If you fancy something a little more exotic for your dinner, you could answer the call of the really wild being served up by a restaurant's new chef.

His latest menu has poached ideas from deepest Africa and beyond, culling dishes from the exotic world of the Savannah and the Outback to tickle those tired Yorkshire palates.

Now David Broderick, pictured, is hoping punters will warm to the tastes of pan fried ostrich, Greek-style kangaroo, zebra with Lyonnaise potatoes, or alligator tail in a crispy batter.

Now diners at the Ship Inn in Steanard Lane, Mirfield, who are already used to other exotic dishes like wild boar, shark, swordfish and venison can add David's Safari-style dishes to their choices.

David only arrived at the pub a few weeks ago and wanted to spice up the traditional menu by adding the outlandish delicacies to an already diverse menu.

"My favourite of all is probably ostrich," said David, 23. "But then again, you can't beat a nice, juicy wildebeest steak. I've never been one for boring chicken or bacon. There are so many fantastic undiscovered flavours out there - people should definitely be more adventurous in what they eat."

The popular pub restaurant will soon be introducing the trial 'exotic menu' to find out whether regulars develop a taste for the extraordinary.

As well as meat, David plans to introduce rare and colourful fish such as the red snapper and parrot fish he served when he was second chef at the former Marmaville pub in Mirfield.

"As far as I'm aware, nowhere in the vicinity serves anything more adventurous than the usual chicken and pork," he said. " I plan to change all that by giving diners a taste experience they won't forget in a hurry! Just look how curry took off - a few years ago people wouldn't at it and now it's the biggest consumed meal in this country!"

And the plan has already whetted the appetite of licensee, Kevin Desmier. "You never know what you like unless you try and I'm all for new experiences," he said.

"I'm really looking forward to hearing what our diners think of the new specials. If we get a good response the dishes may well become a regular addition to our standard menu.

"The exotic meats do cost more than standard meats. For example, we will pay £29 per kilo for alligator and £40 a kilo for zebra, compared to only about £4 a kilo for beef.

David added: "I'm an old hand at unusual dishes now and I can't wait to share my experience with everyone at The Ship Inn. I just hope they're up to the challenge!

"Wherever I go abroad, I talk to chefs and ask them what sort of things they cook and sell. We plan to offer some of these meals as a starter size for around £5, so people can try a smaller portion to see what they think. We will also do a family-sized platter with a little bit of everything on."

One diner at the restaurant said she would try the new meats and felt it offered a nice variation to the usual pub food.

Another diner, however, was not as keen. "This food is all alien to me," he said.

"If I was paid to eat it I probably would, but otherwise, no. I once ate camel steak out of necessity and because it smelled nice, but I didn't know what it was until afterwards. I definitely wouldn't eat zebra - it's just horse meat and they put that in dog food!"