On the Buses

On an unassuming street corner on Deptford Church Street lies a new pizzeria that has really reinvented the wheel(s). Quite literally, in fact, because The Big Red Pizza Bus is based in an unused double-decker bus that has been repurposed as a pizza restaurant and bar. I'm always looking for new places to fill the south-east London pizza void, so the family and I went to check it out on Saturday night.

It was pretty busy when we arrived — there was a large group sitting on the tables on the heated outdoor terrace — but luckily, we were able to sit on the bus itself. And on the top deck, no less! Although there are a few pastas and salads, the menu is all about the pizza and the prices are pretty reasonable, starting from £7.50 for a Big Red (margherita). I ordered a glass of Prosecco (£5) while we perused the menu. It was slightly flat, so I might try to persuade the others to share a whole bottle with me next time, but a nice, fruity flavour.

To start, we shared one of the meat platters (£9.95), which came with Serrano ham, salami, buffalo mozzarella, rocket and some bruschette. The food was very tasty — the mozzarella was particularly good — and the platter-for-two was about the right size for the three of us to share to start.

The pizzas themselves were good, although not quite great (they were mainly let down by the cheese, which wasn't as fresh and delicious as the mozzarella we had to start). I ordered the margherita, as usual, and for the money, I think it was pretty good value. Next time I might try one of the buffalo mozzarella pizzas, although a lot of them had quite a few ingredients on top and I'm a bit of a pizza purist. We thought about staying for another drink, but the call of the cocktails at the Job Centre was too strong.

As well as serving food and drink, The Big Red also screens movies, and Tuesday night is comedy night. Check out their events page for more information. Sadly, you can't pay by Oyster card — not yet, anyway — but then nor do you have to wait for a short while while the drivers change over, or find yourself on an unwanted diversion.

The Big Red Pizza Bus. 30 Deptford Church Street, London, SE8 4RZ (transport: Deptford Bridge DLR). Website. Twitter.