The Fields Beneath: vegan croissants under the arches

The short version: a tiny, entirely vegan coffee bar and café at 52a Prince of Wales Road, NW5, tucked under the arches of Kentish Town West station. Walk in, no booking, order at the counter. Seats are scarce, so think takeaway or a quick sit-down before a train. Hours vary by listing, so check before you go.

What it is

The Fields Beneath sits right by the Overground station, about five minutes from Kentish Town Road according to The Infatuation. The same review puts capacity at around a dozen, and Time Out counted four tables, with plenty of takeaway trade from the station. It is a locals’ spot rather than a destination, friendly and relaxed, which suits it fine.

The café says it roasts its own beans, cooks almost everything from scratch and sponsors a local youth football academy. It also names Camden Town Brewery as a neighbour. Everything on the menu is vegan, and all the milk is plant-based, which The Infatuation flags for anyone who cannot live without dairy in their flat white.

The name, and the history

It opened in late 2012 as a speciality coffee shop in a space that Kentishtowner’s December 2012 review said had been vacant beside the station. Owners Gavin and Sibylle named it after The Fields Beneath: The History of One London Village, Gillian Tindall’s 1977 book on Kentish Town, first published by Temple Smith. It is a good name for a café under a railway arch: the fields are the ones the streets were built over.

It was not always vegan. Kentishtowner reported in March 2017 that the owner had gone veggie in December, dropped cheese in February and was fully vegan by the end of March, dairy milk included. Kentishtowner thought it suited the name better, and so do we.

What to order

The croissant is the one. Reviewers keep coming back to the vegan croissants, plain, almond and pain au chocolat, and describe them as warm. Deliveroo copy from the café sells them as croissants you will not find anywhere else. Start there, with a coffee. The beans rotate, so ask what is on.

If you want lunch rather than pastry, the menu changes, but reviewers have mentioned these over the years:

• a Lebanese 7-spice aubergine panino
• a mushroom gyros wrap
• Indian-style toasted pav baps
• a scrambled tofu and sriracha bagel
• a sausage roll and a rarebit

Treat that as a guide to the style, not tonight’s board. For something sweet, Time Out singled out a monster dark-chocolate cookie, Deliveroo pushes the banana loaf, and a Foursquare reviewer recommended the tahini brownie with coffee. Whole beans are on sale if you want to take the morning home.

When to go, and what it costs

Listings disagree on hours, so here is the safe version: open daily, from about 07:30, closing at 16:00 on weekdays and a little later at weekends. Bank holidays vary, and the café has posted special hours on Facebook before. Call 020 7424 8838 if it matters.

The room is small and the station is next door, so go either side of the commuter rush if you want a seat. No booking system turned up: it is walk-in. If you would rather stay on the sofa, it is on Deliveroo, and it also lists surplus-food bags on Too Good To Go.

On price, the listings do not agree, so we will not invent a figure. Café prices: check the counter. One reviewer called it expensive but good.

Getting there

Kentish Town West is on the Mildmay line, fare zone 2, with trains between Stratford and Richmond or Clapham Junction. The café is under the arches by the station, on Prince of Wales Road.

One place for after: Kentish Town City Farm

Kentish Town City Farm is at 1 Cressfield Close, off Grafton Road, NW5. It is a charity, the UK’s first city farm, established in 1972. It is open seven days a week, 09:00 to 17:00, free entry, no booking required. The farm names Gospel Oak Overground as its nearest station, and Gospel Oak is also on the Mildmay line, so the train is one way to link the two. Take your croissant along, if you are quick.

Sources: The Infatuation, Kentishtowner, Kentish Town City Farm.