Many moons ago, there was a heritage listed sandstone building in Sydney’s Darlinghurst. It used to be an Italian restaurant but then lay unused for years. It then became The Pond, a pop up restaurant serving local produce and with a constantly changing menu. And like Cinderella at midnight, on January 31st 2010, the sponsorship by Pure Blonde beer expires (although there are plans to keep it running with the intention of making it a profitable business that doesn’t need sponsorship).
My friend Queen Viv did a story on pop up restaurants and asked me to see whether they had the classic characteristics of a pop up restaurant like temporary gas stoves etc. This is more of a permanent fixture with a proper restaurant kitchen and in the dining room, energy efficient lights are installed and the menu changes daily according to the produce that they’re able to source.
The back courtyard
As a shout out to their sponsor, there are hops plants in the back courtyard that are said to grow up to 2 inches a day. As it’s a residential area, the courtyard is only open during the day. It’s a lovely, peaceful renovated space. We take a seat inside and there’s already a crowd gathered outside and since it’s Darlinghurst darling they’re all wearing black and smoking (how else do they stay so thin?) so we close the doors to avoid the seemingly omnipresent cigarette smoke.
We peer at the blackboard menu and are a bit confused at the choices. I’m dining with lovely lasses Liss and Chantelle and between the three of us we decide that we like everything. Our waiter makes some suggestions and we’re happy with those.
Duck Liver Pate with cornichons $18
The Duck Liver pate with cornichons comes with crunchy lightly toasted bread. It’s not bad although perhaps doesn’t quite as moreish as other duck liver pates I’ve had (the Lynwood cafe one for example although this may have had to do with their extraordinary onion marmalade).
Buffalo Mozzarella with marinated artichokes and Hunter olives $18
The Italian Buffalo Mozzarella is lovely and milky and mild and the house marinated artichokes go well with it. The Hunter Olives are divine it must be said.
Pino’s Proscuitto with snow pea shoots and Johnny Love Bite tomatoes $16
Our waiter recommended this and he mentioned how they’d picked up the Johnny Love Bite tomatoes the day before. The tomatoes are incredibly sweet – like how you want tomatoes to be but rarely are. The proscuitto is quite good although the flavour is milder than other ones I’ve tried.
Pino’s Cotechino with puy lentils and salsa verde $20
There are two large pieces of the Cotechino sausage which is coarsely ground and delicious with a trail of salsa verde on top. Liss finds that it isn’t salted enough for her but it’s fine for my palate. The pebbly Puy lentils and carrots are a traditional accompaniment and this is a dish I enjoy a lot.
Seared Rock Cod with shaved fennel and sorrel leaves $28
The seared rock cod comes in four tender pieces and is gorgeously soft and moist but still firm and is another favourite dish although it may be on the small side for some.
Poached Pear with with fleur de sel Caramel sauce $9
“Do you have room for dessert?” the waiter asks us and the question is answered with an enthusiastic yes. All desserts are made in house so we take his recommendations. I wanted to like this pear, I love fruit desserts and poached pears when done well are things of food orgasm inducing beauty but the pear tasted like a raw (albeit ripe) pear and the caramel sauce had an aspartamey taste to it. It did look good though.
House made profiteroles with creme patisserie $8
The profiteroles are certainly home made tasting but they could use a little refresh in the oven to crisp them and a bit more vanilla in the creme patisserie. However I am not a huge chocolate profiterole eater so I am never over the moon with them but Chantelle hadn’t tried profiteroles yet so we were happy to try it.
Zucotto $8
The Zuccotto is the favourite of the group with 3 thin slices of Zuccotto which is an ice cream and cake concoction. The ice cream is rich and chocolatey and the sponge gives a good contrast of texture to the ice cream. Overall it’s a good location, with great prices and mainly hits on the menu and a nice philosophy. Just beware the cigarette smoke on busier nights.
So tell me Dear Reader, do you like the idea of Pop Up shops or restaurants? Have you been to one?
NQN, Liss & Chantelle dined as guests of The Pond.
The Pond
32 Burton Street, Darlinghurst, NSW
Open: 12noon-Midnight Wednesday to Sunday
http://www.findthepond.com.au
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45 Comments | Add your own
I am so excited to read this review, having lived it.
Very well written, and the photos are beautiful. xx
Beautiful photos and what elegant food. I thought the shaved fennel on the fish was a fabulous idea. Was the fennel raw?
The seared rock cod looks so good! And it looks a decent size to me.
