Considering that Joe's in Summertown opened nearly three years ago, I have been remarkably slow off the mark about testing what's on offer there. A moment's reflection ought to have convinced me it was somewhere worth patronising. I had, after all, warmly reviewed Joe's sister - this should, I suppose, be brother - operation in Cowley Road when owner Robert Ciampoli-Messiou opened the place in 1998, and have happily returned more than once in the years since.

Perhaps I stayed away because the Summertown premises remain associated in my mind with their two rather unalluring previous occupants, a branch of the Pizza Piazza chain and, before that, the expensive - and generally empty - Tiberio Italian restaurant. Whatever the reason, though, it was my loss, as I discovered on a recent Friday night visit with Rosemarie and our friend and neighbour Paul.

We began the evening with a glass of pink bubbly in the excellent Summertown Wine Café, at which I consider a call is obligatory when I am in the area. (As readers of last week's Oxford Times will realise, Summertown is well served with cafés. I can assure you, however, that I will not be making a beeline for the 12th coffee outlet - Starbucks - when it opens soon.) At Joe's there were more boozy treats in store - for my companions, at least. Rosemarie went to the top of the cocktail list for a Joe Public ("Citron vodka and Cointreau shaken with fresh lime, topped with chilled bubbly"), while Paul headed for the bottom and a Caipirinha ("Cachaça cane spirit muddled now there's a word with fresh limes and sugar"). I stuck to mineral water as we ordered our food, though I was allowed tastes of both these excellent drinks.

The menu at Joe's is not large (though supplemented by various blackboard specials, which tonight included pasta -tagliatelle, I think from memory - with tomato sauce, and fish and chips). The choice is wide enough to suit most tastes, however. 'Starters or light bites' include gravadlax, deep-fried Brie, chicken liver paté with toast, crispy squid tempura and baked buffalo mozzarella in Parma ham. In the menu's 'pasta, salads, mains' section there's a risotto of wild mushrooms, for instance, or confit of duck with buttered Savoy cabbage, bangers and mash, and chicken Caesar salad. 'From the chargrill' you can try assorted burgers (beef, chicken, veggie and lamb), sirloin steak and chips, and corn-fed chicken breast.

I began with a duxelle of sautéed wild mushrooms with garlic and parsley served on a crisply toasted brioche. It was much enjoyed, although I would have preferred the brioche to have been unsweetened. Rosemarie, too, was eating mushrooms in the form of a dark, robust and garlicky soup, while Paul had antipasti consisting of generous quantities of Parma ham, salami, sun-dried tomatoes and marinated olives, green and black. He loved the olives - just as I had when I ordered a bowl of them at the cocktail stage.

My chicken breast from the chargrill was moist and flavoursome, and came with sautéed new potatoes, wilted spinach and tarragon butter. Rosemarie had a burger topped with blue cheese - as she had on our review trip to the Cowley Road branch a decade ago. She found the meat first-class once again (consistency there, then!) but was slightly puzzled as before at the need to fork out extra for her chips. It seemed to me, though, considering what wonders these were - home-made wedges of deep-fried perfection, standing proud in the pot, just begging for the rest of us to help ourselves - that £2.50 was a small price to pay.

Paul had fish cakes (salmon and dill, served with chive mayonnaise and green salad) and thought them excellent - "a good flaky, fishy interior instead of the gloop you sometimes get."

He still had room for apple crumble with custard, and for a sample spoonful of Rosemarie's wonderfully rich and gooey chocolate pot. As with the cocktails, I eyed enviously - then pounced.