A LYTHAM restaurant is proving to be one jump ahead of the rest - by serving kangaroo meat.

And customers at Timms Bistro on Park Street are also snapping up delicacies such as crocodile and shark.

Unlike many restaurants, owner Timothy Sisson is not suffering loss of sales after the BSE scare because beef has always been way down the menu.

Diners prefer to sample rare dishes including barracuda, ostrich and wild boar, but the most popular meat at Timms by leaps and bounds is kangaroo, which Timothy reckons is just like fillet steak.

He said: "Customers think kangaroo tastes like a mix between fillet steak and liver, but I think it has a taste of game about it too.

"Although ostrich was the original exotic meat we sold here, kangaroo is much more popular as it is cheaper.

"I started selling exotic dishes because so many restaurants and pubs sell food in the area and I just wanted to do something different for the novelty value.

"I haven't yet seen an increase in sales of the exotic meats as people stop buying beef, but the only beef we sell is fillet steak, which people feel safer eating.

"All the exotic dishes sell very well because people are becoming more adventurous nowadays and tend to try the different flavours.

"I don't think kangaroo meat will become a great commercial enterprise because people see it as a novelty.

"People know we specialise in weird and wonderful food and that is what they come here for."

More dishes planned for Timm's Bistro include parrot fish and conga eel.

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