I havent been to one, but I love this building!
The food does look lovely though!
I have never been to one but will love to if I knew where to find them. Have read heaps about this but not in Aus. It is a nice concept if one has the space to do it.
Great review Lorraine! I loved to puy lentils too, they were really moorish.. and I have been dreaming of recreating those wonderful artichokes.. mmmm!!
Was a great night out to catch up with friends!
looks like a great place and a reasonably priced menu
Interesting concept of the pop up restaurant. I love the idea of ever changing menu to reflect what is in season and what can be sourced on any given day.
“…and since it’s Darlinghurst darling they’re all wearing black and smoking (how else do they stay so thin?”
that is fantastic!
Haha the waiter should never have to ask, there’s always room for dessert! Looks quite promising, I hope they manage to remain open past January.
I spent 5 glourious hours at the Pond yesterday afternoon, although I would probably suggest (or challenge) it’s more of a pop-up bar than a pop-up restaurant. The food really is divine though, and if you’re lucky enough to go when they have the caramalised spring onions on goats curd and bread, then it’s your lucky day.
I’ll be interested to see how long The Pond lasts – they spent an awful lot of time getting it set up (living just up the road I got to walk past twice a day and watch the progress) so it would be a waste for it to be a typical pop-up bar/restaurant.
Ooohh – a slice of zucotto please!
Sounds great – I’m all for cute little places with refreshing & changing menus. I’ll have to check it out!
We had a pop up Cookie Man last Christmas in an empty shop, but Adelaide seems not to have embraced the same phenomenon with restaurants – though there’s a space about to open at the Hilton!
I think pop ups can be a bit of a gimmick, and to be honest your review is probably not going to get me there anytime soon.
I think there are better places to go in Sydney.
i used to LOVE eating pate, i should look around for the vego kind i think somewhere in sydney should have it right ?
Love the concept of the menu constantly changing to reflect what is in season etc. Never been to a pop up restaurant before. You have certainly spiked my interest in them though
I’d never heard of a pop up restaurant/bar until now! Interesting concept…
I haven’t had any in sooooooooooooo long!!! 
Sounds nice…the Zucotto looks divine!!
Great review, Lorraine
I’m not really familiar with the pop-up restaurant concept, but I like the idea.
I also like those corner window shutters, too cool!
Such a gorgeous place! And the food looks good too =D.
Went here on Friday night, was surprised with the food it was pretty good! I was expecting it to be more of a bar but with food on the side, but it’s about even. Looks like the menu changes quite a bit as well, it was completely different a week ago but I think it’s great that way.
I like the idea of a menu that changes depending on what is available, and if your tomatoes are anything to go by it’s a good way to get fresh produce.
Had a lovely time here last Wednesday for lunch, the venue was quiet and we had a table to ourselves. I would definitely recommend the turkey and apple butter sandwich. Delicious!
What a simply gorgeous building!
Not heard of Pop-Up restaurants before but I like the concept. I was pleasantly surprised to see the Cotechino and Lentil dish , it’s an Italian family tradition to eat this meal on the first day of January. The more lentils you eat the more money you’ll make during the year!!
I’m glad you liked the cotechino, it’s quite fatty and not many non-italian like it!
I had the zuccotto as well and it was nice, i also had the gnocchi (good) and tasted the ravioli (disappointing, the pasta was too “slippery”)
Oh no at the pear
It looks soo tastttyyy but!
It all looks wonderful! What a cool concept too
i tried duck liver pate before but wasn’t too impress, maybe the one that i had, was lousy. haha but the poached pear looks gorgeous, and I love profiteroles!
I go weak for liver pate. Looks great.
Fantastic concept- the building looks nicely quirky. I can see why this place is gathering up some hype.
The food looks amazing. The zuccotto looks so good. I don’t think I could have shared it.
I love the idea of a pop-up cafe or restaurant, it gives chefs the opportunity to try something out without the commitment of a long term lease – an everchanging foodie landscape, heaven!
Everything about this place looks soo classy and sophisticated–from the presentation of the food, to the whole aura of the place.
I sure would love to go.
Hmm, I too had never heard of this concept before. I am sad for you re: unpoached pear and aspartamey sauce – it looked so pretty! Glad to hear you had lots of tasty dishes as well though!
This looks like a great place to eat. I love the courtyard and the food looks fab!
what elegant food. pate is something i’ve never tasted–the idea of it makes me a tad squeamish. as usual, though, i could definitely go for that dessert!
oh the pond. I’ve been to this place for friday lunch with my co-workers before.
