Rust Bucket Pizza Co.

Just what London needed - another wood-fired pizza joint with a deliberately shabby-chic name. Rust Bucket Pizza Co. sounds like it was christened by a marketing team who spent too much time browsing Instagram filters. And yet, here I am, reluctantly admitting that this South East London spot has managed to worm its way into my pizza-loving heart.

Let's address the elephant in the room - it's attached to a pub that's seen better days. The kind of place where the carpets tell stories best left untold. But venture past the slightly dodgy entrance, and you'll find yourself in what I can only describe as an unexpectedly charming covered outdoor space that somehow works despite itself.

The first time I visited Rust Bucket Pizza Co., I was prepared to write it off as another London wannabe trying too hard to be authentic. Then they placed that first pizza in front of me, and I had to physically stop myself from audibly gasping. The audacity of these people, making pizza this good in such an unlikely setting.

The dough, oh lord, the dough. It's got those perfect leopard-spotted char marks that make pizza purists weak at the knees. The air bubbles in the crust are so precisely developed, you'd think they employed a team of scientists rather than pizzaiolos. It's the kind of pizza that makes you question every other pizza you've ever eaten in London.

They've done that irritatingly clever thing where they've managed to strike the perfect balance between traditional Italian techniques and modern London sensibilities. Yes, you can get your classic Margherita (and you should - it's annoyingly perfect), but they're not afraid to experiment with toppings that would make a Neapolitan grandmother clutch her pearls.

The burrata pizza deserves its own paragraph. There, I said it. A whole orb of creamy burrata perched atop a perfectly sauced base like some sort of dairy crown. It's borderline obscene how good it is.

What really gets me is the way they've handled the whole pub-pizza hybrid concept. The beer selection actually complements the food instead of feeling like an afterthought. And that garden - complete with a somewhat rustic playground that seems to perfectly match the establishment's name - somehow adds to the charm rather than detracting from it.

For families, it's a godsend. The kids can run around in the garden while parents enjoy a proper pizza and a pint. It's the kind of place that makes you forget you're in London until a double-decker bus rumbles past the window.

The service walks that fine line between casual and attentive. They know their stuff without being pretentious about it, which in London's food scene is about as rare as an affordable flat in Zone 1.

Let's talk delivery, because sometimes you want great pizza without leaving your sofa. Unlike many places where delivery is treated as a necessary evil, Rust Bucket Pizza Co. actually manages to maintain their quality when the pizza travels. Though, if you can, eat in - the pizzas are at their peak when they make that journey from oven to table in mere seconds.

For vegetarians, they've got proper options that aren't just afterthoughts, and they'll even swap in vegan cheese without making you feel like you're committing some sort of culinary sin. The fact that they do this without compromising the integrity of their pizza is, frankly, showing off.

Look, I didn't want to like Rust Bucket Pizza Co. The name alone made me roll my eyes so hard I nearly gave myself a headache. But here's the truth: it's exactly what this corner of London needed - a place that takes its pizza seriously without taking itself too seriously. Whether you're in for a quick lunch, a family dinner, or a casual date night, it works. And it works infuriatingly well.

Go. Just go. But don't blame me when you find yourself becoming one of those people who can't shut up about their new favorite pizza place in London. I've become one, and I'm not even sorry about it anymore.