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Friday, March 11, 2005

La Disfida, Haberfield

Whilst Napoli in Bocca is famous for its soft-cooked thicker crust pizzas, La Disfida serves up its polar opposite--pizzas with bases rolled out so thinly that crispiness and delicateness go hand-in-hand.

It's a Friday night and although it's still fairly early at 7pm, La Disfida is already starting to fill up with hungry patrons. There's a modern warm wood-and-brick feel to the place, with none of the red-and-white-checked-tablecloth kitschness of Napoli in Bocca.

A large woodfire oven dominates the groundfloor, the pizzas are being churned out at a furious pace, and the general buzz of conversation both downstairs and from tables overhead echo warmly throughout.


Action stations at the pizza prep bench.

As we waited for our orders to arrive, we had a stickybeak at the woodfire oven, admiring the dexterity and skill involved in propelling flimsy raw pizzas into a hot oven using a giant wooden paddle.


If you squint you can just make out the three pizzas at the back of the oven.


Bocconcini speck $9.00


This was surprisingly tasty, the melted bocconcini stretching endlessly into soft lassos and contrasting well with the crispy salted speck. The toothpicks were a little overwhelmed by the job though (we ended up using forks, and ok, we confess, fingers too) and we were already thinking ahead about the feasability/ease-ability of doing this one at home.


Spaghetti della casa $13.50
Rugola (roquette), prosciutto, fresh tomatoes, garlic, chilli and olive oil

When pasta is good, it's very very good and this one was definitely a winner. I love al dente pasta cooked just-so, and this stuff was devilishly more-ish. The explosion of flavours, the firmness of the pasta, the freshness of the rocket and the hint of chilli was all good baby, all good.


Disfida pizza $18.00
Tomato, mozzarella, ham, smoked mozzarella, olives, anchovies and capers



Barletta pizza $18.00
Tomato, mozzarella, prosciutto, basil, pepper and olive oil

You can see from the photo of the Barletta pizza how thin the crust is. The base was dry and so crispy it was almost like eating pizza made from Lebanese bread. Toppings are sparing here (although the bases probably couldn't cope with much topping anyway) and the menu clearly states that there are to be no topping variations or half-and-half pizzas.

If you like your pizzas thin and crispy then this place is heaven. Ooh and don't forget the pasta.

4 comments - Add some comment love

posted by Anonymous on 3/11/2005 11:59:00 pm


4 Comments:

  • At 3/16/2005 3:12 am, Blogger Ms One Boobie said…

    Well.. AG,
    I always love my pizza thin.. so this is definitely a place for me.. when i come back for a visit.. :)
    And i do love spaghetti.. so double bonus.. ;)

     
  • At 3/16/2005 11:36 pm, Blogger pinkcocoa said…

    hey AG
    I brought my cousin here when she was visiting from overseas. She loves the pizza there. It's still the best pizza we had in Sydney. Did you guys try their chocolate cake? It's sooooo divine!
    I am gonna give the bocconcini speck a try if ever I visit again. It just looks so delicious!

     
  • At 4/10/2005 9:43 pm, Blogger DiveMummy said…

    Sigh....brings back fond memories of the amazing food in Italy...real Italian pizza epitomises the "less is more" concept.

     
  • At 10/24/2006 9:03 am, Blogger 'signorina' said…

    I LOVE Disfida - but miss Grant, our cute and friendly waiter.

    Nothing can beat their penne pastore, followed by a margherita. Bliss.

     

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