Serendipity Tea House

The decor was lovely. The tea was tasty but that is all that is good with this place if you are going for tea. The sandwiches werw stale. the desserts looked like they just opened the package from a grocery store aisle and the scones were a huge disappointment. When there are so many fantastic tea rooms just a little drive away I would never waste my time on this one.

WAS a Wonderful place to relax with a good cup of tea and proper English scones!Great home cooked food.Very well prepared too.SERVICE BY STAFF VERY POOR. Would serve us s cup of tea because they were closing in 25 minutes. Shame

My mother organized a lovely baby shower at Serendipity Tea House. We were able to have exclusive use of the space given that we had over 20 people attending. The food and service were both excellent and the decor is charming. It's evident that they take great pride in their business. Our family and friends had many positive things to say about the event :) Thank you!

The service here wasn't fantastic I must admit but it is quiet and low key which I liked. I didn't feel overly welcome though I did get that sense right away. Also our food cost a lot for the small amount we got. It was good but very tiny portion for the cost I found. The scones were fantastic. I would go again to see the tea leaf reader they have there on Wednesday's but would not go there otherwise.

I would have to disagree with the previous review. True, the address is confusing, and my friend and I had trouble finding it the first time we visited, but there is parking on John St. right in front of the entrance and it's free. Serendipity is a lovely tea room. I've been with several different friends and it's become our little hangout when we want to treat ourselves and indulge in their scones and delicious selection of teas. I have a weakness for scones with clotted cream and jam so I go to Serendipity on a rather frequent basis! The atmosphere is cheery and the decor is beautiful. I have always felt most welcome by the staff and they are very accomodating! So glad they opened this tea room!!!

I had high hopes for this place.If you've ever had a proper afternoon tea experience somewhere else for $30+ pp, then you will be disappointed here in every way. If you never have, then you might not know what to expect and you might enjoy it here. But this is not the standard quality-wise or service-wise. Also, the chairs are so uncomfortable and I think my back is now injured from sitting in one!!I asked 3 times directly if we could order, but she kept walking away. We were there for about 40 minutes before we could order. We were there already for a half-hour when a table for 2 waltzed in and ordered immediately before us. When we were served, she gave me someone else's tea by mistake, and when we told her, she didn't apologize or offer a new pot. Just handed us new cups and told us to swap our pots with each other. I ordered a classic tea, but she brought me a signature tea -- by that time I just couldn't be bothered to even speak with her anymore because I'd had it, so I didn't even mention it. With so many complaints about the level of service here, I'm not sure why this woman still works there. The food was not great and definitely not up to the quality you expect at tea or even at this price point. It's really a shame to have to travel to downtown Toronto to get a good tea experience!

The decor is lovely and the size gives it a nice cost atmosphere. We had the Creamy Earl Grey, which was delicious, along with the sandwiches, scones, and dessert. We split a large teapot between the two of us, which gave us a full 4 cups each, which was more than enough. We really enjoyed the warm scones, which were served with cream and strawberry jam, and the dessert complete with 3 pastries and some fresh fruit. I'd recommend Serendipity to anyone who is looking for a quiet and relaxing afternoon outing

Based on other reviews, I was expecting bad service, but it was actually the opposite. Our waitress was very friendly and welcoming, the food came fast and we did not experience any of the rudeness others were talking about. Unfortunately, the scones tasted undercooked and the desserts were obviously outsourced and did not taste very good. The sandwiches were okay. The only good thing was their selection of good teas. However we were not asked if we wanted our hot water refilled. Sadly disappointing, I really wanted to like this place, but I won't be going back.

Went out for 'tea with the girls' today and was terribly disappointed by the service at Serendipity. First - the address says Elizabeth Street, but the parking AND the actual entrance are on John Street - confusing and annoying when you have to pay to park on Elizabeth and walk over and find free parking on John. The tea room is beautiful and has a comfortable feel, but there is no where to purchase tea or pots or other accessories which I found surprising. They actually take the tea off the wall out front and take it back to the kitchen to make your tea, which seems odd to me. We had to ask for water while we waited for all members of our party, which seemed like an inconvenience to our server. We all ordered their Classic Tea but were not ever offered more water for the pots, or even refills of our chilled water or any other beverages and all 4 of us found that there was not enough tea per person. In general the quantities of everything are small. Our server was unpleasant, unfriendly and seemed to want to rush us (it wasn't at all busy). She even cleared plates and stacked our food up so she could take back the tiered stands while we still had food on all the plates!! We felt quite unwelcome and everyone agreed that it was the service would keep us from going back to Serendipity again.

Great high tea. Very good selection of teas. Delicious sandwiches, scones and dessert. Beautiful décor. Cutest mad hatter party room downstairs for girls. Really enjoyed having tea there with my oldest daughter. Hidden gem. After reading the reviews was expecting such a nice experience, Will return.