What do you do if you're trying to run a restaurant in a village already saturated by restaurants and hotels? Such was the dilemma faced by the Holcombe Hotel in Deddington.

There's the Deddington Arms, a smart contemporary restaurant, the Unicorn for the locals, Otters the main gourmet destination, The Village Pub and Bistro which covers most avenues, Eagles deli, Foodies sandwiches, May Fu Two offering Peking, Bengal Spice catering for the Indian market, and the Crown and Tuns, the pie place.

When Oxfordshire Hotels decided a few years ago to relaunch The Holcombe, until then a traditional inn offering familiar English food, the obvious gap in the market was a family-orientated Mediterranean offering.

The result is Peppers, which is so distinctive it looks entirely separate to The Holcombe next door. It's only when you walk into the bar area you realise it's all the same place, as the decor stretches right through the ground floor to the dining area. The terracotta coloured walls, blue glassware and wooden tables set the Italian scene.

Although Peppers is light and contemporary, you can't get away from that corporate, slightly anonymous air that goes hand-in-hand with most hotels.

What was lacking as we chose our seats, by the windows? A lack of passion for a start.

There was no one manning the bar so we wandered around until we found a young man at the reception, who went and found a waitress to look after us.

What did you have?

The menu - pasta, pizza and Mediterranean mains - offered no surprises, but was reassuring. We ordered some overly expensive bread and olives (£3.25) and the pizza lunch special.

What did you think?

The bread, an Italian selection served with olive oil and balsamic, was stale and the olives unremarkable.

This should have been an easy thing to get right, but so often starters are palmed off on the customers with little thought for the impression they make on the whole meal. The glasses of house red were very cold and ordinary.

However, the pizzas were lovely - crispy, oily and flavoursome. Not the best, but adequate for a sunny lunchtime.

The accompanying salad was served with a splash of balsamic vinegar and nothing more. We had to ask for water glasses and some proper dressing.

For dessert, we ordered the sticky toffee pudding, but were told 10 minutes later that "the chef hadn't realised" and it was off the menu.

Not being able to have the specials of the day rather defies the whole point of them. So we opted for the raspberry creme brulee instead, which was delicious: crisp on top and creamy inside, with the whole raspberries nestled at the bottom of the dish.

So there you have it. Some brilliant parts and others that reminded us we were eating in a hotel that had too many rooms, too few staff and a slightly disorganised kitchen. But Peppers has chosen the right course and fits perfectly into the family functions/large parties and corporate market they are aiming for.

Verdict: For £18+ plus a head including coffee, it's not going to be first on the list, but if you're passing through with a family to feed, or just fancy a light lunch, you could do a lot worse. Peppers has got to be given credit for beating the roadside chains hands down.

The bill: Bread selection £3.25 Two Pizza Margherita £11.90 Two portions of leaves and balsamic £3.90 Two small glasses house red £6.50 One creme brulee £3.95 One ice cream special £3.95 Two lattes £3.90 TOTAL £37.35 Peppers, High Street, Deddington, 01869 338274