What do you get when a third generation chef and a former Momofuku bartender, chef and front of house collaborate? Food that's creative, funky, fermented and full of flavour. Something Something Bistro is a pop-up by Nance Liong and Gaspar Tse. Find out what is on the menu!
Dear Reader, I'm starting with the bad news: Something Something Bistro is open two nights a week: Thursday and Friday night and the final nights are tonight and tomorrow night. The pop-up is located at 137 Oxford Street in Darlinghurst. Upstairs is Bitter Phew where we previously went to try Tenacious Bakery's pizza pop-up.
For the last few weeks Nance Liong and Gaspar Tse have been serving up a menu with high-low Asian fusion hits. The menu is presented like a Chinese takeaway menu folded over in threes and has a range of signature cocktails, wines and beers plus food. Nance says, "It's the first time we're working together. We met during a PS40 Takeover Tuesday last year when Gaspar and Enrico took over in August last year and kept in contact after. We were playing with an idea to collaborate somehow with a concept that was food and beverage focused but also didn't take itself too seriously. We wanted it to be a bit playful and reminiscent of all the best tables that are shared with friends and family."
We start with drinks. Mr NQN has a Something Something Martini which was inspired by Nance's sister's freezer martinis and their love of tea. It's made with Archie Rose straight dry gin, vermouth, oolong tea and a speared water chestnut instead of an olive. I choose the 5 spice Cola with Chinese 5 spice, ginger, tangerine peel and soda water. Nance explains, "I had a jerk spice cola recipe since 2020 when I was still at Momofuku Seiōbo but when Paul (Carmichael) asked for it to open Kabawa it felt right for him to have it." She workshopped the idea for years and it finally came together in time to open Something Something Bistro.
The starters come out shortly after. I really enjoy the scallion pancake that is served like a business envelope folded over into a rectangular pancake and sliced up. The black garlic and scallion pancake has sweet black garlic sauce. Gaspar explains the process of making this, "The dough is rolled very thin, brushed with a Sichuan-spiced oil paste and folded repeatedly to create a soft, flaky interior. We sear it on the grill before finishing it in the pizza oven, giving the outside a blistered, pizza-like char. It's topped with a reduction of Chinese black vinegar and our house-made Hotluck chilli crisp."
The siu mai donut has definite prawn toast vibes but made with a siu mai inspired filling of whipped pork, prawn, ginger, scallion and garlic. It is then coated in sesame seeds and finished with plenty of chives and tobiko. It's crunchy, poppy and textural, everything that you want from a starter.
The clay pot is actually not a sizzling hot clay pot but a cold clay pot with tuna crudo, puffed rice, a soy cured yolk and lup cheong XO. You break the egg to dress the whole thing luscious and I enjoy the tiny pops of crispy puffed rice. I would have loved to have tasted a bit more of the Lup Cheong XO.
The Carbonara is one of the signature dishes and one of the standouts. It's an udon version of carbonara with noodles tossed in a seasoning paste made from house-fermented black garlic oil emulsified with green scallions with guanciale, black garlic, rendered guanciale pork fat soy, chilli crisp butter and soft egg and a final dusting of pecorino cheese. Again it is all about breaking the yolk to dress the rest of the dish and it gives it a lovely creaminess coating all of the noodles and all of those layers of flavour.
Gaspar explains the process of making the smoked char siu, "The pork neck is brined and slow-cooked until tender, then glazed with a traditional char siu marinade made with red fermented bean curd, dark soy, oyster sauce and five spice." The smoked char siu is served with pickled daikon and carrot and is sliced and lightly smoked with a ginger scallion sauce on top. The char siu is luscious and moist. Make sure to order some steamed rice for this.
The lettuce "captured alive" is actually a play on the word celtuce which in a mistranslation means "captured alive." Nance describes this as their version of a Caesar salad but made with Asian ingredients. I remember seeing my dad open up tins of dace fish and he would eat this pungent fish with rice. The rest of our family completely stayed away from it and here they treated it in the same way that you would add anchovies where it is blended with salted black beans, soft tofu and Chinese vinegar, with large crisp cos lettuce and youtiao or Chinese doughnuts that are super crunchy and double-fried and ikan bilis for extra crunch and umami.
The potato survived a storm is their take on Pommes Anna or crispy layered potatoes made with clarified butter with Sichuan peppercorn, roasted garlic, cumin and paprika (all of the flavours of a Sichuan hotpot). It is then roasted, pressed overnight, portioned and fried cut into 3D triangles for maximum earth shattering crunch in every bite. It sits in a fermented bean-curd butter sauce made with white fermented bean curd (aka fuyu) emulsified with butter like a beurre blanc.
There are two desserts but we can fit in just one so we go with their recommendation. Baba au Baijiu is a take on the classic Rum Baba but made with a traditional Malay cake. Malay cake is steamed, then soaked while warm in a baijiu sugar syrup (baijiu is a Chinese sorghum liqueur). It's then resteamed to order and served with tapioca pearls cooked in gula Melaka and coconut milk and finished with a quenelle of whipped Chantilly cream. While I am not the hugest rum baba fan I love this version especially with the chewy boba balls and a touch of the whipped cream.
And on your way out there's white rabbit lollies and stickers for guests!
So tell me Dear Reader, have you ever eaten at a pop-up restaurant before? Which dishes appeal to you the most?
This meal was independently paid for.
Something Something Bistro
137 Oxford Street, Darlinghurst
From 5:30pm Thursday and Friday September 2026 (walk-ins welcome but booking recommended via Instagram DM)
www.instagram.com/somethingsomethingbistro/
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