This is quite honestly the best breakfast I have ever had! We went back the second day it was so good! The eggs with seed crispbread is to die for and the bloody mary went down a treat. Top it off with first class coffee and there is quite literally nothing else you could ask for. I would give it ten stars if I could.
Dined here last night and every dish was outstanding! From ambience, to service and food couldn't fault one thing. Highly recommend the oyster blade beef, the roasted potatoes and mushrooms �
Great spot for brekkie. Interesting menu options and great atmosphere. Lots of people lining up for tables and waiting. Although a bit of a pain to have to wait, it's also a great sign the place is worth waiting for. Glad we did!!!
Nothing was too hard for the friendly and approachable staff at Above Ground.
Although I remained at the Cafe from 8:10am till closing time with my laptop plugged into a power point located under one of the handy bench spaces made available for students and freelance workers, I never felt like an inconvenience.
The spacious Cafe with modern rustic decor is contained in an airy room (a converted power station) with a vast array of seating options for individuals, groups or couples.
With very good coffee (I had three), amazing Eggs Benedict (I had two!) and exceptional service I will most definitely be back here again!
The food, staff, location all amazing. The hot cakes were super delicious and the staff were the best we encountered on our trip to Melbourne.
My Husband and I had Breakfast here this morning. I'd been wanting to check this place out for a while- considering the stunning building. We live in Geelong, and are only in Melbourne occasionally. The place is STUNNING, SO warm- which was surprising considering the size/ structure! Impeccable service- especially from the young man from the Netherlands. He was SO helpful, friendly, nothing was too much trouble and he was genuine and not annoying! Food and coffee were delicious! I can't recommend this place highly enough, and we look forward to coming in for dinner some time! Thank you.
Mt wife and I had a great dining experience here. The decor is low key and simple but very stylish. The staff, particularly Alex and Max, were all great and very attentive to our wishes (thanks for organising the white anchovies for us! ). The food was all magnificent and beautifully presented. Well worth a visit.
Amazing place for a brunch. Beautiful interiors and fancy menu options. Pleasing taste and great service. Loved it �
I enjoyed every second of it! The staff were very friendly and sociable. It is a place that is good for socializing and for reading a book, which I didn't think was possible. The "Red drink" was divine. I can't wait to go back!
Higher ground is a very busy cafe, love the setup and decor. It was hard to pick what I wanted to eat but I was interested in trying the hot cake.
It was delicious, warm soft cake with fruit. Not overly sweet, just perfect. I tried to eat it all but just couldn’t!
Dying to try the rest of the menu.
It’s one of the best cafes in Melbourne for a reason 🙌 I dined in today without a booking order a coffee and the kale and cauliflower salad. The salad was amazing! The kale was toasted well and had a get out amount of cauliflower & Brussels sprouts. Coffee is by 5 sense
One of the BEST brunch locations I have been to so far! Me and my partner came unexpectedly and instantly loved the vibe.
I never thought we could love eggs on toast more than we did until trying it at Higher Ground! Definitely coming back with my family to experience the great food that we did.
We were also served by a really lovely lady who made the experience even better 😊 She’s actually captured in one of my photos surprisingly haha!
Super busy place in the city, beautiful cafe! Loved the high ceilings. Food came out really slow. The lamb sausage roll was quite dry but the mushrooms and toast were good. The hot cakes were so so.
👏👏👏 I’ll start by saying this... higher ground is definitely worth the wait! You’ll queue for a table but once in you’ll be happy you did. I had the avo bagel and it was delicious. So much flavour. Gorgeous space, fab staff and so many good food options. Will be back for sure!
Went here for weekend breakfast/brunch. Avoided the crowds by going there before 9am.
Ordered the mushrooms with fried polenta, which was delicious, homely with good depths of flavour and textures from the hazelnut crunch. Cappuccino was smooth. After an accident involving broken cups, was offered a free cup of latte, which was a little strong on cinnamon.
Service was friendly and efficient. Casual ambience with varying levels of indoor seating available. Reasonable prices.
Overall, a solid brunch option but go early to avoid the crowds.
Breakfast, lunch, or dinner--yes, dinner--Higher Ground will not disappoint. I think the salt and pepper on each table is there just for decoration because each dish is already very well-seasoned. Order anything with pickled cauliflower, hell, ask if you can have a side of pickled cauliflower on its own, and thank me later. Put it on your steak, put it on your roasted pumpkin, put it on your scrambled eggs, everything but the coffee and it makes a great pairing. If you want to have breakfast or brunch here, be prepared to wait. The lines can get pretty long, but it's worth it. If you want to try their amazing dinner fare, go on a weeknight, like a random Wednesday. Compliment the chef, compliment the waiters. This is truly one of the best dining experiences Melbourne has to offer.
