TO be beside the seaside according to food critics is to live in a time warp. Seaside fare is a concoction of stale trimmings left over from the 50s and apparently Morecambe's plats des jour are no exception. It was one of many resorts across the country to be singled out for dishing up scran which seems to have missed out on the foodie culture of the 1990s. In fact, a recent report by the Egon Ronay inspectors shows that only a handful of recommended restaurants boast seafront tables.

Unimpressed by the report the Citizen asked a few local caterers to serve up their views.

For a start restaurateur Stella Osammor, the proprietor of Morecambe's most unusual restaurant, Palmgroove, said: "Lots of people told us that an African restaurant couldn't survive in a backwater like Morecambe. It has not been easy but local people have taken to it quite well. It puts pay to the notion that Morecambe is not open to new cultures and ideas."

John Bates, the joint owner of The Green Room cafe, says Morecambe has moved with the times but admitted traditional food is still as popular as ever.

He explained: "You would not have seen a place ours in the 50s. Morecambe has a wide range of eating places. I'd like to see Mr Ronay's inspectors come here and try our food."

Food critics were also very scathing of coastal chippies and claim their fruits de mer are more at home in the deep freeze than the deep blue sea. Apparently statistics show that more than half the fish sold in British chippies are frozen on board ship.

But one Morecambe chip shop owner hit back at these sweeping criticisms. Kevin Wright, of Atkinson's Fish and Chip Shop on Albert Road, said: "We try and attain the highest standards. We have built up a strong local clientele and have deliveries of fresh fish and potatoes every day."

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