Having only being open a few weeks, this newly-opened pizza parlour is looking to drum up custom, which is why eager-looking waiting staff stand on the pavement waving copies of the menu at passers-by. None of this affability was lost when we stepped into the colourful interior. We were ushered decorously into our seats, and then showered with options before we had even picked up a menu.

Of our health-shy starters, the pastry twists provided a welcome deviation from the norm and were packed with impressively porcine-tasting turkey ham and a greasy band of molten mozzarella. But you should skip the wedges and the nondescript fried chicken – from the size of its legs our feathered friend clearly didn’t lead an active life – and head straight for the main event.

For some reason the crust has become the sadistic tool of the modern pizza restaurant. In the boardrooms of fastfood multinationals worldwide, pizza directors have drawn the conclusion that an innocent verge of baked dough is simply not enough to get the punters baying for more. The wily menu-makers at the Pizza Company have joined the stuffed crust revolution with calorific vigour. The menu offers enough cruststuffing configurations to bamboozle the uninitiated; we ventured to try the ‘extreme’ double cheese pizza which turned out to be a plain margarita topped with an overbearing frankfurter and pallid, plasticiney cheese which occupied a good 30 per cent of the surface area. The gimmick-free tom yam pizza is, in contrast, a delight. The Pizza Company’s chef whipped up a disc of wafer-thin dough and loaded it with a saucy take on the fragrant Thai soup. With lots of prawns and lots of chilli, this is not one for those who quail at a madras curry.

Almost defeated by the stuffed crust, we managed a tiny bowl of chocolate ice cream before packing up the remains of our pizzas and hitting the road. The Pizza Company does exactly what it says on the box, with a little charm served up on the side. Shame about the crusts.

The bill (for two)

Wings rings Dhs16
Turkey and cheese twists Dhs13
Large extreme cheese pizza Dhs47
Medium tom yam pizza Dhs23
Salad Dhs10
Fresh orange juice Dhs9
Chocolate ice cream Dhs5
Total (excluding service) Dhs123