WITH his explosive personality and propensity towards less than savoury language top TV chef - Gordon Ramsay - is definitely a force to be reckoned with in the kitchen.

But could his Midas touch turn around the fortunes of Blackpool restaurant, Clubway 41, for the second series of his hit Channel Four show - Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares?

After waiting half an hour before even seeing a menu at the 'relaunch' of the Market Street eaterie on November 10, I could have been forgiven for answering that question with a categoric thumbs down.

Fortunately the freshly painted decor, the politeness of the staff and the delicious smells emanating from the open kitchen (manned by chef/owner David Jackson) made up for it. Also the sight of the charismatic Mr Ramsay striding up and down the ground floor restaurant helped to keep the packed clientele happily smiling for the cameras.

Another large delay later the starters arrived - tomato tart and chunky pork pate.

Things were looking up - then we were told the kitchen had run out of steak for our order. Great!

Yet another delay later and the ever-courteous staff brought out our mains - an unimpressive penne pasta dish and bland lamb casserole (which we hadn't originally opted for) - before leaving us with the discarded plates for 20 minutes after we'd finished.

Dessert was the eventual saviour of the evening (as it usually is to those, like myself, with a criminally sweet tooth). Tasty ginger parkin with caramel and custard and whiskey bread and butter pudding.

Also a quick word from an exhausted David as we waited to pay apologising for the delays was a nice, personal touch.

So - back to the original question - has the enigmatic TV chef turned Clubway 41 around?

Maybe the question should be - as a previous winner of Blackpool's Restaurant of the Year and with rave reviews from many of the venue's regular customers - did it need the Ramsay touch in the first place?

Who knows? It was fun to be filmed for TV anyway.