Unfortunately all the interesting items on the menu were all gone by the time we got there. They had “pork milk pudding” on the day – sounds interesting, but visually didn’t look good on other’s plate. I had a grilled salmon – very basic, nothing impressive it was just plain okay. But I guess that’s too soon to judge especially when they change their menu frequently. I’ll pop in sometime to see what else is on the menu
Interesting to learn about pop up restaurants. The dishes look terrific here!
Pop up restaurant! I’ve never heard of that concept before but never you mind – the food looks absolutely delicious!
I’ve actually never heard of pop up restaurants until now…the concept is so interesting! And I think it’s so fun that the menu changes daily!
Never heard of a Pop Up Shop but it looks pretty darn good! The food looks excellent. Yikes I get so hungry reading – and looking at – your reviews! Pass the zucotto please!
Ooh, interesting. I love the idea of the pop-up restaurant. I definitely want to give it a try. The pear does look good, pity it wasn’t so amazing
The Zuccoto sounds brilliant!
You wouldn’t happen to know if this has any relation to the Melbourne pop-up-bar which said it would travel, a couple of years ago, of the same name?
Were they sponsored by Pure Blonde? If so, it could be one in the same. Nice to see they’re doing food now.
Hi fat mum slim-Hehe thanks for being such great company! xxx
Hi Lea Ann-Thankyou! Yes it was a raw fennel salad very thinly sliced or shaved
Hi joey-Really? haha well you had to be there I guess!
Hi Joyce-The building is really nice and it looks great!
Hi penny-yes it seems to be a newish concept!
Hi Liss-thanks, it was so much fun meeting up and thanks for the gorgeous passionfruit butter!
Hi Simon-yes teh menu is very reasonably priced for Sydney!
Hi sandra-it is! Yes I love that too and the tomatoes they bought the other day were glorious!
Hi Ella-Haha it’s so true!
Hi Steph-true true!
I hope so too 
Hi Sarah-Wow 5 hours!
Really? It’s both as far as I could see.
Hi Em-Me too!
Yes it would be a shame for it to close down so soon
Hi Cakelaw-That was so good!
Hi Forager-Yes do! I;d love to know what you think of it!
Hi Ellen-Oh that’s exciting! I wonder what that will be?
Hi Reality Raver-Well it’s not for everyone.
Hi Betty-I think somewhere should have something similar although I don’t know what it’s like!
Hi clekitty-hehe cool!
Yes that’s a great idea!
Hi Liv-yes it’s a fun idea!
Although a true pop up is less permanent than this one. Yes me neither, I used to make it though! 
Thankyou! 
Hi Conor-Hehe I didn’t even notice them until you mentioned them!
Hi Lauren-Yes it was pretty good!
Hi Howard-yes it’s a bit of both!
Yes it’s never a bad thing is it! 
Hi Arwen-OH yes those tomatoes, I want more of them!
Hi LouLou-Oh great!
That sounds lovely! 
Hi Julia-Indeed!
Hi Matilda-OH I had no idea, it’s so lovely! Haha I like it!
Hi Julia-I loved it!
Interesting about how some items work and some don’t!
Hi FFichiban-yes it was so purty!
hi Chefspiration-Indeedy! I like the idea
Hi ladyironchef-Some pates are amazing, some are average!
Hi Adrian-Hehe me too! I love a really good one
Yes the space is lovely!
Hi Katherine-Hehe I think it was quite evenly divided into 3 pieces so we had no choice
Hi Moya-Yes that is so true!
Hi Art and Appetite-You should!
I’d love to know what you think of it 
Hi Alex-I know, the pear had so much promise! *sigh* yes the other ones made up for it
Hi Heavenly Housewife-the courtyard would be great for ngihts but sadly as it’s a residential area it can’t be used at night!
Hi grace-Oh you should! It’s quite divine
Just don’t think about it 
Hi Yas-Oh what a shame! And they didn’t have anything left that was good?
pork milk pudding sounds wild! 
Hi 5 Star Foodie-They were pretty good!
Hi Trisha-I think it’s a newish sort of concept!
Hi Faith-Yes it’s great, you never get bored!
Hi Jamie-Hehe sorry about that but I get so hungry when I see your recipes so we’re even!
Hi Betty-yes we had such high hopes for the pear especially since i love pears! That was really good, I need to make mine soon methinks
Hi Jess-It may well be as they’re both sponsored by Pure Blonde!
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