My favorite coffee place in Kensington - Starbucks is OK, but this place has a local onsite owner who makes sure everything is done to the highest standards. Food is very good, as is selection and variety of coffees and drinks. read more

Relaxed coffee shop with free wifi and some tasty smoothies. Good place to meet someone and sit or grab a to go and walk about. Can be a bit noisy during certain times of the day- if you plan on doing work, bring some head phones. read more

Good coffee and teas at this independently-owned coffee shop in Kensington. The service is a bit slow and the staff could smile more. I didn't find the quality of any of their food items particularly stellar, just "good enough". I also found that the bathroom a bit dirty. Overall, this place needs a bit of a facelift. read more

Such a cute little coffee shop. Try a Snow Dragon; yummiest hot beverage of my life! Summertime I find myself going to starbucks for refreshing beverages, but fall and winter Higher Ground is where it's at! read more

This is a great place to sit down to meet with some friends, or sit on your own and do some work or writing, if you're into that. It can get busy during the lunch rush, so I don't always get the seat of my choice, but nabbing a seat by the window on a sunny day with a breakfast bagel and a cozy latte (or an ice cold matcha frappe!) is the way to go. The staff are great--my drink order got messed up by accident and the barista, who was very friendly, apologized and made me my drink right away. This place feels both lively but also relaxing. It's a good café atmosphere with awesome brews and some good food. First time I came, I was little taken aback by some of the food prices, but it's kind of what you'd need to expect visiting these types of cafés--better than blowing it off at Starbucks all the time, as I'm prone to do. Since I end up spending quite a while here working or writing anyways, I've got no problems spending money here for a seat and some peace of mind. read more

This is my favourite hangout for coffee dates. The barista's are always smiling, and very friendly and helpful. Every tea misto is to die for. The specialty coffees are equally delightful, and a must if you're looking for something fun and different. read more

My go to when in Kensignton! Can be very loud and crowded though and is expensive for a coffee shop. They do have yummy italian sodas if you are looking for a non coffee option. read more

I never even knew that it existed but now that I do, I love this place. Art and atmosphere, my two favorite things. Also, greek salad and chai. read more

This place has a great atmosphere and selection. However I would not recommend it if you want good internet connection. I've heard that before and then experienced it! When I asked the barista about it he merely agreed that it was shit. It was very disruptive for me to have it constantly cutting In and out. As anyone could imagine. read more

Coffee is good but the service is painfully slow. No multi-tasking going on in here. More staff up front seems to be required.

Nice place to hang, internet, fireplace, glass of wine ect. However, if you are looking for coffee, well the wine was better than the coffee. Have a fully automated machines and making more of swiss coffee than real espresso. read more

Fantastic new espresso machines have been installed at Higher Ground. Wow. Great shot / crema. Back to the future.....well done. read more

If you haven't tried their mac 'n' cheese then I'm judging you. The cafe itself has an incredible atmosphere and the employees that work there are friendly and inviting. I suggest it to anyone in the kensington area! read more

LOVE this hidden gem. Its atmosphere is calm and rustic almost (even though it's always noisy) they offer a wide variety of all sorts of different drinks and goodies you wouldn't find anywhere else. The only thing I don't like it that I find the staff can sometimes be a bit snobby. But everyone can get like that sometimes when it's busy. read more

Horrible Wi-Fi, overpriced Coffee that was not very good. The food was food, but again overpriced. I can't believe they get the amount of patrons come and go from there. Seems like a tourist trap to blow all your money at. With all that said, they had a beautiful shop, great atmosphere and Friendly Staff. So if money means absolutely nothing to you, this is your place! :-) Really need to Beef up the Wi-Fi, it was Slower then Courier Pigeons! I was lucky to get between 1 and 2 Mbps. Could not even check my email on my phone without having to wait and wait for it to load. read more

The food is not good and the service is worse. Extremely overhyped, and not truly worth it.

Atmosphere is nice. Good location, food and coffee. Customer service service is lacking. I find the people rude, takes away from the "warm" feeling you should get in a cafe/coffee shop. read more

Nice hangout place, lots of seating area, good selection of drinks/snacks. However , not a huge fan of the coffee - I find the flavour is very inconsistent. Also, I find it quite cold so always need to dress warm before coming here ! read more

Higher Ground is nothing special. The service isn't particularly good, and the guys and gals who work behind the counter are mostly wanna-be hipsters. The internet is either horribly slow or impossible to log onto, and the decor could be much better. The coffee is okay, but overpriced. Overall it's an ok place to hang out if you have some work to do and you don't need internet to do it, but apart from that they just coast on their location and put little effort in the place itself. read more

Attempted to come here almost three times, mostly at night though. Always busy and full! Coffee is okay. I just like how convivial the atmosphere is at any given time. read more

I paid $6.30 for a stale cake. It had been out for god knows how long. First and last time purchasing cake from here. Overpriced and definitely not worth it. read more

I must say I was disappointed with the lunch I bought for $9.00 ...a quiche with salad.More like salad with gobs of oil and a quiche the size of a tart.Also my mug had a long dark crack in it which invites bacteria. Loved this place before desserts still look good coffee Place needs a thorough cleaning upgrade ripped chairs. Only meant to help with the comments. Sometimes places rest on there past laurels and need to see changes required. read more

The beverages are good but the service is deplorable. I was appalled by the batista's condescending service. If you want high quality service, then look elsewhere. This is a place where your money won't go a long way - the batistas will be rude no matter if you tip them or not. read more

Their macaroni and cheese is to die for. The food is relatively cheap compared to other cafes, and the vibes here are great. It's a great place to study. Parking can be hard to find though, and you have to pay. read more

Went to High Ground to buy Market Spice Tea (originally from Pike's Market, Seattle, USA). Ordered 1 lb for which Higher Ground charged me $50. Didn't see the girl weigh it and It seemed a little light. Got it home and weighed it - 12oz, instead of 16 = ripped off 1/4. I live out of town so called them and returned another day to get the rest that I'd paid for. No apology, no kiss my butt, nothing. I told them they needed to give me an extra ounce, for my trouble; seemed like a big deal but they eventually gave it to me. Steeped a cup, only to find it isn't near as full flavoured as the original stuff - almost like it was old stuff. Used it all up then went online to Pike's Market where they sell it for 17.95/lb (US) - say wot?!!! So, after the dust settled on the US exchange and the stupid shipping prices, I paid $22/lb CDN, including a nice storage jar to keep it in. Also, the tea is perfect, like it should be, not weak and possibly old. Lesson learned? Buy online from the US, rather than getting ripped off here at home. :( read more

The food and drinks here are wonderful but the crowd ruins it for me. I've been coming to this cafe off and on for probably about 6-7 years, and it's gone from comfortably busy to always swarmed. There isn't really a concerted effort to move people along once they've been there a while. I've gone on all possible times of the week, and even trying to score a table on the off hours suck. It's not for lack of seating or space, it's that people (young, old, students, business people) will literally CAMP OUT FOR HOURS with their laptops and take up all the tables, let alone the best seats. On more than one occasion I've witnessed laptoppers with empty drinks at the same table before we came and after we left at least an hour later. There's a lovely fireplace with comfy chairs and tables by windows. For anyone wanting to enjoy their drink in an admittedly pleasant atmosphere, forget it. Higher Ground should change their name to Higher Campground. read more