Kalendar Cafe

Have eaten here a few times and the food is so-​so. Friendly service and quick but looking at the prices and setting you would think the food would be something special. Sadly that’s not the case. If you are in the area, give it a try but don’t expect too much.

I really wish I could give this place more stars, but the service was so poor, slow and rude. The food was quite good, but overall it was a below average experience. I would stay clear of the coffee. The macchiato is not really a macchiato but rather black coffee with milk. Hopefully you’ll have a better experience.

More lamentable than the distinctly average food is the truculent, tardy service. A Highgate institution it may be but not one I shall visit again.

You know that feeling when you meet some people and they simply don’t make a lasting impression on you — whether in a positive nor in a negative sense? Well, this is how I feel about the Kalendar Café: veni, vedi… mmh?
Having passed by hundreds of times before when walking to the Heath, I felt it was about time to check it out… and so last night I came here for dinner with my partner. We sat outside, which is one of the two perks of this place. The second perk was the jerk chicken, which in fact was quite delicious.
Overall though, I was not that happy: the service was slow, despite it not being that busy even. And while the staff was friendly, they were not engaging at all, which makes my perception of this place being forgettable even stronger. For example, when asking about recommendations from the menu, I got the impression that I was being a bother rather than a customer. Plus, I had placed an order from the daily menu and it wasn’t until 15 minutes later that I was informed that this item was no longer available.
Due to its excellent location, this place is really busy most of the time; they have lots of walk-​in customers. This latter point, I believe, attributes to the fact that they don’t really have to try hard and be convincingly good. They simply can exist…

Kalendar is merely ‘ok’ in that there’s nothing about it that stands out. You can have a fairly decent meal here, the staff are friendly and it can get quite busy but it doesn’t make you want to come back again and again the way many other places do.

I have come here a handful of times now mainly because my friend loves it. It has a good brunch, and I have not been that impressed by the quality recently, but I think it is because the place is packed and so busy that they are just trying to get the food out in a decent amount of time. fair enough. The coffee’s are good, even for just a take away.

Fine for breakfast/​lunch or dinner and situated very close to Hampstead Heath (the tenns courts entrance). The food is ok, the cakes are better… but deep down I am still mounring the death of Café Mozart which used to be in Kalendars place…

Great location but average food. Tables outside are great in the summer after long walks on the heath. It’s also pretty dog-​friendly and they quite happily move tables around for families with pushchairs etc.
I’ve been on several occasions over the last few years as I live nearby, and it’s always been ‘ok’ but stopped short of being exceptional. It used to be two separate cafes called Mozart and Kalendar, but they’ve recently just amalgamated the two. Breakfast is always slightly bland and small for my liking. Watery tomatoes, too much fat on the bacon, flavourless chips etc.
However, they do a decent milkshake and they also do takeaway hot chocolate which is pretty good.

I literally live five minutes away from the Kalendar.
In July 2011, I was invited for a drink with the film actor, Charles Dance.

Great tasting pumpkin soup but 4.65 is maybe a bit pricey. The coffee is 2.20ish and Monmouth so was rather good and actually quite well made. Service is variable but they are not too pushy just a bit bored sometimes. To be fair they did think to offer to turn on their heaters for a family sat outside, which was very nice of them.

Kalendar is one of those places that isn’t quite as good as you feel it should be. But it is very nice: good décor, spacious terrace, pleasant staff and a decent menu. The cakes are decent and so are the breakfasts. Prices are as you would expect in Highgate just a somersault from the Heath.

this is a cute place to come if you are exploring the highgate cemetery. we came in the middle of the afternoon, so it wasn’t crowded at all. they have a bunch of sandwiches, salads, tapas, and entrees, including all day breakfast! i just had a pea and mint soup, and my friend got a sandwich. i also got a beet/​carrot juice, which was delish, and she got a glass of wine for 3.80, which is pretty unheard of.
food was good, and i would come back if i were in this area.

