16 Facts About Dharshan Munidasa

Dharshan Munidasa was the host of the popular TV series Culinary Journeys with Dharshan.

Dharshan Munidasa was born in Tokyo, Japan to a Japanese mother, Nobuko Munidasa and Sri Lankan father, Dr Milton Munidasa and spent most of his childhood in Japan, where his earliest experiments in cooking were upon observing his mother and Japanese aunts in the kitchen.

Dharshan Munidasa is the eldest of three children; he has a younger brother, Kanishka and a younger sister, Dulee.

Dharshan Munidasa returned to the island in 1994, following the death of his father, where the lack of authentic Japanese food in the country, combined with his heritage and passion for pure Japanese culinary fare motivated Dharshan Munidasa, who had never had any formal culinary training, to open his maiden venture Nihonbashi in 1995 at Galle Face Terrace.

Dharshan Munidasa has been invited to prepare Japanese degustation dinners at various establishments in South Asia; including The Conrad, The Four Seasons, Hilton, Huvafen Fushi and the Six Senses properties, all in the Maldives and for the International Wine and Food Society in Mumbai.

Dharshan Munidasa was recognized by the Japanese government when he was awarded The Minister's Award for Overseas Promotion of Japanese Food for the year 2014, becoming one of the five people in the world to be given this prestigious award that year.

In July 2014, Dharshan Munidasa opened his third restaurant Kaema Sutra, in partnership with Bollywood Actress Jacqueline Fernandez, plating up contemporary Sri Lankan cuisine.

Dharshan Munidasa launched his own green juice which utilizes Gotukola as its primary ingredient.

Dharshan Munidasa's Gotukola drink is named Centella after its scientific name and contains no water and no added sugars or sweeteners.

In 2017, Dharshan Munidasa was awarded the Business Today Passionate Award, which recognized pioneering individuals, who single-handedly created novel concepts and succeeded in making them a reality and who have driven the economy of Sri Lanka in the same manner as the corporate sector.

Dharshan Munidasa expanded Ministry of Crab on an international level by opening the first overseas restaurant in Shanghai at the People's Park in October 2018.

In 2020, Dharshan Munidasa expanded Nihonbashi to the Maldives, with the launch of Nihonbashi Blue at The Marina @ CROSSROADS the most comprehensive and ambitious integrated leisure and entertainment development undertaken in the country.

Dharshan Munidasa made his first television appearance in 2009 on the Sri Lanka episode of Rick Stein's Far East Odyssey on BBC.

In 2010, Munidasa paired up with leading English Channel ETV to co-produce and host "Culinary Journeys with Dharshan", a culinary travelogue that took viewers a step forward beyond an ordinary culinary experience, to places far and wide in search of the best sources for the finest ingredients in Sri Lankan and Japanese cuisine.

Dharshan Munidasa was one of five chefs and the first non-Japanese chef featured on season two of Nippon Shokudo for TV Tokyo in 2011.

Dharshan Munidasa has prepared degustation menus in various establishments across the world, Crown Towers in Melbourne, the World Gourmet Summit in Singapore, Mandarin Oriental in Bangkok, Anantara The Palm Dubai Resort in UAE, the Regent in Taiwan, Cheval Blanc Randheli Resort, Waldorf Astoria Maldives Ithaafushi, Four Seasons Hotel Hangzhou At West Lake, and Shangri-La Hotels in London, Tokyo, Paris, Abu Dhabi and Hong Kong.