Serafina | Italian Restaurant — Restaurant in Fort Lauderdale

The outside does not look like much, but don’t judge a book by its cover. As we made our way inside down a narrow, long hallway, we started hearing soft music playing and conversations going on around us. We were immediately greeted and seated to our designated table overlooking the water, that was a plus. Our waiter, Joe was very friendly and knowledgeable about the menu options, and the specials for the night. Once seated we were able to take in the ambiance of this restaurant which I really recommend. Service began with a perfectly chilled bottle of Italian Chardonnay while our party of 4 took some time reading the menu. We also ordered 2 negronis. I believe they were heavy on the Campari giving them a strong cough syrup after taste that was not enjoyable. Per usual, I am one to like to share several dishes. Therefore, we opted to create our own tasting menu from 4 entrée courses for the table to share. After Joe, our server, finished going over the specials for the night, we were greatly inclined to try the slow roasted veal osso buco with papardelle pasta. We then added funghi di bosco risotto, capellini fra diavolo con gambieri, and sacchetoni pesto. Let me take you through our “tasting menu” in order. We opted to dive straight into our dishes. We began with the mushroom risotto presented beautifully with big shavings of Parmesan cheese. The rice was cooked perfectly, creamy enough, the variety of mushroom gave this dish great umami, and the finishing of truffle oil made this a very fragrant dish. 10/10 I would return to this restaurant purely on their risotto. Then came the little bags of pasta filled with ricotta and pear coated in a rustic perfectly seasoned pesto. This was a new flavor to me, upon taking the first bite I was take back by the high notes of sweetness from the pear. As I continued to chew and savor the bite, I was pleasantly surprised how the flavors intensified and mixed together very harmoniously. Excellent and innovative dish. Another 10/10, I would strongly recommend that dish. Third came the angel hair pasta with shrimp in spicy “fra diavolo” san mariano sauce. The shrimp were cooked to perfection and the presentation was very pretty. The sauce was around the dish leaving a lot of the pasta without a sauce needing a drizzle of olive oil from the table to tie the dish together. It also had full size peperonchinos which look aesthetically pleasing but made the dish extreme spicy, and I eat very spicy. This dish had me unpleasantly seating and I feel it could use a bit of restraint with the heat to allow us to taste the beautiful San Marzano tomatoes. I would rate this dish 7/10. Lastly the night’s special arrived. Lovely presentation, sprig of rosemary standing up on the meat included. The vela osso buco was very tender and seasoned properly. The sauce lacked flavor. And the pappardelle noodles were clumped together into a mushy dough which we could not eat and had to send back to the kitchen, I rate this dish 4/10. For dessert Joe brought us a made-in-house fantastic tiramisu, which checked all the boxes of a traditional well executed Italian dessert, paired with 4 shots of limoncello to wrap up this meal. I must say the service Joe provided our table was nothing short of exceptional, he was very attentive to our table yet never intrusive. Overall a good experience, but a little disappointed in an Italian restaurant failing to properly cook one of our pasta dishes. I still recommend this dish for the overall experience for their location, service, and for the most...

Definitely one of my favorite restaurants! The service and food is always on point.

You can taste how fresh and flavor-packed most of the dishes are.

Definitely recommend their risotto, truffle pasta (a special not always available) and lasagna. These are my favorites from here.

They're portions are pretty big which makes the price worth it.

Now I don't usually repeat resturants but this one always has me eating more even though I'm stuffed.

More detailed review:

Gamberi Serafina - the spicy brandy sauce really stands out in this dish but it's not spicy. The spinach soaked in the sauce tastes better than the actual shrimp. The shrimp was cooked perfectly but could use more flavor.

Fettuccine con Panna- This is definitely for a cheese lover! The spinach infused pasta is cooked so perfectly every time I've gotten it. It's cheesy and creamy but an overall satisfying dish. If you are looking for combination of flavors and seasoning this may not be the best pick for you. BUT if you appreciate cheesy flavors please do try!

Funghi di Bosco Risotto - Probably the best Risotto in the area! If you love bold flavors --this one really punches your tongue. Always cooked perfectly like everything else from here. This is my go-to dish. It is a very big portion, so it's great to share. This is a MUST TRY dish.

Truffle pasta (special) - OKaay so I literally come back to this resturant so often just hoping this is dish is available! Such a unique, earthy pasta. I even ordered one to go home with afterrrr eating at the resturant my first time trying this. They definitely don't cheap out on the truffle unlike other places that advertise truffle in their food. Infused and shaved right on top. All I can say is I crave for this dish all the time.

Lasagna Tradizionale - now this dish isn't the biggest portion but it's definitely something to get not looking for a big meal. The tomatoe basil sauce is seasoned very well and the lasagna was perfectly cooked -- WAS NOT soggy or falling apart and was not burnt or crisped on the edges. However, I'd prefer a bit more ricotta as the flavor of it was very very subtle -- But that is a preference I have. You can easily slice through the layers with a fork. Certainly a...

This restaurant is situated on a lovely small waterfront. I, along with two others, came for a Saturday evening. The food was delightful. I’m writing this review, however, to explain that you may be waiting an absurdly long time and provided a falsely complimentary drink.

Even with a reservation, we had to wait 30 minutes after our time before we were seated. The hostess very kindly explained how some tables were taking their time leaving. The hostess apologized profusely to us twice (she had informed us that we would need to wait 15 minutes, then after 15 minutes, another waiting period).

The hostess OFFERED us a round of drinks for our wait as an apology. She said she needed to ask management whether it was okay. I explicitly thanked her for the kindness of this gesture for our wait. We ordered those drinks and eventually got to our table. When we got the bill, the first round of cocktails was listed.

We thought a misunderstanding must have happened, about which we alerted our waiter, and the manager stepped out to speak with us. The manager more or less explained to us that those drinks were never free and that she was there when I ordered them and therefore that I was a liar. Certainly I ORDERED those drinks, but it was because I was offered a menu as an apologetic compensation for our time waiting half an hour after our reservation. The manager proceeded to again tell us that no such thing happened. Again, I repeated myself. We did this back and forth three times before she compromised to pay for my glass of wine, which cost far less than the cocktails.

I understand the worries of the manager, but it was quite unfair that we were accosted for something the hostess emphasized we should feel free to do. I don’t appreciate being made to feel a liar after spending over 200 dollars on overpriced food (which was good btw).

If I had not been ASKED to request a round of drinks, I’d never have ordered them in the first place. Very disingenuous, and I was treated smugly.

Summary - Great food and a cute waterfront view, but nothing is done out of hospitality...