Where to Eat & Drink at Copeland Park this Winter

Oi Spaghetti

Pasta in a cosy timber cabin

When Francesco and Tatiana came up with the idea for Oi Spaghetti, they wanted to go it alone as a pop-up. But when they got to Copeland Park, they felt welcome and fell in love with a place with such community spirit.

Already based In Peckham, Francesco and Tatiana were desperate for a restaurant that served wholesome, affordable Italian food and took matters into their own hands by launching Oi Spaghetti in 2015. Their bijou space offers simple, delicious and healthy pasta (with vegan and gluten free options). At Oi, traditional Italian foods get a modern twist, as showcased in combined ingredients such as pasta with anchovies and avocado.

Francesco and Tatiana are mindful to organic ingredients and animal welfare – the meat they source is from local, ethically minded Bellenden Road butchers Flock & Herd. This conscious approach is not the main draw however. Oi Spaghetti’s success is in equal measures down to sheer gastronomic pleasure, Francesco’s consummate hosting and the atmosphere – largely down to Tatiana’s great eye for interiors, light, furniture and textiles.

With walls bathed in dark olive, pretty foliage and great music, over the last 3 years Oi has created a vibe that leaves people feeling relaxed and replete. Oi Spaghetti is a popular culinary oasis in the heart of Peckham’s cultural quarter – on any given night, booking via Facebook is recommended as there are only a few seats to be had at this restaurant with a loyal and ever-growing clientele.

Deserted Cactus

Afro-Vegan cafe in the buzzing Holdrons Arcade.

Peckham’s prime vegan hotspot is minutes from Peckham Rye station here at Holdrons Yard and Deserted Cactus’s arcade diner with two or three tables set up are always busy. Set up by vegan influencer Esme – @london_afro_vegan has 33.2K followers – the cafe has an ever-changing menu of homestyle vegan dishes and many have an Asian / Caribbean influence such as rice n peas served with plantain dumplings and jerk tofu-fried dumpling burger.

Using only plant-based foods, innovative spices and her imagination, Esme cooks up hearty plates with filling portions that won’t weigh you down. Dishes have a mix of flavours and a plate of southern fried jackfruit with bbq sauce, spiced quinoa, roasted red pepper dip, avocado, cajun roasted sweet potatoes, popped turmeric spiced butter beans can go head-to-head with a plate of jerk roasted cauliflower with plantain, coconut gravy, popped butter beans and basmati rice so picking your favourite is difficult.

Esme is as adept at putting out Mexican flavours as well as Italian next to foods with an American diner influence – people come from far and wide to sample her southern fried jackfruit, coleslaw, three-bean chilli with rice and tortilla chips. And her mac no cheese came about as regular customers and followers kept requesting it – definitely worth a visit, if we don’t mind saying so ourselves.

Social

Vegan salads and stews by day, and a Sichuan noodle bar by night

Send Noods is open every evening plus all day on weekends. The vegan Sichuan noodle bar offer mouth watering tasty bites, hand pulled noodles and an exciting array of dumplings.

Feast with Harry and Steve are open in Social during weekday lunchtimes. They have a rotating salad bar which is both affordable and totally delicious. A very generous and exciting mix of ingredients inspired by plant based food from around the world. These are vegan salads like no other, and you will leave feeling both healthy and full.

Forza Win

Authentic Italian food in a stylish warehouse

Forza Win offers contemporary dining in pared-down yet stylish surrounds, serving Italian food that can be shared or wolfed down whole.

Forza Win began life in 2012 as a summer pop-up but made its home at this old grain store warehouse in 2014, holding supper clubs for 80+ diners a night for 3 years. It’s now a bona fide restaurant and locals come in droves to sample from seasonal menus, delicious wine and house cocktails that send them home feeling La Dolce Vita.

The simple, well executed Italian menu offers dishes such as ‘grilled leg of lamb, purple sprouting broccoli, almonds and Amalfi lemon’ and ‘tagliatelle with asparagus, butter and parmesan. Add a side of ‘spinach with chili, garlic and fennel’ and, to finish, the inspired ‘blood orange chocolate pot’ is a must.

Forza takes great care in sourcing ingredients; an attention to detail that is also reflected in the warm atmosphere the team manage so effortlessly. As Wednesdays is ‘hump’ day, the restaurant offers delicious meat or vegetarian pasta, a wine or beer and awesome sounds, all for just a tenner. Whatever the season, this popular Peckham restaurant, will always make you feel you’re winning.

Nims Kitchen

Hefty portions of mouth watering Nigerian food

This Nigerian, Afro-Caribbean catering company is a family-run Peckham success story. A takeaway and catering service, it predominantly offers authentic Nigerian dishes that Londoners and beyond travel far and wide to sample. Hefty portions of jollof rice, ayamashe (spicy hot meat stew), yam porridge, efo riro (a fresh veg stew) are available on a daily takeaway menu but Nim’s is not limited to Nigerian food – when it comes to pre-ordered bulk requests, it can also make Caribbean and continental dishes.

Giving her name to the company, Nimota and her family started a small business by catering for functions at home, and then built up the brand by gifting their services to charitable organisations. Extremely skilled in the kitchen, Nim’s mother had enjoyed a thriving career as a cook, and even appeared in Jamie Oliver’s groundbreaking school dinners documentary. In 2010, the family set up shop at Copeland Park and now, all of Nimota’s siblings are involved in some capacity, and they’ve grown their team considerably since.

Delectable mouth-watering food made with the freshest of ingredients, Nim’s Kitchen sources from the local butcher at Peckham Rye and all meat is halal. But they also venture out to Spitalfields market for fresh veg and Billingsgate market for seafood.

With 10 years in the wedding industry, as caterer and events coordinator, Nimota is ready to go that extra mile to ensure things run smoothly and clients are left satisfied. The overall experience is taken into account; how the food tastes to service and all aspects combined. Food is presented beautifully, and always served on time – Nim’s also like to surprise guests by offering more than they would expect.

So there’s no surprise that this Nigerian, Afro-Carribean food service stands out from the rest – in some part due to duty manager Jubril, who in his sister’s words is “quite a character” – mainly for the unsurpassed food. Come try it for yourself, full menu available upon request.

Kanpai

London’s first Sake brewery, hosting Japanese supper clubs and food pop ups

Sake is sometimes thought of as the strange warm liquid served at the end of a noodle meal but for Tom and Lucy Wilson, Japan opened their eyes to the smooth and exotic elixir. As a home brew passion project turned turbo, they launched the UK’s first sake brewery in June 2017, moving it to Copeland Park in September 2018 to expand the brewery and launch a sake taproom.

Using traditional Japanese techniques to craft a London-style, Tom and Lucy’s take on sake is full-bodied and dry with signature notes such as apple, melon and bubblegum. Kanpai – meaning ‘cheers’ or ‘dry your cup’ in Japanese – spent time sampling, experimenting, and producing many different varieties of sake. Best enjoyed fresh – the closer to home it’s made, the better.

Kanpai’s sensuous sake is made from just four ingredients: rice, water, yeast and koji (a magic mould also used to make things such as soy sauce) and the process isn’t the easiest but the results are worth every sip. Be sure to try their sparkling sake ‘Fizu’, made in a Champagne-style secondary fermentation in the bottle, the perfect aperitif.

Look out for their Supper Clubs which are normally posted on Instagram or their Website, You can join a brewery tour and tasting on Saturdays at midday. Or enjoy a fresh sake, Japanese beer or cocktail at the taproom on Fridays (5-10:30pm) or Saturdays (12-10:30pm). Plus they host special events and Supper Clubs throughout the year.