In particular, it was the first restaurant in the UK to serve Pekinese dishes, including Peking Duck.

[1][2] Jay Rayner of the Observer states "In 1963 the now communist Chinese Embassy once again gave the business a boost when a group of Chinese restaurateurs managed to convince the ambassador's chef, a Mr Kuo from Beijing, to defect.

They set him up with his own restaurant, the Kuo Yuan in North West London, and it soon became a huge hit, not least because he was serving the first Pekinese dishes Britain had ever seen, including Peking Duck.

A visit by Princess Margaret and Lord Snowdon, the Posh and Becks of their day, put both the restaurant and Chinese food on the map.

"[3] Matthew Norman, writing in the Guardian, claims to have heard a radio programme which explained that the Kuo Yuan was "subsidised a restaurant in Willesden as part of some cultural initiative".