An evening walk got me at higher ground. Enjoyed the ambience and sipped coffee along with starter. A bit pricey but tasty 😋
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In Melbourne there are a handful of venues that are considered must visits. Icons within the food scene. Higher Ground is one of these. This beautiful converted warehouse style building is a mecca for foodies from all over, and the queues to get in are testament to this. I have been here numerous times over the years, and most recently came in for brunch on our anniversary. How lucky we were not to have to wait for a table, but we were there quite early. Our waitress was attentive and friendly, quickly taking our order. We settled in with our coffees and took in the surroundings again. No matter how many times I have been here, I never get tired of the decor. The high ceilings, large windows and aged brick walls are just stunning. I have been seated all over the cafe, and the view is great from every angle.
We decided to share our food, as it's always so great. Starting with the truffled mushrooms served with grilled polenta, poached eggs and toast. As a mushroom lover, this was beautifully executed. The mushrooms were juicy, and the polenta was great to soak up the gooey egg yolks. Definitely a great start.
If you come to Higher Ground, you have to have the famous hotcake. I never leave without having it. Not only is it so eye catching, but it really is divine to eat. It comes as one huge, thick hot cake studded with blueberries and ricotta, and topped with an abundance of seeds, syrup, berries and cream. Not overly sweet, and so soft and fluffy, these are my favourite kind of hotcake. Come hungry, as this baby is big, and perfect for sharing.
My experiences at Higher Ground have always been amazing, and I have always found the staff to be pleasant and friendly. It's a very busy place, but we've never felt unwelcome or rushed. The bustling atmosphere only adds to the cool vibe, and with it's amazing food, Higher Ground will always be in my list of favourites.
Food were good, no question with that. But because of the cafe is always full and busy, you will feel like you need to finish quickly. It seems like you are not a allowed to stay longer and relax after meal, because server keeps asking you are done/all good/anything more and straight away here's the bill.
Amazing place! It seems very popular because we had to wait about 20 minutes for a table. The food was legendary. The ricotta hot cakes were the best I’ve ever had. The pumpkin seeds and how the entire hot cake was soaked in maple syrup really made a difference. The minced lamb fry up was unique and very well flavoured with the miso eggplant. Lovely ambience inside.
Tried the Mushroom Truffle with Poached egg and it tasted soo good!
Higher Ground was our first stop when we arrived Melbourne. The food was amazing and very cozy atmosphere. The hotcake was huge - way out of our anticipation! We also had the slow cooked salmon which was devine. The experience here was totally the next level! A must-try brunch spot if you are visiting Melbourne!
Today we are sharing this place where we love to go quite often and that is @highergroundmelbourne .
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This is such an amazing venue serving great breakfast, brunch and dinner options with an amazing rustic interiors and aesthetics (and the architect in me speaking)
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So during this visit we opted for-
1. Coffee of course
2. Braised seasonal mushrooms with Polenta and poached eggs and sourdough
3. Kale and cauliflower salad with poached eggs and puffed rice. .
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So when you in city, try and go to this venue and you won’t be disappointed.
Lovely ambience. Service was very fast and attentive so we didn’t have to wait long for a table. Food itself was pretty delicious, drinks were really refreshing. Will come back again.
Nice place for brunch in the CBD
Wonderfully balanced and soft flavours mixed with your breakfast favourites. This place is a Melbourne hot spot and is always busy. Beautiful setting with the very high ceilings and multi level dining. Look forward to returning.
Heard a lot of good things of this place. The interior of this cafe is unlike with other brunch place. They have high ceilings with several greens pot for decoration.
We ordered pretzel bagel with avocado extra bacon and their steak menu extra asparagus. Foods were done really well. For drinks we opted green juice and chez dre ice tea which were really refreshing. Had a really good experienced!
Higher Ground is definitely worth the wait! This place is a bit of a brunch icon in Melbourne, so I was excited to try it out and it definitely lives up to the expectations.
We had to wait 15mins to get a table, but it was quite pleasant anyway as there is space to sit while you wait. Staff were friendly and attentive, but not too pushy.
Firstly, the coffee was great. Perfect strength and temperature. Both my friend and I then ordered the Spiced Cauliflower dish. The presentation of it was beautiful! I enjoyed the slightly Indian style twist with the curry leaves and chilli.