I came here twice over the bank holiday weekend, once just for a coffee and once for lunch.
The best thing about Café Kalender is that it catches the afternoon sun, so after a walk on the heath you can then sit outside and sit in the sun.
The food is affordable and pretty good. We had a large goat cheese salad (v tasty but too much goat’s cheese for one) and the sardines starter both of which were very tasty. The coffee is really good too.
I would say a walk on the heath and tea and cake at Café Kalendar is one of the best Sunday activities in all of London.

I’m a Kalendar regular being a local. I usually use it for a pre/​post tennis breakfast. The all day breakfast is amazing with great quality sausages.
They stock Monmouth coffee and serve fresh juices.
Also although Kalendar is well known for day time eating and gets very busy on a sunny weekend because of proximity to the Heath, what is less known is the good evening food. Kalendar changes from a busy and sometimes noisey eatery into a quite very reasonably priced restaurant.
Night time kalendar is Highgate best kept secret.
My one issue is the amount of time it can take to pay. This was an issue 5 years ago and it still is.
Keep up the good food Kalendar

A friend recently took me here for some coffee and cake. The chocolate truffel torte I ordered was of a quality that is quite standard in Austria but hard to find in the UK. It was apparent that someone who knew what he/​she was doing used high-​quality ingredients to make this lovely torte (the former pastry cook apprentence in me digresses). The café seems to be a popular place for locals and has a nice outside area. The only downside of this place is that the staff could be a bit more friendly.

Had breakfast early one Saturday. Good menu, staff not phased by ordering something other than main brekkies. Food yummy. Coffee very good.

This place gets four happy health stars. Kalendar has the rustling of the morning paper, the familiar smells of fresh coffee grounds and the brisk morning breeze that comes in off the Heath.
Tennis rackets in hand, we were poised for a hearty meal. I ordered the large eggs benedict and was pleasantly satisfied. While I have perhaps had a nicer hollandaise sauce in my day, everything seemed aligned in Kalendar. Nothing seemed too contrived or over-​designed. The staff was well-​dressed but not uniformed, the food was nicely presented but not garnished with this and sprinkled with that and the outdoor seating couldn’t boast cleaner air (for London.)
I could truly imagine spending every serene morning here, sipping coffee and easing into the day.

I am mighty impressed with Kalendar. The ample seating outside the front of the café is enticing, and if it wasn’t for the cold breeze I would of certainly have been eating my breakfast alfresco. The inside is inviting and has a simple wood elegance, that suitably matches the creative professional Highgate types.
By 9:30am Kalendar was close to being fully seated. Once I’d looked through the menu and mooned over the delectable sounding selection I could understand its popularity. Whether you are here for breakfast or lunch, there are wonderfully contemporary choices alongside the classic favourites such as Full English, Eggs Benedict and Burgers. I had the Kalendar Breakfast (£6.95) with a Mango Medley smoothie (£3.50.) Both of them were served aptly and both were very tasty and well proportioned. I would certainly recommend coming here to anyone.

Sat outside this week and had dinner. Shared a mixed mezze and haloumi to start. Quite nice. Had vegetarian special — pancake filled with cheese on top of a bed of salad. Disappointing. My wife had the vegetarian quiche which was quite nice. Cakes for dessert. My carrot cake was fantastic — really moist. My wife’s apple and nut cake was very dry and had to be sent back and changed it for the carrot cake. Service was very nice. Great position to watch the world go by.

Kalendar sells delicious fresh breads, cheeses and all sorts of other little delights. The olive bread is delicious, with whole moist olives all the way through it, I was a bit surprised by the couple of stones that had managed to sneak in, but it was well worth the effort. The cakes are also pretty good, though the one with pine nuts was considerably better than the pecan and banana cake, which was a bit too dense for my taste. I love this little row of shops on Swains Lane, it has a great village-​like feel to it.