La Disfida Haberfield — Restaurant in Sydney

Tried to book this restaurant for my sisters birthday on the 26th October at 730pm. Our booking was refused because we gave them a courtesy notice that my mum would be bringing her licensed guide dog. Your entire staff should familiarise yourself with the law. It’s illegal under several policies. There was a conversation with the restaurant and the organiser who explained what a guide dog was and that it was illegal to refuse him entry into the restaurant. He was then told again that the restaurant simply refuses to have any dogs. This means the denial for booking was extremely clear, right? We made a complaint to guide dogs NSW who contacted the restaurant, spoke with the manager who insisted that the booking must’ve been cancelled because of the size of the booking. This is a complete and utter lie- the size of the booking was never mentioned. Check with your staff: whoever spoke to someone at around 6pm on 24/10/2018 used the guide dog as a flat out reason for denying the booking. We have no reason to lie – it is the birthday girls favourite restaurant so why would we not take her there? If you are thinking of going to this restaurant, I strongly urge you to reconsider. They do not deserve your hard earned money. Please take your business to a different establishment that does not discriminate or bully. My mother’s money is just as good as any other customer and she deserves to be treated with respect. Her guide dog is an essential key to her confidence and independence. Oh, and the cherry on top- the manager said they’d be happy to arrange a booking when speaking with Guide Dogs NSW. You’re kidding, right? You think we’ll give you money now? Get a reality check! Our party will take its business to a different restaurant that welcomes guide dogs and won’t humiliate its customers. I don’t care how good their food is supposed to be- please don’t support this restaurant. They don’t deserve it. At the very least, they don’t invest time or effort into training their staff about laws that have been in place since the 90s. At the very worst, they freely discriminate and bully, then try to lie about it when caught out to avoid a well...

We have been loyal customers of La Disfida for many years, always supporting this lovely Italian restaurant, and last night we celebrated our mum’s 80th birthday there with a beautiful dinner. As always, the staff were attentive, the food was outstanding, and the ambience was warm and inviting.

What truly sets La Disfida apart is that it remains one of the few restaurants that have maintained great value for money. While many places have reduced portion sizes and increased prices, it’s evident they have not followed suit. Every one of our guests commented on how well-priced the meals were and how satisfying each dish was—you actually leave feeling full and content, unlike so many other places these days.

We enjoyed a fantastic selection of dishes, including our all-time favourite casarecce pasta, the spicy Diavola pizza, crispy salt and pepper calamari, perfectly cooked polenta chips, and the Bianca specials pizza, which was simply divine—one of the best pizzas we’ve ever had. We also loved the rich and flavourful saffron pappardelle and the classic Capricciosa and Gamberi pizzas. For dessert we had the Tiramisu which was hands down one of the best in Sydney, the Mix berries with cold zabaglione and the panacotta with seasoned fruit which were equally mouthwatering!

We’ll definitely be back again soon—can’t wait for our next meal...

(4.5 stars) The virus has added hand santisiser and elbow bumps to La Disfida’s repertoire, but otherwise this Haberfield stalwart puts out the same warm, convivial vibe it always has. I was delighted to find the famous Chef Danny Russo on the floor on a casual Wednesday evening, pumping out a chalkboard menu of well-handled and well-constructed specials that change every week.

Sardines ($23), prepared in-house, shine against olive tapanade on focaccia. Baby leeks ($22) are roasted whole in the wood-fire oven then topped with stracciatele and bright orange dusting of shaved bottarga. Witlof ($20) joins broad beans, heirloom baby carrots and whole almonds in white balsamic for a generous winter salad that will spark joy in the most jaded palate (surely by now getting bored with hearty stodge).

Orecchiette ($29) is al dente—dare I say chewy?—against sausage, citta Di rapa (turnip tops) and truffle. Punches savoury middle like nobody’s business and I’m hard pressed to name a better one in 14 years of writing about food. The bianca pizza special ($27) works similar turf with sausage, broccoli, potato, pecorino and magnificent little olives that eat like red wine on a well-executed “king of the thin” base. It won’t travel so eat in: you can save on the wine bill by using BYO early in the week. Kicking myself for not...