serpserpserp

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

6 Average

Food  8      Ambience  7      Service  5      Value  4     

Went to Dolcissimo the other day for lunch, considering that it is pretty much the only restaurant open in Haberfield for a Monday lunch and it is the Christmas period, it was pretty busy, so I will give them a pass on the slow service and cooking time. However, I can imagine this is not the place you'd want to go to for a lunch under an hour if the place was over half full. We only ordered one pizza and one side salad with 2 drinks and it took about 30 minutes for the salad to arrive, then an extra 15 for the pizza.

The food was nice though, salad was over dressed, but as it was only olive oil and balsamic I didn't mind too much and it was moped up by the bread provided (which was a nice touch even if it came out after the salad). I would come back and eat here again because I did enjoy the food, but for 1 pizza, 1 salad and 2 soft drinks to equal $40, it isn't cheap.

Dec 20, 2011

2.5 Not Recommended

Food  2      Ambience  2      Service  3      Value  3     

For a couple of years I've wondered if this place was a hidden Italian prize in Newtown. After all they really don't have to beat out many places in the local area to be considered good. Tonight I went for dinner and was seriously underwhelmed, I didn't mind the old school late 70s early 80s flavour of the place and uncomfortable seating, I didn't mind that there was a stereo blasting out some radio station music on to its customers even though it is for the benefit of the staff only, I didn't even mind the lack of selection on the menu (you don't need to list out every type of pasta dish combination) with its hard to read green, red and black (for a spin out, try reading the last page...)

I guess what I really didn't like about the place was the service, which now reading over the reviews on the place on this site, you'd think it is suppose to be one of its strong points. The staff were somewhat tolerant of my presence, but hardly accommodating, there were a total of 4 customers in the place when we got there but we were seated right next to the kitchen/stereo speakers, I understand there are bookings and what not, but 95% of the restaurant was empty.

The food was very average, I had ravioli with a cream and tomato sauce but the strong taste in the meal was spice/pepper, it honestly looked very "Latina Fresh", yes that stuff you buy from the supermarket that takes about 5 minutes to cook. My partner has a seafood pasta dish which consisted of frozen seafood and mussels which were inedible and also unpleasing to the eye.

One of the wait staff continued to pour cheese on my dish even after I asked him to stop. The same guy came and made a point of cleaning half of our table away even though I was still eating my meal. I felt a little bit cheated to be honest with paying for this meal, in a place like King Street with so many small restaurants vying for your dollars in these tough times, you could do a lot better going somewhere else.

As an eatability user that often refers to the reviews on this site before eating out somewhere, be wary of the high scoring 1 review users pumping up the stats on this restaurant.

Apr 25, 2009

7 Recommended

Food  7      Ambience  5      Service  6      Value  10     

This place is good value for money if you want a burger meal on King St. I believe this is probably why the place is full most Thu, Fri and Sat nights. Food is good quality and the price matches the expectation. Although I am a personal fan of Burger Fuel and would prefer to go there over this place, this is a very close second and if I was on a tight budget, would dine here.

Feb 21, 2009

8.3 Highly Recommended

Food  9      Ambience  7      Service  8      Value  9     

I ate here this afternoon on a whim, found the place to be great value for money. We tried two dishes that aren't usually part of your standard Turkish take away menu (Icli Kofte, Iskendar Kebab) and surprisingly they were served up quite thoughtfully and relatively quick considering how busy the place was. We sat in the courtyard which can feel a little cramped and uneven when full but is nice.

The service is was great, staff were attentive without being over zealous. Ended up costing me $31 all up with two soft drinks, but I can tell you that my dining partner and myself were stuffed afterwards. I'll be trying this place again in the near future!

Feb 21, 2009

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

6 Average

Food  8      Ambience  7      Service  5      Value  4     

Went to Dolcissimo the other day for lunch, considering that it is pretty much the only restaurant open in Haberfield for a Monday lunch and it is the Christmas period, it was pretty busy, so I will give them a pass on the slow service and cooking time. However, I can imagine this is not the place you'd want to go to for a lunch under an hour if the place was over half full. We only ordered one pizza and one side salad with 2 drinks and it took about 30 minutes for the salad to arrive, then an extra 15 for the pizza.

The food was nice though, salad was over dressed, but as it was only olive oil and balsamic I didn't mind too much and it was moped up by the bread provided (which was a nice touch even if it came out after the salad). I would come back and eat here again because I did enjoy the food, but for 1 pizza, 1 salad and 2 soft drinks to equal $40, it isn't cheap.

Dec 20, 2011

2.5 Not Recommended

Food  2      Ambience  2      Service  3      Value  3     

For a couple of years I've wondered if this place was a hidden Italian prize in Newtown. After all they really don't have to beat out many places in the local area to be considered good. Tonight I went for dinner and was seriously underwhelmed, I didn't mind the old school late 70s early 80s flavour of the place and uncomfortable seating, I didn't mind that there was a stereo blasting out some radio station music on to its customers even though it is for the benefit of the staff only, I didn't even mind the lack of selection on the menu (you don't need to list out every type of pasta dish combination) with its hard to read green, red and black (for a spin out, try reading the last page...)

I guess what I really didn't like about the place was the service, which now reading over the reviews on the place on this site, you'd think it is suppose to be one of its strong points. The staff were somewhat tolerant of my presence, but hardly accommodating, there were a total of 4 customers in the place when we got there but we were seated right next to the kitchen/stereo speakers, I understand there are bookings and what not, but 95% of the restaurant was empty.

The food was very average, I had ravioli with a cream and tomato sauce but the strong taste in the meal was spice/pepper, it honestly looked very "Latina Fresh", yes that stuff you buy from the supermarket that takes about 5 minutes to cook. My partner has a seafood pasta dish which consisted of frozen seafood and mussels which were inedible and also unpleasing to the eye.

