IT'S hard to say no to the offer of freshly baked pizza so when one of my favourite pizza chains opened in Maldon, I had to give it a try.

Dough and Co opened its 10th restaurant in Maldon High Street at the end of April.

It has caused some controversy as the company is known for using a woodfired pizza oven, however, restrictions at the Maldon restaurant prevented the installation of one there.

I was interested to see if the difference noticeably affected the quality of the pizza.

Maldon and Burnham Standard: New restaurant: inside Dough and Co in MaldonNew restaurant: inside Dough and Co in Maldon (Image: Millie Emmett)

It was a bright sunny Sunday and I had worked up an appetite walking around the Prom.

The restaurant smelt like fresh paint and light piano music was playing at a low volume.

My friend and I were greeted and shown to our table by the window.

There were a couple of other people tucking into pizzas around us and the atmosphere was relaxed.

Maldon and Burnham Standard: Fresh starter: garlic bread to shareFresh starter: garlic bread to share (Image: Millie Emmett)

I scanned the menu and went for my firm favourite, ‘The Pepperoni One’, costing £15.50.

I have had the same pizza at the Dough and Co in Colchester so could compare it to this.

We had a garlic bread to share for starters and eagerly ploughed through most of it, leaving just two slices to allow room for our main.

The starter is a 12” pizza with garlic, butter and fior di latte mozzarella cheese, costing £9.

Maldon and Burnham Standard: Main meal: pizzas and drinks freshly madeMain meal: pizzas and drinks freshly made (Image: Millie Emmett)

The service was quick and our garlic bread was in front of us in about ten minutes.

It was oily with garlic and butter in the middle and doughy on the outside.

The pizza dough was cooked perfectly and it was delicious.

It did have a smoky, chargrilled flavour too, similar to what you’d expect from woodfired cooking, which was great.

In no time, our pizzas were served on black slate plates, my pepperoni pizza appeared more chargrilled than the one I had in Colchester, which may be because of the cooking method.

It tasted great, the sauce was delicious and rich and the fior di latte mozzarella was generous and perfectly placed.

Maldon and Burnham Standard: High Street: the restaurant on Maldon High StreetHigh Street: the restaurant on Maldon High Street (Image: Millie Emmett)

My friend treated herself to a pizza in the exotic range, ‘The Spanish One’, which had a tomato base, fior di latte mozzarella, prawns, chorizo, spring onion and roasted red peppers, costing £16.25.

She said the prawns were perfectly cooked and tasted fresh.

She thoroughly enjoyed the pizza and said she had no complaints at all and couldn’t tell that it wasn’t wood-fired.

It would have been rude not to finish the meal off with a dessert.

Our leftover pizza and garlic bread were boxed up for us to take home and we made the tough decision to share some chocolate profiteroles.

Maldon and Burnham Standard: Chocolate dessert: chocolate profiteroles Chocolate dessert: chocolate profiteroles (Image: Millie Emmett)

Costing £7.25, they are slightly pricey for nine small profiteroles.

Drizzled with delicious chocolate sauce and paired with fresh strawberries they were exactly what we needed.

The dough was moist and fresh too, which left us arguing over the remaining profiterole after having four each.

I thought I’d be nice and let her have the last one, as long as she pays the bill.

All in all, it was a delicious meal, everything was perfectly cooked and I would definitely return.

They also offer reasonable deals for families and couples to save some money.