Good Food. Good Cocktails. Good Vibe
It’s not often I find myself in Nunhead, and that is something I will change in the future, because I found it to be creative with its street art (Nunhead Station has a brilliant entrance created by local sculptor Rafael Klein), helpful with directions when I became a little discombobulated when exiting the station, and buzzing in its small Nunhead Lane hub. This may have been due to my visit coinciding with Bonfire Night and the party on Nunhead Green, but there were also fireworks of the culinary kind going off in Goodcup, where I was heading, writes Michael Holland.
I was meeting Julia, a local who knows of the good coffee Goodcup made its name with over recent years, but was unaware that they had stepped up into serving food in the evenings. Food with Italy very much at the forefront.
The whole move into evenings evolved since the barista David Bray opened Goodcup as a coffee shop eight years ago. He realised the customers wanted more than good coffee – they also wanted good food. ‘Over the years, we’ve shifted and evolved to build a menu that’s fairly unique. Now that we’re running the bar as well, it’s given us the chance to spread our wings even further,’ he says, adding: ‘It’s something we’ve wanted to do for a while – and actually tried before – but the shop wasn’t properly set up for it the first time around. We’ve since done a full refurb, which has finally allowed us to realise our true vision for the evenings. We wanted to create a place that feels like a cosy neighbourhood living room: somewhere you can get an expertly made cocktail from our bartender Tom, eat seasonal Italian antipasti and bar snacks, and enjoy great music on vinyl without any pretension.’
I asked why the menu had an Italian focus and received the perfect answer: ‘Simply down to a love for the produce. If I’m enjoying a well-made drink, I can think of nothing better to pair it with than a sharing board of quality cold cuts and cheeses.’
Julia saw the menu and thought there must be an Italian in the kitchen. I asked and found it is all David’s work: ‘Preparing good food has always been a part of my life. My mother worked in food, so I was exposed to proper cooking from an early age. A few of my first jobs as a teenager were in kitchens, too. I then had a good 15 years away from kitchen work, so it’s really nice to be getting back into it now.’
We found it hard to choose because everything on the menu looked so good; two of us couldn’t try it all, so we settled on four sharing plates to get a feel for the menu – difficult, but doable.
We had smoked burrata with the best tapenade I can remember. I’ve usually been indifferent to tapenade, but this version – made with three renowned olive varieties, sun-dried tomatoes and aged balsamic vinegar – changed my mind.
The prosciutto di Parma came with shaved pecorino, a Tuscan sheep’s milk cheese that complemented the ham beautifully. I did, though, want more pecorino to satisfy my cravings for shavings, although the deep richness of the truffle extra virgin olive oil helped.
Our table was soon brimming with delicious food. Julia picked a 2025 Mandrarossa Frappato that matched our choices perfectly – and I reckon any wine on the list would work with any dish here. Goodcup is that kind of place. Cool jazz played softly. It was all vinyl from the shelves behind the decks – not what you’d expect on restaurant shelves, but music is just as important as the food here, and they’ve got a line-up of DJs for GC Nights.
The quick-pickled courgette with lemon, pine nuts and mint was a real delight; we both agreed that courgettes are often overlooked for being bland, but here a few clever ingredients lifted that humble vegetable to a different level – the sort of dish you could try at home to impress.
All the oils and juices of these dishes were immediately mopped up with the freshly baked house focaccia (Fingal’s Bakery).
But our star of the show was undoubtedly the Cantabrian salted anchovy fillets on warm focaccia, brought together to a dreamy, creamy whole with the shallot marmalade and cultured butter. Heaven.
Tom and David talked us into having a cocktail before we left. There was no arm-twisting to be done here… I had the Flat White Russian. Let’s just say, I’ve run out of superlatives right now, so just try one and then you’ll know what I mean. Julia opted for the Turkish Tobacco Old Fashioned. It was much better than it sounded. Much better.
David and his team have created a welcoming atmosphere with beautifully prepared dishes using top-quality Italian produce (‘We use Cibo, who supply us with incredible high-quality produce sourced straight from Italy’), perfectly mixed classic cocktails (some with a Goodcup twist), a curated vinyl soundtrack (David’s personal collection) and warm, mood lighting. And it works. Imagine all that with a spectacular light show exploding in the skies outside!
We had thoroughly enjoyed ourselves, and decided to ensure we return to try the dishes that we couldn’t try tonight – and before David gets in guest chefs for pop-ups, who will completely change the menu, which is a plan he has for the future.
These GC Nights (Thursday–Saturday) celebrate the joy of dining out. The cheeses all have DOP certification, the balsamic is an eight-year-old Giusti, the olive oils used here are hard to find in supermarkets, the prosciutto di Parma is top notch, and the Castelvetrano, Gaeta and Cerignola olives could well have been picked by David himself on his trips to Italy. Factor in Gil Scott Heron, whose songs about the ghetto somehow provide a pleasant backdrop to the vibe here, and you know you’re on a winner.
It’s a brilliant menu, created with love and passion for food – and just the right atmosphere to enjoy it in. There won’t be a firework display outside for all GC Nights, but inside you will find something very special that will light up your life for the night.
David wanted to make sure that we weren’t under the impression that he was a one-man band, so I promised to give a big shout-out to his team: Sakeema, Ella, Ben, and Ayoola, who made our night a great one.
Goodcup, 44 Nunhead Green, London, SE15 3QG
You can follow Goodcup on Instagram @goodcuplondon to keep up with what we’ve got going on, or book a table at goodcuplondon.com.
