La Spiaggia — Restaurant in Sydney

Updating my review to add recent experiences. La Spiaggia is still my go to for Italian cuisine in the Eastern suburbs, and my favourite restaurant in the area, even though I no longer live in Coogee.

What with recent events in 2020, I found myself wanting a La Spiaggia meal but being hesitant to travel out for it. Deliveroo came to the rescue, and delivered my order less than 15 minutes after I'd put the order in. The pizza was crisp, the bread was warm, and the tomato topping for the bruschetta was cold, as it all should be. And the pizza had on it the extra topping I requested. Yes, their pizza costs more than Domino's, but the reason for it is that it's real Italian pizza not just generic fast food, and they don't scrimp on the quality of ingredients.

A pro tip if you're dining in is to check the specials sheet when you walk in, and the blackboard in the back which lists the current special dessert. Some occasional specials of note are their osso bucco, which is an extremely satisfying and generous cool season meal, and if you like crab and pasta with napolitano sauce, their crab pasta. I've enjoyed some of their unusual gnocchi specials and their veal scallopini as well.

Another pro tip: If you want just a taste of pasta along with a salad for dinner, because you're watching your kilojoules, order a kids' size Spaghettini a la Ragu along with your salad or small entree.

Recommended for after dinner, if you're dining in, is the Espresso Corretto with a shot of sambuca. :-) And then DON'T put sugar in it before you taste it, or you'll regret it. I can't believe how many decades of my adult life went by before I found out about that; it's the best coffee drink that's ever been invented.

Some comments about points raised in other reviews. Yes, it's pricy compared to the Western suburbs or Inner West. We locals call it the "Eastern Suburbs tax." It's pretty much a given around here that things will cost more along the water in the Eastern suburbs than they will elsewhere in Sydney. There are well known and well-liked venues in the area that offer lesser quality food for similar prices.

And no, their pastas (at least those that come with red sauce) are not typically swimming in sauce; this is the authentic Italian approach, in which the pasta rather than the sauce is the standout ingredient. If you want more sauce than usual, just ask that they put a bit extra on, when you order it.

My review from 2 years ago: Ran into friends as I walked in and was invited to join them for dinner. We had mixed seafood grill plated and pasta, shared family style. Despite being a seafood fan regular here, I'd never had the grilled seafood plate. It contained bug, prawn, squid tubes, mussels, and a portion of fish fillet, and everything I tried was cooked to perfection. Service here is consistently good and La Spiaggia is a proper restaurant rather than a cafe. I recommend it for...

We came in on Thursday April 8th with a group of 4 adults, 3 year old and 3 month old around 5pm when it wasn’t to busy. The “owner” or “manager” really needs to change his attitude if he’s in the customer service industry not look people up and down and look with discust when asked if there’s a baby change table in the restrooms at the restaurant. I know right how irrational for a mother to be asking if there was a place she could change a nappy how insane of me to think the restaurant was family friendly. The food was mediocre with the bottom of the pizzas tasting burnt over powering the toppings. but they wouldn’t no that because not at one point we were asked was our food okay, would we like more drinks, would we like to look at a dessert menu. My 3 year old was sitting on her chair watching pizzas be made being put in and coming out of the oven when she fell off and hit her face on the floor. You would think at some point someone would come and ask if she’s okay if they could do anything to help a small child crying NOPE not at one point were we asked we were starred at and made to feel like we don’t belong. Best part is when we walked in I had asked for a high chair because she’s 3 ! The “MANAGER” made the decision because he’s her parent and knows her best not to give me one. Clearly a bias restaurant for his friends only as all he could do was run around smiling and hugging them. will never be back if you want GREAT Italian food go to Haberfield you won’t be looked...

We dined here for date night on a Friday night with a reservation and we won’t be returning. The service was lack lustre and we needed to ask for service and basics like water, the correct serving crockery (spoons for a wet dish) for our table to be cleared and then to actually pay our bill.

Our oysters were great but everything after that was only okay.

Very bland bruschetta, unripe tomato’s, no fresh basil and about two drops of olive oil on hard, cold toast.

Shared mussels that were under seasoned but were kinda okay once we asked for and added some chilli flakes.

We shared a marinara fettuccine pasta at mid high $30’s price point and it was very clear the quality of seafood was imported, frozen and not at all close to fresh.

The pasta was undercooked (far more than al dente) and also seemed not to be fresh.

I would have been happy to provide any of this feedback in person but not a single wait staff asked us how anything was.

Even when paying they dumped the eftpos machine on our table and left before we processed the transaction.

We could have had a better and cheaper basic seafood and pasta night at home.

Disappointing as we regularly walk past the restaurant and it’s buzzing with energy.

The redeeming 2 stars - the space is quite cute, wine was tasty & the people ordering pizzas around us looked happy and they are clearly making them from scratch. Perhaps that’s what we should...