KUO YAN RESTAURANT & THE PEKING DUCK
The Kuo Yan restaurant was located at 217 High Road Willesden Green from 1962 until 1989. In the 1970s its popularity led to an extension into the shop next door. Another branch opened near Oxford Circus in 1972 and a third branch at Earl’s Court in 1979. In addition, a message on Facebook from a former waitress at Kuo Yan, shared that during the World Cup of 1967, a temporary outlet opened close to Wembley Stadium on Empire Way.
What started in 1962 in a basic workman-style cafe next to the Regency Club on scruffy Willesden High Road quickly became a fashionable restaurant and attracted a wealthy, mixed clientele, eager to try the legendary Peking duck.
About Mr Kuo, the proprietor
Mr Kuo worked for Huan Xiang, a civil servant and social scientist, who was the Charge d'Affaires at London's Chinese Embassy between 1954 and 1962.
In 1962 his boss, Huang Xiang, returned to China to take up a more senior post in the Foreign Ministry. At this time, Mao’s Cultural Revolution was underway and the future for many returning to China was uncertain. Some Embassy staff, including Kuo Yan, looked for opportunities to remain in the UK.
From the late 1950s interest in Chinese cuisine grew across the UK, linked to increased immigration from East Asia. Former embassy clerk, Ken Lo, had left his government role in 1951 and published his first cookery book in 1958; the first edition sold 10,000 copies across the UK.
Without his position at the embassy Mr Kuo needed security and an income and quickly set about opening his own restaurant.
The unlikely location of Willesden High Road was probably because:
1) the workman’s cafe was immediately available to rent; and
2) the rents in the area were extremely low.
Simon Napier Bell’s substack says after Mr Kuo moved in: “He didn’t even bother to redecorate...it took three months to get a phone line installed and the owner couldn’t wait - neither did it have a licence to serve alcohol, you had to bring your own.”
Census information shows that Mr Kuo rented rooms at nearby 100 Strode Road in Willesden at the same time as he took on the lease of the shop at 217 High Road Willesden.
huan xiang, chinese embassy 1954-1962 image source
this is the only image of kuo yan
100 strode road, willesden
“It was so surprising to find some of the best Chinese food in Britain in what was then quite a run down corner of London.”
1960s: a record producer’s memories of Kuo Yan
Simon Napier Bell was a record producer and worked in various music studios in Willesden from the mid 1960s. Morgan Studios was the most famous of these studios and hosted some of the greatest musicians and produced some of the biggest musical hits of the twentieth century.
In his memoirs Simon talks fondly of his visits to Kuo Yan and has vivid recollections of the experience.
“ It may have been the first place in London (Britain, even) serving deep fried duck in pancakes as a sort of ersatz Beijing duck. It was certainly the first place I ever had it - and my goodness how it caught on!!!”
1970s: childhood memories of Kuo Yan
As a child growing up in Dollis Hill in the 1970s Ian Latham attended many family celebrations at Kuo Yan in Willesden.
His parents’ wedding and all the family birthdays were celebrated there with the elaborate set menus that included a wide range of dishes from sweet and sour pork to almond chicken.
His Chinese-Malaysian mother had been sent to boarding school in the UK and lived in Dollis Hill between the 1950s and 1980s.
He vividly recalls the restaurant being smart, with ten tables adorned with white tablecloths, and unparalleled theatrical menus, with grand hors d’ouevres, duck sliced at the table and toffee apples dramatically dipped in icy water in front of diners, to harden the toffee crunch.
The restaurant was always busy and expanded into the next door shop in the late 1970s. As an adult Ian says he has travelled a lot and eaten at many Chinese restaurants but has never found a menu to rival that of Kuo Yan.
As a music producer in willesden in the 1960s simon napier bell talks about eating out at kuo yan in his auto-biography: sour mouth, sweet bottom. view extracts from his book on his substack,
Famous clientele
princess margaret & lord snowden dined at kuo yan. image source: wikimedia commons
“There was absolutely no A-listing. I was standing in the queue with friends one night when Princess Margaret and Tony Armstrong- Jones arrived clasping a bottle of wine. They stood meekly, if briefly, at the back of a line of twenty people before the owner came rushing out to take them inside. Another night the prime minister turned up – Harold Wilson. He refused to queue and sulked in the back of his car till a table was ready.”
Harold wilson, prime minister 1964-1970, 1974-1976 dined at kuo yan
image source: wikimedia commons.