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Inclining on micropub territory, the Rusty Bucket feels too luminous to be called that alone. There's the Pride bunting strung from the ceiling. The multicoloured lei looping over the bar. The artworks for sale (Amy Winehouse and Rik Mayall are up on the wall on our visit). The fridges teeming with cooled cartoonish cans of craft.
Palpable pride is taken in the beer here: rows of gleaming chrome taps promise pours of Kernel, Polly's, Floc, Paulaner, Vault — some of the best in the biz. Non-kegheads will be sated with glasses of Oakham and Harvey's, and at well under a fiver too.
The drink's only half the story: this is an authentic local — like they used to make them but better — which knows the importance of disabled access, free-to-use boardgames, book and chess clubs, cheese toasties on a Sunday. No wonder they have Rusty Bucket merch: it's an ethos you want to buy into.
A second Rusty Bucket opened in Bexley in winter 2024. If only it this was the beginning of a London-wide takeover.
Last updated January 2025.
