La Disfida Enoteca Pizza

9.5 Highly Recommended

Food  10      Ambience  10      Service  10      Value  8     

A lot of people come on here to complain about the service of this place. Sounds like some people are a bit precious, things go wrong in a restaurant as do they go wrong in our workplaces, homes, recreational activities etc. I think we need to cut people some slack sometimes.

Anyway, onto La Disfida, my first experience tonight, I was like to get a table turning up at 6pm, this place is still very popular and with good reason. The Five Dock/Haberfield area is full of Italian restaurants but are lacking in quality or, the prices just don't add up to what is generally served on the plate (Home cooking styled mains aren't worth $30+ a plate people).

La Disfida isn't your corner store pizza place, it is expensive for pizza, but it delivers on quality, ambience and service. Everything I ate tonight was quality, and the service enjoyable. I also like the atmosphere, even if it is a little loud upstairs, but it is to be expected for a very full restaurant.

People complain about having to wait for a table, but it is a testament to how good this place is (or, perhaps, the poor quality of the 4 or 5 restaurants with 50 metres of this place which serve Italian food but are still half empty.)

I hope the other proprietors in the area lift their game a little, or either drop their prices. Otherwise until this happens La Disfida will always have a queue most nights of the week.

Apr 14, 2012 

8.3 Highly Recommended

Food  9      Ambience  8      Service  8      Value  8     

We visit La Disfida every month or two. This restaurant is all about the entrees, the dessert and the pizza (in that order). The specials board is where it all happens, seasonal specials, so last time we had figs wrapped in prosciutto stuffed with gorgonzola for the entree. It was wonderful. We often have the diavola pizza (which can be really really hot), but tried the pizza with ham, artichokes, olives and mushrooms (one quarter each). It was interesting, but not our thing.

The dessert, flourless chocolate cake, was divine. Really really good. BYO is also great. If you go early you don't have to wait for a table, but there are lots of kids. Once you get to 7pm on a weekend, expect to wait a bit, but it's worth it. The service is pretty good. The only downside is that it gets pretty loud (no soft furnishings). Will be back, many many times.

Apr 08, 2012 

3.8 Below Average

Food  8      Ambience  3      Service  1      Value  3     

I recently visited La Disfida with my mother and grandmother who were visiting from interstate. We decided to head here after a previous positive dining experience.

The waiter who initially seated us was very polite and accommodating. The waitress who told us the specials mumbled her way through the menu. A third waitress took our order to who I'm informed that three of us would be sharing a pasta and salad for a main, while my fiancé was having a pizza.

Our entrees were lovely and came to the table in a timely fashion. The mains then came out minus the pizza. A fourth waiter said he had called the pasta and salad assuming we were sharing them and then the pizza. We were then told it would be a few minutes. Three of us had finished the pasta and salad and the pizza had still not arrived. I questioned the waiter who began to apologise.

Then the fourth waiter who had interfered initially came to us with the pizza and began yelling at myself, saying he had explained what the problem was. I then asked for the bill, he threw the pizza on the bench. I spoke to this waiter again on the way out informing him that his rude behaviour had ruined the night. He then followed me out the car saying he was stressed and initially yelled because he was so busy.

In all the years of dining out in various places in Sydney I have never come across such rude and unprofessional behaviour. The food is great, if you can stomach the staff!

Jan 19, 2012 

9.3 Highly Recommended

Food  9      Ambience  9      Service  10      Value  9     

Great food, Awesome pizzas, Love the stuffed zucchini flowers and polenta chips with Gorgonzola sauce. The pasta could be better but still quite tasty. Great wine list and always fantastic service. One of my favorites in Sydney.

Jan 10, 2012 

8.3 Highly Recommended

Food  9      Ambience  8      Service  8      Value  8     

I have been here a few times over the years and they have certainly turned it around. I always found the food great, but service was poor in the past. Much better now though and the food is still great!

Dec 07, 2011 

7.8 Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  8      Service  8      Value  7     

High standard of food and service, and the atmosphere inside is warm and lively. Strangely, considering their name, we found the pasta (amatriciana - one of the specials) to be our favourite dish, rather than the pizza. Value is on the high side. I don't often order soft drink at restaurants, but $4.50 for a can of coke seems a bit steep.

Read more on my blog

Dec 07, 2011 

7.8 Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  8      Service  7      Value  8     

This place has listened to its customers. When it stared it was like the soup kitchen on Seinfeld-great food but lousy service. But they have really turned it around. The food/pizza is really good, and now the service is great .

Oct 16, 2011 

8.8 Highly Recommended

Food  9      Ambience  8      Service  9      Value  9     

The food here is authentic Italian. The pizzas are definitely the best I've tried in Sydney and their homemade desserts are pretty good too. I found the staff to be friendly and attentive. Haberfield is taking over from Leichhardt as the place for good Italian food.

Oct 11, 2011 

10 Highly Recommended

Food  10      Ambience  10      Service  10      Value  10     

This is my new favorite restaurant in Sydney. What a find. Snappy, happy service; buzzy friendly atmosphere and some of the best tasting (and well priced) Italian food I have had for a very long time.

Pizzas are wafer thin and popping with flavour, the blackboard specials change regularly and it's BYO. I kind of don't want anyone to know about this place as I want it to myself, but the owners deserve big success.

We were a party of 5 who sat down at an allotted time (8.15 pm). We were served quickly and our waitress was keen to keep us informed of all the specials. The range was great and the food arrived at a good pace. The beetroot salad was tasty as was the eggplant entree. Mains for us was either pizzas or pastas and the servings were generous and the taste excellent.

This is all a good restaurant should be: unpretentious, atmospheric, great value and truly delicious, unfussy food. Loved it!

Oct 09, 2011 

7.5 Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  7      Service  8      Value  7     

Agree with others, Great pizza here! great service too.

Aug 15, 2011