THE Tate Gallery has just reopened at Albert Dock amid swooning reviews about its use of size, space, light, texture.

But for a real appreciation of modern art, for a glimpse of how beautiful food can be exquisitely prepared to put a painting on the plate and the palate, try the undeniably swish Marsh Cat restaurant on The Prom at Parkgate.

Chef director Phil Williams has travelled the planet learning his trade, including five years at Walt Disney World in Florida, and has created menus reflecting the skill which has won him dozens of medals and a big Wirral fan following in less than a year.

Ingredients are fresh, combinations inventive, and prices, though excellent value, reflect this quality.

But after all those years in America, where the customer is king, Phil knows the value of offering a very tasty carrot to the bargain hunter.

Now, I love a bargain! Ferreting about for best buys makes every trip to the supermarket a challenge. Like a safari leader, I slash through the full price food, tracking down the most outrageous 'buy one, get one free' deal - no matter that I don't like canned tripe or that those tins of pickled quail eggs are doomed to languish unloved in the back of the cupboard.

And it's a delight for the rest of the family, too. My husband just loves checking out those sell-by dates, disdainfully tossing away perfectly good food when it's only a couple of years out of date. Doesn't he realise the money I'm saving him?

But really, I'd do better to stick with one of Wirral's finest low-cost treats: the Marsh Cat's two-course 'inclusive dinner'. Their deal costs a positively bountiful £8.50 for two courses and coffee - and that's not merely for some obscure hours when baby sitters are NEVER available, but all night Sundays to Fridays and from 5.30-7pm on Saturdays.

Mind you, children are not a problem as the Marsh Cat offers a sensible kid's menu until 7pm every night featuring a drink, pizza, fish or chicken fingers, or pasta, and an ice-cream, all for £2.99. Bargain!!

Treats on the inclusive menu change weekly and on the night your Dining Outers visited, starters included Mexican chicken fajitas, exotic fruit platter, southern fried calamari, kidneys in a rich mustard sauce, or how about mussels and prawns poached in wine, garlic, parsley and fresh cream?

The five 'bargain' main courses showcase how Phil likes to bring out the best Tex Mex, Japanese, French, Italian, Thai and Cajun cooking have to offer. Choose from shitaki mushrooms with asparagus noodles, chicken tarragon, lamb Henry, cod and plaice St Clair or the sublimely-smelling Cajun blackened ribeye steak. And expect no puny portions here!

I chose my starter from the daily-changing specials board: Shrimp on the Half Shell at £5.95, hot and sweet Jalapeno pepper stuffed with king prawns and cream cheese, then breaded, deep-fried and served with a sweet chilli and lime dressing. Totally gorgeous!

My husband went for Seafood Thailandaise (£5.95), a gravity-defying tower of lobster tail, tiger prawns and monkfish sauteed in sesame oil with chillies, coriander, kaffir lime leaves, lemon grass, sherry and coconut milk. Eat your heart out, Dali, this is real art, beautiful-yet-nourishing. (But perhaps its shelf-life isn't as good as a Picasso's).

Beloved's main course was Chicken and King Prawn Blue Bayou (£9.95), plumptious meat dusted with Cajun seasoning, blackened and served with Bayou Creole sauce . . . if one meal assures Cajun cooking's place in Wirral hearts, this should be it. A marvel!

Seafood is a speciality at the Marsh Cat and I was delighted with my chargrilled halibut (£11.95), a monster steak with melt-in-the-mouth scallops and a delicately delicious sauce of white wine, chives and cream. Fabby but not flabby!

Look out, too, for the marvellous veggie selections - no sad courgette cannelonis here!

Phil's wife Jenny, the pastry chef, produced a gorgeous hazelnut and raspberry meringue for my pud - a to-die-for end to one of the best meals ever. Book now!

J.L.Y.

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