I was looking forward to going back to Palau and Koror for a lot of reasons, with a primary one being the great food. And at the top of the Koror food pile? In my mind it is Carp Restaurant.
Amazingly this was to be my first time back in Palau after a 4 year absence due to the dreaded Covid-19, with my last trip and indeed this trip being to lead the Least Visited Countries Tour.
Palau though is not actually that “least visited” and there is a buzzing tourism scene here, most sponsored by the Chinese and served by the many Filipino expats that live and work here.
Food in Palau
I will delve further into the food of Palau at a later date, with the street food at the night market being of particularly amazing levels, but overall there are heavy Filipino influences, as well as Micronesian and Japanese due to the colonial past.
This has of course since been supplemented by American influences that make Palau Cuisine some of the best in Micronesian part of the Pacific.
Carp Restaurant Location
Despite being a small country Palau and the capital of Koror are quite spread out, with Carp Restaurant being fairly near downtime and almost hidden next to the Carp Diving centre. In fact if you did not know there was a restaurant here you would not accidentally find it.
They do though offer a free minibus service to pick up and drop off people,. Something greatly needed in a country as expensive as Palau.
Carp Restaurant Address
8FM5+X8G,
Koror,
Palau
You can call them at +680 488 3341 to arrange a pickup.
Food at Carp Restaurant Koror
The restaurant is billed as being Japanese-Palau fusion cuisine and this is very evident from the menu, which includes Japanese style curries, western chops, noodles, tofu and some amazing sashimi.
What the restaurant is most famous for though is the fruit bat soup. Alas they did not have it this year, but when I visited in December 2019 they did, it was pretty gross and means I perhaps started Covid-19.
This time I went for beef noodles and the big mixed sashimi, neither of which disappointed, while the Japanese style curries were also spot on.
Drinks were extremely reasonable for Koror, with beers being just $3, whilst hot sake was served at $10.
The Carp Koror Vibe
I will say that while most of my group liked it, not all did, but there is some context to this. Carp Restaurant in Koror is not fine dining and the food delivery is slow, but that is the same in teh whole Pacific.
It is though also authentic, which to me means more than anything. After our meal the elderly Japanese owner, who is s survivor of Hiroshima came out to literally thank us for coming as well as give us Mangos. Heck she even told me she loved me.
And much like Wang Od who did my tattoo she proved how tough and amazing these old Asian ladies can be.
To to sum up, if you come to Koror and need fancy head to the resorts, but if you like the real deal then acting at Carp Restaurant Koror is a must.