanese culture overseas. In 2021 Dharshan was appointed as a “Japanese Cuisine Goodwill Ambassador” by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries in Japan, for his continuous effort toward the dissemination of Japanese food and dietary culture overseas.

From creating original dishes to sourcing ingredients, Dharshan’s hands-on involvement and his meticulous attention to detail have allowed him to revolutionize Sri Lanka’s gastronomic landscape and his restaurants have put Sri Lanka on the global culinary map. For these efforts, he was awarded the Business Today Passionate Award in 2017, an award that recognized 13 self-made passionate personalities in Sri Lanka who had singlehandedly created revolutionary concepts and successfully made them a reality.

In November 2023, he was awarded the ‘Order of the Rising Sun, Gold and Silver Rays’ by the Government of Japan in recognition for his efforts and distinguished contributions to enhancing the bilateral diplomatic relationships between Sri Lanka and Japan through ways of cultural exchange.