A taste of Somethin’ Somethin’
Mount Maunganui’s cheekiest café is shaking up the scene with matcha magic, cult-status offcuts and a drinks menu that’s anything but ordinary.
WORDS Hayley Barnett | PHOTOS Rachel Hadfield, Timmo and Sarah Brooky
Tucked behind a couple of shops on Mount Maunganui’s Heath Street is a café where somethin’ cool is brewing. And I don’t mean the coffee, though that’s good, and super cool, too.
The old Heath Street Café is now being run by dynamic husband-and-wife duo Nathan and Ash, a foodie couple who admit Somethin’ Somethin’ wasn’t always the plan. In fact, Ash didn’t even know Nathan had bought the place until it was a done deal.
“I think if I’d known, I probably would’ve talked him out of it,” she laughs. Thankfully, she didn’t. What started as a spontaneous leap into hospitality has turned into one of the Mount’s most loved destinations for coffee, creative snacks and viral drinks.
Ever tried a white chocolate or strawberry matcha? Ash, now the mastermind behind the drinks menu, didn’t know what matcha was at first, but, since learning about the healthy beverage, she’s gone
deep down the rabbit hole.
“I just started Googling and experimenting,” she says, “and now people literally drive from out of town for our drinks.”
These drinks aren’t just photogenic, they’re genuinely delicious. And yes, they make great content for the ‘gram, but what really sets Somethin’ Somethin’ apart is how it doesn’t try to be just another café.
“We didn’t want to open a regular place,” Ash says. “We wanted to do something a little different. We wanted to make it a place people go out of their way for.” And they have. From their now-iconic “offcuts” (random bits of delicious baked goods that became so popular they now sell out daily) to their ever-evolving menu inspired by international coffee trends, Somethin’ Somethin’ is always doing, well, something.
Take their trip to the Melbourne Coffee Expo earlier this year, for example. That sparked an entire menu revamp.
“In Melbourne, people take their coffee so seriously,” Ash says. “Every café had its own coffee menu, cocktail-style. We came home and thought, why aren’t we doing that?”
Now, they serve up seasonal coffee specials that go beyond the flat white, like their signature Mount Blanc.
Food-wise, Nathan brings the ideas. A self-proclaimed foodie who never wanted to be “on the tools”, he’s the brain behind the food menu, while their tight-knit kitchen team brings them to life. After winning Battle of the Snack at the Flavours of Plenty festival, they also took out the People's Choice Award, beating local heavyweights. “We didn’t think we’d win again,” Ash says. “I didn’t even go into work that day!”
And while it still looks and feels like a café (for now), Somethin’ Somethin’ is constantly pushing the boundaries. With event catering and collabs with local brands, Ash and Nathan are dreaming bigger than just brunch. “We want it to be a community hub,” says Ash, “but also a destination café. The kind of place you tell your friends about.”
They’ve nailed both.