"The Blue Man as a symbol is a traveller, always moving.”

So says Maji Bensliman, who has just opened the third incarnation of his North African restaurant The Blue Man.

But the venue on Queen’s Road is quite different from what has gone before.

Not only is The Blue Man no longer a wellkept secret, having opened on Brighton’s main thoroughfare between the railway station and the sea, but it is no longer solely a restaurant either.

Instead Maji has turned the former Red Room into a welcoming café bar, offering – alongside his trademark tagines and Merguez sausages – a range of Drury coffees as well as beers San Miguel and Spanish number one seller Mahou on draft.

Plus there is a tapa menu ranging from halloumi and falafel to minced lamb bourek and whitebait.

But perhaps what is most exciting is what he has done with the basement.

While the street entrance has a relaxing and laidback café atmosphere, with North African keepsakes and maps along the walls, down a winding spiral staircase is a chilled-out function room, with long seating lined against the walls and small lit-up tables.

“The idea is for it to be really accessible for everybody,” says Maji, who not only acts as host behind the bar but also cooks the food from his mother’s old recipes.

“It’s not a formal space – there are no bookings.

“The downstairs space is ideal for parties, birthdays, Christmas parties, and we will be having lots of music from around the world.”

The venue has already welcomed Algerian Berber musician Akli D, who played in the café bar for two nights on Friday, May 11, and Saturday, May 12. Tomorrow’s special guests are Brazilian duo Monica Ribeiro and Pedro Martins from 9pm. Entry is free.

Maji opened the first Blue Man in Edward Street more than a decade ago, which boasted to be Brighton’s first North African restaurant.

While there, he was able to expand from 12 to 40 covers, showing there was a demand for delicately spiced tagines and stews in Brighton.

He moved to his second location in Little East Street in 2007, into the former home of Momma Cherri’s Soul Food Shack, but found he was still suffering froma lack of visibility.

“I was Brighton’s best-kept secret,” he says.

“It’s nice to be out on the main drag. We were looking for the right venue and thinking about the right thing to do for The Blue Man.

“It’s good for Brighton to have independent restaurants and different food on offer – I’m not just another chain.”

The Blue Man has only been open in its current location for the past three weeks and Maji has been careful to let word spread quietly. “People have been tweeting and Facebooking saying, ‘The Blue Man is back,’” he says. “There aren’t many of us Brighton restaurants that have been around for a few years.”

He is planning a few more extra surprises in the space, including a black-and-white movie night, which he hopes to open with a screening of Casablanca, and a backgammon night on Mondays.

“I will be offering free tapa with a drink on Fridays between 5pm and 7pm for people coming back from work,” he says. “It’s hard to introduce North African food but once people have tried it, they come back for more.”

And all tastes will be catered for. As well as meaty tagines there will always be a vegan alternative on offer, to be eaten with his homemade bread, or followed by handcrafted baklava.

Most of all, he wants The Blue Man to be somewhere people can drop in at any time for a relaxing coffee or mint tea on their way to a night out, or back from neighbouring watering holes The Hope or The Quadrant.

“I like having a pub on the left and right of me,” he says. “But we’re not a pub. We will be offering something different every night – and there will always be food available.”

Open 10am to 1am. For more information, visit bluemanrestaurant.co.uk or www.facebook.com/bluemanbrighton