Starry Kitchen returns for one night, with crispy balls

Nguyen Tran and his crispy tofu balls are back in action.

The co-owner of Starry Kitchen, along with his chef-wife, Thi, will be cooking for one night only Thursday as part of an exclusive pop-up dinner from Uber Eats.

You can use the Uber food delivery app, on the East or West Side of town, to order Starry Kitchen’s signature Malaysian chicken curry with Okinawan sweet potatoes and carrots, a side of crispy tofu balls and Sriracha aioli.

And Uber promises your crispy balls in 10 minutes or less.

This is the first time Starry Kitchen has resurfaced after Tran’s failed attempt to raise half a million dollars through a Kickstarter campaign to save the restaurant late last year.

The Kickstarter campaign, named #SaveOurBalls, was meant to help raise money for Tran and his wife to find a permanent spot for the restaurant, which popped up every Wednesday and Saturday evening at the Grand Star Jazz Club in Chinatown.

In a review of a Starry Kitchen pop-up, Times restaurant critic Jonathan Gold said the restaurant was capable of breaking hearts when it ran out of its signature Singaporean chile crab.

Tran and his wife started an occasional pop-up in their North Hollywood apartment before moving to the California Plaza food court on Bunker Hill. He’s done marijuana-laced dinners with the pop-up group 4/20 dinners, was offering order-online lunches from a cooler by the Angels Flight in downtown, and popped up at Tiara Cafe before landing at the Grand Star Jazz Club.

Just before launching the campaign, Tran said if he didn’t raise the money, it could be the end of Starry Kitchen.

“There is no other plan,” said Tran. “If this doesn’t work, we’re shutting it all down. Not because we’re mad or sad. We’re happy with what we’ve accomplished, but we need to just go forward and be happy.”

We’ll wait to see where the restaurant pops up next and keep you posted.

Anyone else have Jerry Lee Lewis stuck in their head right now? Follow me on Twitter and Instagram @Jenn_Harris_