A CITY centre restaurant, once given the lowest hygiene rating possible, has now been named as one of the best in the region.
Wings International Cuisine, a buffet restaurant in Ferensway, has been crowned the Best Chinese Restaurant in Yorkshire and the Humber at the Asian Curry Awards 2014.
Restaurant owner James Wing collected the accolade at a special ceremony held at the London Hilton Hotel in Park Lane recently.
Mr Wing said: "I am really proud of all my staff. They are all working really hard.
"When we first opened our hygiene rating was zero. Now we have the top five stars."
Wings opened in the city centre in January and has proven to be very popular, with people regularly seen queuing to get into the restaurant.
However, environmental health officers from Hull City Council gave the restaurant a zero out of five rating for its hygiene following an inspection in February.
It meant urgent improvements were required.
After the inspection, Mr Wing hired a health and safety officer to give training in Chinese and English to staff at the restaurant.
He also spent £150,000 on a new kitchen to deal with customer demand.
A further inspection in May saw Wings receive the top score of five, meaning it has excellent hygiene standards.
Mr Wing said: "We are famous in the city now.
"I believe we are the number one restaurant in the city.
"This is the fourth restaurant I opened and every time I have opened a new one it has improved on the last."
Restaurant manger Andy Lin was also delighted to win the award.
He said: "We are very happy.
"It has been a difficult year for us but since we were awarded the five stars for hygiene we have got more confidence.
"I would like to thank all the staff who work really hard.
"We try to keep our standards very high and try to give our customers the best product and service.
"We try our best to make everyone happy."