I'm definitely eyeing up the Ricotta Hotcakes for next time!
Worth the 15mins wait. Surprised there is a waiting list for Fri lunch as friend picked the place. Good vibe but feels a bit noisy environment. Service sufficient and friendly staff.
This place has a nice vibe. Great coffee, chilled to take a friend or great for business meetings. Great service, very central to the city. And could be a long lunch or a quick coffee.
Such a good place to go grab breakfast, brunch or lunch. Food is good and pretty too so get your insta pics. Very open space and high ceilings, so comfy
Loved the decor. This place was packed! But the wait staff were attentive, quick and friendly
The coffee was great, I had two. And the low carb kale brekki I ordered was delicious!
Points for: spacious café, well executed menu
The popularity of Higher Ground is still strong, as you may have to wait a while for a table and your food during peak times.
Nevertheless, it’s a beautifully designed café, taking advantage of the very high ceilings.
Roast Mushroom and Smoked Raclette Toastie – The toasties are very well done, being toasted on a flat grill so the entire surface area gets a bit of love. The raclette is beautifully melted, and the dill pickle cuts through the richness of the dish ($16.50)
Benedict Eggs – similarly, the sourdough toast is buttered and grilled, giving it a nice crispness. Dry cured ham is sprinkled on top of the bernaise which is smooth and rich. The only sour element cutting through all the butter is the vinegar powder. A little too rich for $22.
Dining here can be a little pricier than other cafes, but it’s a bit of an experience, or a place to show off to out-of-towners.
Still, worth visiting once in a while to check out any menu refreshes.
The place is really cool. It looks like an old church with concrete columns and steel beams. It has this warehouse feel to it.
It was a bit disorganised. The host was a bit confused with the flow of people coming in.
I had to wait 10 minutes before someone took my order and it wasn’t even peak hour.
The coffee was excellent. The food too. I was a bit disappointed that they only had white sourdough as a bread option, especially in Melbourne!
Woke up extra early to meet a friend for breakfast before work and flight out. Well worth the effort! Food was amazing, recommend the mushroom and polenta brunch dish, hope it wasn't seasonal
The ambiance, and the atmosphere was great. Yeh food was very good and it made sense. Loved it.
I think the restaurant may be a little 'over-hyped'. But if you're after a beautiful cafe experience in Melbourne this cafe would be great. The coffee is good for Melbourne standard, the menu is more on the creative side, but is very high quality. I think it's a little crazy that we sometimes need to 'wait' to get a table (up to 40 minutes on very busy days). But on a quiet day, the visit is lovely.
Very popular cafe with gorgeous interior. Only came here once but the ambience and decor were memorable.
Staff was friendly. Great customer service.
Menu is pricey but overall, the food and coffee was great!
Would come back again.
Good place for brunch. Food was delicious. There’s always a line but it’s still worth it. The place is big and modern. Has the aesthetic feels and good for Instagram pictures.
Multi levelled , high ceilings, exposed bricks and bustling atmosphere makes Higher Ground a great place to catch up for a coffee or feed.
The spiced cauliflower with house made flat bread was delicious. Bread was soft and doughy. The scrambled eggs were cooked perfectly.
The hotcake was huge, thick and fluffy. Decorated so nicely that you had to take a pic of it before digging in.
The ambience is fantastic! The large warehouse style environment with lots of plants makes the space feel really comfortable. Food was average.
Ordered the ricotta hot cakes cos it was famous. Really good! They were generous with the fruits and toppings which complemented the hot cake really well. Added the bacon and mushrooms on the side too - the mushrooms were my favourite part as they were flavoured well and perfectly cooked. Note portions were huge - I’m a big eater but couldn’t finish.
What a dreaboat of a cafe. I'd heard about it's reputation for a while but boy should I have come sooner.
Impressive in both design aesthetics and sustainability, this place is thoughtful and on point in it's service.
I had two dishes, with great delight full of flavour and texture, the coffee was exceptional. Excited to come back for something sweet next time. Well worth the wait or the booking ahead for this one.
Good ambiance and delicious food. Poached egg was my favourite. Recommended for brunch lovers. Definitely will come back for more in the future.
came here a while ago and had to wait for 40 minute to get in which was slightly frustrating considering it was freezing outside. However once inside i love it, the decor was fantastic and funky. i order scrambled eggs which were nice but a bit small in size, till tasted fantastic. My friend ordered the eggs benny and loved it so i must try it next time i come in for brunch. my tip to anyone wanting to go would probably be GET THERE EARLY!!!