One of the wait staff continued to pour cheese on my dish even after I asked him to stop. The same guy came and made a point of cleaning half of our table away even though I was still eating my meal. I felt a little bit cheated to be honest with paying for this meal, in a place like King Street with so many small restaurants vying for your dollars in these tough times, you could do a lot better going somewhere else.

As an eatability user that often refers to the reviews on this site before eating out somewhere, be wary of the high scoring 1 review users pumping up the stats on this restaurant.

Apr 25, 2009

7 Recommended

Food  7      Ambience  5      Service  6      Value  10     

This place is good value for money if you want a burger meal on King St. I believe this is probably why the place is full most Thu, Fri and Sat nights. Food is good quality and the price matches the expectation. Although I am a personal fan of Burger Fuel and would prefer to go there over this place, this is a very close second and if I was on a tight budget, would dine here.

Feb 21, 2009

8.3 Highly Recommended

Food  9      Ambience  7      Service  8      Value  9     

I ate here this afternoon on a whim, found the place to be great value for money. We tried two dishes that aren't usually part of your standard Turkish take away menu (Icli Kofte, Iskendar Kebab) and surprisingly they were served up quite thoughtfully and relatively quick considering how busy the place was. We sat in the courtyard which can feel a little cramped and uneven when full but is nice.

The service is was great, staff were attentive without being over zealous. Ended up costing me $31 all up with two soft drinks, but I can tell you that my dining partner and myself were stuffed afterwards. I'll be trying this place again in the near future!

Feb 21, 2009

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful

6.8 Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  5      Service  8      Value  6     

I have visited Cicciolina about 5 times over the last year, twice in the last 2 weeks, it is currently my favourite Italian restaurant on King Street. The food is pretty good at a decent price and the service staff are probably a cut above some of the other places in the area.

I guess my only gripes with the place is that it can get very loud in there even when the place is only half full. If you go on a weekend when the place is packed out, you have to scream across your table to have a conversation. Secondly who charges $3 corkage per person at your table? I found that a bit rich, if you have over 4 in your party it is cheaper to buy something off their wine list.

Or maybe that is supposed to be the point.....

Feb 16, 2008

4 Below Average

Food  5      Ambience  5      Service  3      Value  3     

I have been dying to try Twelve for a really long time. I've walked past the place many times on jaunts down King Street and saw the place was quite large and seemed modern and inviting and fairly busy so I thought it must be pretty decent fare.

I went with a party of 4 and was greeted kindly by the waiter and sat down in a comfortable side table near the front windows. We all ordered an array of different food and shared it around between us. I had the pasta with the slow cooked beef as the sauce, I must say I was pretty underwhelmed with this dish, the pasta had come straight out of a packet and was uninspiring, the sauce was pretty tasty but overall the dish was lacking and I couldn't finish it.

I tasted the bread roll side which has to be the biggest rip off at over $6, it was just a small roll with olive oil and plain balsamic, I also had the side of grilled vegetables which was also pretty average, considering half the bowl was filled with rocket, I was thinking they should consider renaming this side. Next to be tasted was the saganaki dish which was also lacking, with some average cheese used that wasn't very salty when you sort of expect that.

The only positive I had on the food was the pizza I tried which in all fairness was pretty tasty, they had a nice thin base and above average authentic toppings which I felt was decent value for money.

All in all, it was pretty average and considering the money our group spent there, I felt we were short changed. The service in the end was a bit downhill as well, with the waiter forgetting the only drink our table ordered (a lemonade) while the rest of us had byo wine, which was also messed up by bringing out a wine bucket with no ice in it, who does that?

Then to top it all off the waiter stood over us while we looked over the bill and were deciding on what kind of tip to leave, which is an uncomfortable experience to say the least.

Feb 16, 2008

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

6.8 Recommended

Food  8      Drinks  8      Ambience  8      Service  3      Value  7     

I am surprised that no one has reviewed this place considering how busy it has been since its opening. The food area of this place is actually known as "Oscars bar & grill". The place does some pretty decent food, the ribs are really good and are cheap on Mondays! They do some pretty nice cocktails if you're up for it and have a decent supply of beer on tap.

The place is more suited for a drinking hole though, with some really nice upstairs areas if you have a large group.

I take points off the service due to the annoying SMS messages I get constantly for signing up for a birthday promotion. I am pretty sure I didn't agree to receiving them, or the form did't make it clear I would receive promotions from them. Anyway, don't let that deter you too much from checking them out. Just don't put your mobile number anywhere!

Feb 11, 2008

7.4 Recommended

Food  7      Drinks  7      Ambience  7      Service  7      Value  9     

I have eaten here twice over the last 2 weeks, I must say I was a bit scared after reading this website on how the food and staff would be, I must say that I experienced nothing but good things when I have eaten here for dinner on Monday nights.

The food is pretty good considering they start at $6 a plate and you're in a pub, so no complaints there, the staff are polite without being friendly (we are in a pub afterall) and the time it took for them to cook a meal even when it was pretty full was about 15 to 20 minutes.

So I'd recommend this place to people and I will also go back and dine again, I haven't tried a lunchtime meal here though, so I'd recommend coming for dinner if you want your experience to reflect what I did.

Feb 18, 2007

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

7.5 Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  7      Service  7      Value  8     

Have had a few pizza's from here, looks to be a locals favorite, pizzas are all charged by size it would seem, so $12 for a large pizza with whatever you want on it (within moderation i'm sure) is fantastic value. The pizza itself is pretty good, more doughy than its local competitors, which depending on how you like your pizzas is a good thing.

Whenever I'm in the mood for a traditional pizza I always head to Franks.

Feb 18, 2007