The restaurant map of Northern Ireland is changing rapidly to accommodate an emerging and fast-growing appetite for creatures from the deep, according to two top Belfast chefs and restaurateurs.

The growth in demand for restaurants specialising in seafood is reaching unprecedented levels, say seafood chefs Simon McCance and Andy Rea who have both recently opened seafood restaurants in Belfast despite traditional popular reluctance.

The top chef-proprietors, who run Ginger Bistro in Belfast and Mourne Seafood Bar (Belfast and Dundrum) respectively, said that demand for seafood in Northern Ireland has never been higher.

"It used to be that people here would recoil from fish yet from my experience over the years I know there is a new generation of diners who want the taste and health benefits of eating fresh fish and crustaceans, just as they do everywhere else in Europe," says Mourne Seafood Bar chef/ proprietor Andy Rea.

"Business is booming and our restaurant has been full of tourists since it opened this summer. These diners as well as many local people are delighted to find a traditional Irish eatery serving fresh seafood. There is certainly a high demand for fresh fish and shellfish which is great news for us and the fishing industry in Northern Ireland."

Simon McCance, owner and chef of award-winning Ginger Bistro in Hope Street, is expanding his premises by an extra 1,000 sq feet and investing £200,000 in the restaurant due to the success of his seafood restaurant.

"Since opening in 2004, the restaurant has been extremely busy and 90 per cent of the dishes served have a seafood theme. Many local people used to shy away from unfamiliar seafood but this is a thing of the past and we are finding that diners are more adventurous than ever and prepared to try the unfamiliar," says Simon.