Sunday, September 06, 2009

carp restaurant

Our first full day (8/30) was spent touring Babeldaob (the largest island in Palau), we came back to the hotel in the afternoon and talked about where we should go for dinner.

Satoshi had talked to someone at a Japanese tour desk and found several options for dinner.

At about the time we were ready to leave for dinner, it began to pour! cats and dogs! (Luckily we had brought our foldable umbrellas, but the wind was quite strong too.)

Not wanting to eat at the only restaurant in the hotel, we decided to check out the closest restaurant to the hotel...Carp Restaurant.

Luckily we asked the front desk and a bell boy offered to walk with us in the rain, and it was a good thing too, we probably wouldn't have found it on our own.

This restaurant is a "hole in the wall" and we found out that only locals eat here.

Run by a Japanese lady (who I think grew up in Palau (we didn't get to speak with her directly)), she only spoke Japanese, even to the local ladies that were there--they were actually having a conversation, she in Japanese, they in Palau (or maybe Tagalog (a widely popular language)). She also runs the Carp Island Resort, which is on Carp Island (an outer island of Palau).

The menu at Carp restaurant was quite extensive mostly Japanese items but there were also some local items, like fruit bat soup (no we didn't try this)...

Instead we ordered shakogai (giant clam) sashimi, tapioca croquettes, fried shrimp and green papaya salad....total US$24 (US$6 a piece).

Satoshi also ordered Asahi beer...US$2 a can. (We found out from our guide later that they have a special import agreement, so beer is super cheap in Palau! no import taxes.)

The giant clam sashimi was delicious, chewy and some parts had a gelatinous crunch to them.

The tapioca croquettes were like deep fried mochi (rice cakes), they were also served with deep fried cooking banana. Each tapioca croquette was topped with some Kewpie mayonnaise (a Japanese brand) and some tonkatsu sauce.

The fried shrimp had a light crunchy coating and were served with some fried long beans.

The papaya salad was good, nice and crunchy served with a little pepper and vinegar, some palau lemon and some ripened watermelon papaya on the side. The sweet counter balanced the semi-tart salad.

One thing you will see a lot are slices of palau lemon placed along side of many dishes. They look like tiny limes but taste like a mix of orange and lemon. Most times all you need is a squeeze of this lemon and you are good to go, no other condiments needed.

Everything at Carp Restaurant was delicious, one thing that surprised us were the portions---they were huge! we ate up the papaya salad and giant clam since they were "raw" foods and took the leftover tapioca croquettes, fried banana and a couple of shrimp back to our room. The leftovers made for a great breakfast the next morning.

The next day, we found out from our guide that the giant clams are illegal to harvest from the ocean for fear of extinction and are now cultivated.

Despite the downpour before dinner, we were happy we got a taste of some local eats.

Carp Restaurant
near the Malakal Harbor
Phone: 680.488.3341

p.s. there are no addresses in Palau, just descriptions of areas.

9 comments:

Tamakikat said...

Hi Kat,

Good to hear you ate well.

Enjoyed the previous post on Palauan culture too.

Look forward to the next one.

TK

Rowena said...

What a feast! And as I type this, I'm sitting on the fence about the bat soup. Sounds tempting though!

K and S said...

Thanks Tamakikat :)

Thanks Rowena, I think if someone had ordered the soup, I would have been curious to see it :)

Take care you two.
Kat

KirkK said...

What no bat!?! ;o) Looks like quite a meal, and the prices are very reasonable by our standards.

K and S said...

he he, I think you would have tried it Kirk :)

Take care.
Kat

jalna said...

Oh my God, the food look and sound soooo ono!! I like the variety that you ordered. I think it's so funny that there are no addresses there. Once in awhile at our office patients come in who have just one name. They don't have a last name. They're usually fishermen who have been out to sea for awhile . . . maybe from Palau. :)

K and S said...

Thanks Jalna, I wouldn't be surprised if some of your patients have come from Palau or other remote islands :)

Take care.
Kat

Deb in Hawaii said...

Your dinner looks wonderful. I am a bit afraid of the fruit bat soup--not sure I would have tried it either.
;-)

K and S said...

I have seen on blogs that it comes out with the rigid looking bat in it Debinhawaii... :0

Take care.
Kat