Before setting sail on our cruise to Bermuda, we spent a night in NYC. I enjoyed the movie Serendipity & have always wanted to eat at the famous restaurant featured in the film. Excitingly, we managed to get a reservation & enjoy some seriously delicious desserts! I am going to tell you all about it – in my Serendipity 3 Review!
Serendipity 3 is located on East 60th st. It’s clean cut & modest from the outside. There are a couple steps down & when you open the door you are in another world! The place is full of treasures. You enter through a hallway full of little things for sale. At the end of the hall is the host & restaurant. We sat downstairs, there is an upstairs as well that we didn’t see.
The downstairs is decorated with lots of unique lamps, plates & wall coverings. The stained glass fixtures were stunning & each one is unique.
Serendipity 3 serves proper food, but we were there for desserts! The menu is huge! They are famous for their frozen hot chocolates & sundaes. You can see the menu below & behind me is the entrance hall with the items for sale (not a great picture but it’s the only one I have).
It all sounds quite magical, right? As it should be – it’s like stepping into a fairy tale. Unfortunately, there were two points that let Serendipity 3 down & I’m going to get them out of the way now.
First off, the staff ruined the ambience of an otherwise amazing setting. We were met at the door by a rude host who acted more like a bouncer. The hallway was full of people waiting for a table & he told us we couldn’t come in despite having a reservation. It was POURING rain outside – buckets full! If it wasn’t for my telling him to let me in out of the rain with the children we would have been left standing outside. We checked in with the host but because we were early & our table wasn’t ready yet, we had to stand outside under a neighbouring business’s awning until we were called. After being seated, our waiter was abrupt & impatient. When we asked to hear the ice cream flavours, he let out a big sigh & went through them in disgust. A little smile & friendly manner goes a long way in making people feel welcome & enhancing their experience.
The second issue was that there’s only 1 toilet for women & 1 for the men. There was a line of women & children that wrapped around the downstairs tables. My daughter & I stood in line for 15 minutes waiting for our turn. Not fun times.
Because we were so happy to be in NYC & at Serendipity, we didn’t’ let these issues bother us. Onto the ice cream! The desserts are huge! We ordered the peanut butter frozen hot chocolate which was heavenly & a sundae with hot fudge – definitely go for the hot fudge, it looked & tasted amazing. The kids’ eyes grew when their desserts arrived. It was such a huge treat, they loved every scoop!
We also ordered the apple pie & the regular frozen hot chocolate. Each dessert was delicious! Full of flavour & had an amazing silky texture. The ice cream was smooth & creamy. The cream & hot fudge went so well with it. The desserts definitely lived up to our expectations & far exceeded them! I give the food a 5 / 5 – it was spectacular!
Final Thoughts on Visiting Serendipity 3:
Overall, the fabulous setting & delicious desserts are let down a bit by the unwelcoming staff & lack of toilets.
If you decide to go to Serendipity 3, be sure to make a reservation well in advance. They book up really fast. We had a reservation & were brought to our table on time.
