CUTTING THE MUSTARD; FOOD AND DRINK - DAILY POST TASTE TEST: Jane Haase at Mustard Restaurant, Liverpool.

Byline: Jane Haase

I ONCE walked into a restaurant and a fellow diner hissed at me "don't get the soup". An ominous beginning and the subsequent meal left a lot to be desired.

On being seated at the recently opened Mustard Restaurant in Liverpool a fellow diner cried "we think the chef's wonderful". A promising start.

Despite being open only a few months, it is already proving difficult to get a table at this trendy bar/restaurant. I first visited Mustard in the hiatus between New Year and pay-day when you would expect eating establishments to be as quiet as Michael Barrymore's agent's phone. But this latest addition to the venues on offer in the Allerton/ Smithdown Road area was doing a brisk trade.

There's obviously been no let up and, after failing to get a booking for last Saturday, I settled for 7.30pm on Friday.

Occupying the former home of the Greenbank community project, Mustard is owned by Liverpool company Prolan which is behind the city centre bars The Rubber Soul and Mood Indigo. This is its first venture into the restaurant trade. The decor looks fantastic. It is ultra stylish and more the type of venue you would expect to see in Albert Dock than Wavertree. It has a huge bar area with squishy couches and there is a piano with live music several nights of the week.

Large double doors separate the bar from the impressive-looking restaurant which is illuminated by several modern style chandeliers. Choice of seating includes pistachio-coloured leather booths, made by Bold Street furniture designer Dane, which are comfortable, intimate and ultra chic. Three huge caricatures of a wine waiter, waitress and maitre'd dominate one wall to add a bit of humour and "show we're not stuffy", according to the management.

On Monday to Wednesday a table de hite menu is available when you can get two courses for just over pounds 10. There is a bistro menu during the day and Sunday brunch at the weekend. As it was a Friday, we chose from the a la carte menu. Prices are what you would expect for this type of establishment and range between pounds 4.50 to pounds 6.50 for starters and pounds 7.95 to pounds 15 for main courses. There was a decent selection of starters but I thought the main course choice was a bit limited, only seven dishes to choose from and no specials on offer. If you were vegetarian it was Hobson's Choice basically.

The type of food served comes under the broad church description of international global fusion which basically translates as a bit of this and a bit of that.

Flat caps are back in vogue (a la Kate Moss, Stella McCartney and the rest of the fashion pack) and so apparently is black pudding.

Once relegated to a walk-on part in a greasy full English breakfast it is now making solo appearances on more and more menus. Although I tend to shun it when on offer in the works' canteen, it takes on a veneer of glamour when served at a restaurant particularly coming with an apple mille feuille. I was tempted and was presented with about four small but chunky slices of black pudding in a sauce with a gravy consistency. It was nice but I don't remember there being any sign of the apple mille feuille, (a sort of puff pastry confection) it must have got stage fright.

Star for the night as far as my husband was concerned were his piri piri prawns served with a mango and cilantro salsa. He'd had piri piri chicken in Portugal but wasn't sure what to expect with prawns. He got four big succulent prawns and said they were the best he had eaten, in this country anyway. He said the spiciness of the piri piri coaxed out the flavour of the prawns rather than overpowering them.

We both went for the two fish dishes on offer for main course. My two slabs of sea bass on a tomato confit with grilled Medtierranean vegetables and drizzled with chrizio oil (whatever that is) was absolutely delicious. My husband's wasabi marinated tuna steak was a revelation.

Tuna can sometimes be a bit bland but the big slab he received was flavoursome and meaty. It was apparently drizzled with "ponzu vinargratte" - another baffling item, but then the spellings of some ingredients on the menu were a law unto themselves. However, the whole dish was a real success. We shared a side order of rocket and parmesan salad.

The wine list isn't extensive but includes half a dozen reasonably priced whites, reds and champagne from pounds 27.50 up to vintage at pounds 350 a bottle (does anyone ever buy that? ) I had two glasses of one of the two house whites, Vistamar Chardonnay from Chile, which was nice.

There were just four desserts to choose from: iced pear parfait, Balsamic marinated strawberries, apricot tarte and chocolate torte. Balsamic vinegar really does work a treat on strawberries, making them taste sweeter and juicier, but we had them on our previous visit and were disappointed with the portion served. Instead we both went for the chocolate torte which was devine.

So from promising beginnings a more than satisfactory ending.

the bill Piri piri prawn brochette: pounds 6.50 Black pudding: pounds 5.95 Sea bass: pounds 12.95 Tuna: pounds 11.50 Rocket/parmesan salad: pounds 3 Two chocolate tortes: pounds 9 Glass of Coke: 90p Two glasses of chardonnay: pounds 5.90 Two coffees: pounds 2.60 Total: pounds 58.30

Mustard Bar and Restaurant, 336-338 Smithdown Road, Liverpool L15 2HD. Tel: [phone] Ambience: City chic becomes suburban splendour Service: Excellent Food: Some great moments Disabled access: Yes and a disabled toilet Smoking: Yes Opening hours: Mon-Sun 10.30am to 11pm