Big Red Pizza, Deptford

30 Deptford Church Street, SE8 4RZ // http://thebigredpizza.com/

In the latest of what seems to be a developing Deptford trend (see the Deptford Project's converted train carriage cafe - http://thedeptfordproject.com/), another classic piece of London transport has been turned into a restaurant: this time, an emblematic Routemaster has ended its journey as a pizza parlour/bar lounge next to Deptford Creek.

Ever since I heard of Big Red Pizza a couple of months ago, I have been dying to try it. New Cross and Deptford are pretty much devoid of pizza restaurants so somewhere serving up thin crust pizzas in the open air, accompanied by a jug of sangria or a mojito sounded pretty exciting. Sadly, on this visit, Big Red Pizza was something of a Big Red Disappointment.

The restaurant itself has been designed with some nice creative flair: the Routemaster has been hollowed out to accommodate tables but kept its 70's style bus seating; outside there's courtyard with a selection of seating including some intimate two-seater tables tucked into the wickerwork at the far end. In a nice touch, fresh basil, parsley and rocket sprout from a flowerbed in the centre - freshness of ingredients assured! Menus are chalked out on a couple of boards and the kitchen is visible through a window.

The menu is simple, with a handful of dependable starters (think garlic bed and tricolore salad for £3-£6) and 6 different pizzas from £6-£8. The pizzas are a little more adventurous, including a Seaside with fresh squid and prawns from Deptford market and a Flamenco with a selection of European meats. A short drinks menu is reasonably priced - £5 mojitos, £12 jugs of sangria, wines £14-£16) but let down by suspect choices on wine list: a bottle of Blossom Hill or Echo Falls for the best part of £15 anyone? No dessert menu as of yet, except for coffee.

The problem, really, on this occasion was the service. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for a Mediterranean, relaxed approach to dining - there are far too many London restaurants where you've barely had a chance to take your coat off before starters arrive and your vision of a long meal with friends ends with being unceremoniously dumped back onto the pavement an hour after you sat down. However, service at Big Red Pizza is more glacial than relaxed. Granted, as the manager later explained they were two staff short, but it's on nights like this that little touches make a difference, like not having to wave your arms in the air like a castaway in order to get the waitresses' attention.

After a long delay, our jug of an, erm, interesting take on Sangria arrived and we were able to order. We decided to go for a starter of Garlic Bread, followed by a Seaside and a Pepperoni pizza.

Half an hour later (we had at this point been waiting almost an hour and a half to eat), our order finally arrived, the garlic bread coming at the same time as the mains. Sadly, the food didn't do much to rescue the evening. Well done crispy bases were let down by slightly bland tomato base and cheese. The squid on my Seaside was overcooked, chewy and tasteless and the prawns and capers couldn't really rescue the slightly incongruous mix of flavours. The Pepperoni was a little better but nothing outrageous and the Garlic Bread was fairly standard.

Our meal came to a reasonable £31.50 but even at that price it was hard to feel like it was good value. Big Red Pizza has a lot of promise but work is needed on some basic touches such as service, more menus, chili oil and some desserts. Big Red Pizza certainly has promise and as they continue to ramp up their business with some music nights and take-away, it should be one to watch. Right now, however, I can't justify giving Big Red Pizza than a grudging 3 stars .