Came by with a friend a few weeks ago during the week.. Despite this there was still a 45min wait. We were seated at the bar which by then we didn't care because we were starving. They were quick to take our orders and food and drinks came out not too long later.
The chai was unremarkable. The spiced cauliflower and scrambled eggs was delicious. The portion was pretty small considering the price though.
Although the food I had was really good, I would say it wasn't worth the price we paid and the 45min wait.. I would hate to see the wait during the weekend...
Nice place with high quality food and friendly staff. will recommend to friends. it was busy even on weekdays，it still worth your time and patience
Good food and excellent service. Expect to wait when you arrive, we were there on a weekday for late brunch and still had a 15 minute wait (which was expected).
One big thing to note - they do not have any high chairs, so if you have a small child, they either stay in the pram, or sit on your lap.
Great spot for breakfast and brunch, their food is above average and coffee was well made! Loved their decor and vibe of the restaurant too.
As a party of 3, there was a 20min wait to get in and a 30min wait for the food itself (because we ordered the hotcake, which we were told would take a bit longer). The location is a spacious warehouse-turned café with heaps of greenery to look at. We had the benedict, mushroom dish and the hotcake and thought that the food was overall nicely executed. The hotcake, which we were looking forward to the most, was a solid dish and so big we couldn’t finish it. However, I felt that while the flavours were nice, it wasn’t that special. The mushroom dish was the highlight- the mushrooms and herbs in the dish really meshed well together and everything just worked. The eggs benedict was fine, but I would have preferred the hollandaise to be slightly less acidic- just personal preference. I think that the experience was quite good and it’s a great spot it if you are in the area and have ample time to spare :)
Great ambience and cool industrial style interior. Very popular cafe, waited 25 mins for a seat at 11:30am. Ordered the ricotta hotcake which was so good and not too sweet! The texture was nice and fluffy with blueberries hidden inside. Recommend if you are super hungry as the portion size is huge. Also takes around 20 minutes for them to bring it out - along with the waiting time, you need some time to eat here.
I’ve visited them a couple of times before. And every visit has left me craving more. This recent visit was no different. The coffee was good, but the chilli scrambled eggs were exceptional. The eggs were more than perfectly, expertly cooked. The yogurt wasn’t over-powering. Just the right amount of pumpkin. And the pickled green was a metaphorical cherry on top! Can’t wait for my next trip to Melbourne.
Yes, the ricotta hotcakes live up to the hype. If you’re in Melbourne you have to visit this cafe! The interior was beautifully decorated and very unique as it is set in an old warehouse. We booked a table for two and I would still recommend you to as there was a line out the door. We ordered the ricotta hotcakes and the eggs Benedict. The hotcakes were enough to feed an army, and the eggs Benedict was delicious albeit a bit too salty. A great experience overall.
The food was fantastic! Presentation was excellent and the staff were friendly and helpful.
The food did take over 40 minutes to arrive as it was busy.
A nice environment to meet friends and family for a nice meal and get some photos that look fancy.
Highly recommend
Good job guys!
A great place for any type of occasion.
The staff were friendly and helpful.
The food was delicious and the range makes it hard to choose just one!
Good coffee.
Good juice.
Great atmosphere and aesthetic.
Highly recommend.
Tried this place for breakfast, we booked a table for 815am and the place was getting busy ! The service was really good and the food amazing. I had the waffles and partner had the ricotta hotcake. The serving was really big, actually struggled to finish my plate. Presentation was amazing. I was impressed by it all. Coffee was good, probably a 7 out of 10 but the food definitely made the experience worth it. The place itself is really nice too maybe getting loud when so busy and a lot of movement happening around so not so much a place to be if you want to chill and relax. Would recommend and will be back there with friends for sure !
Not your standard cafe vibes.
An inviting and comfortable space, good tunes and good ambiance. Staff are very attentive and on top of things! Food looks incredible, tastes amazing, good portion sizes, coffee definitely wont disappoint. Good choice for a casual coffee catch up, business meeting or tinder date. 🌿🌿
Quite famous place to get brunch.
It is very cool how they maintained that construction under the high-rise building.
The columns go through the roof (new one).
Food is fancy and pricy. Good presentation.
When it gets busy expect long waiting times.
Staff is friendly and helpful.
Since it is a very popular place to go it is recommended to book in advance.
There is always a long queue. (Mainly during the weekend)
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