Ethnic cuisines have always been an important part of British culture, and the allure of something new continues to keep restaurant furniture in demand with diners nationwide.
You can trace it back as far as the first international travellers, and even the potato was once a stranger to our shores; more recently there were Indian and Chinese influences, and perhaps more recently still, a certain peri-peri chicken restaurant has brought Portuguese flavours to our everyday dining options.
But with Chinese New Year taking place in February, it's the perfect time to recognise the status of Chinese food at the top of the tree where ethnic cuisines are concerned.
According to Mintel, 78% of Brits have eaten some kind of Chinese food in their own home in the past three months, compared with 74% who have eaten Indian food and just 48% who have tried home-cooked or takeaway Mexican food.
What does this have with restaurants? Well, at-home dining trends are closely linked with what people choose to eat when dining out too, as Mintel's senior food analyst Richard Ford explains.
"The ease with which supermarkets and restaurants have been able to translate Chinese dishes into ready meal and takeaway formats has been key to Chinese cuisine's ability to endure in the UK market," he said.
"Despite the plethora of cuisines that are now available to Brits in supermarkets and restaurants, Chinese remains popular with a majority."
And the desire to try new things is still strong, even in this well-established market, as consumers are still keen to opt for menu dishes they have never had before - and perhaps do so in part to devise new recipes of their own to try later at home.
"Overall, the ethnic restaurant and takeaway market holds real potential, the popularity of both Chinese and Indian takeaways and restaurants reflecting the cuisines' long-established position in the UK," Mr Ford added.
Interestingly, occupancy rates of ethnic restaurant furniture could be boosted by consumers' perception of eat-in meals as being healthier than their takeaway equivalents.
Mintel found 12% of people think takeaway meals from ethnic restaurants are unhealthy - but this dropped to just 4% of people who think the same about a sit-down meal at the same venue.