In Chinatown the corrugated metal shutters of the little restaurants and corner supermarkets come up early. Grandparents and parents arrive by foot, quickly passing under the crimson and gold inlaid ornamental gates which straddle the entrances to Chinatown like guardsmen.
Shortly after the chaos of the rush hour dies down and people are secured behind their desks, Chinatown emerges from its short-lived night of slumber. It wakes up slowly at first as the bakeries, selling fortune cookies wrapped in gold packages and hot buns, welcome passers-by by simply turning over the closed sign to "open".
On one of Chinatown's side streets, the Lucky Star restaurant opens its doors, but it doesn't only prepare food. Inside, handmade silk dresses of coral blue and deep, flaming red adorned with dragons and delicately crafted birds hang beside rows of colourfully packaged noodles and exotic sounding potions.
This daily hive of activity bursts into a splendidly outrageous life about lunch-time when the sushi bars are full and the young Chinese boys and girls standing in the doorways entice the food-lovers in with a sweep of the arm.
At night, this community shares its delight in delicately perfumed oriental dishes with more hungry customers who dine under the gaze of the twinkling, coloured lights clinging to the ceilings of a hundred restaurants.
The scene is repeated across London in the Turkish, Greek, Asian, Indian and themed restaurants, and one of the phrases Londoners never tire of is that the city can confidently claim to be the gastronomic capital of the world.
Twenty years ago, most Londoners weren't at all interested in going out to eat. It is not so much an event now as a recognised ritual of the week, and as a result tastes have become much more adventurous.
The capital now has more than 6,000 restaurants serving over 60 different types of cuisine, and for those Londoners who still cherish a meal out as an event, there are the themed restaurants and bars, from Marco Pierre White's "Titanic", - in keeping with the theme its telephone number contains the digits 1912 - a Russian experience at Smollensky's to the old-money, establishment charm of The Criterion on Piccadilly.
For visitors to London this week wishing to test its reputation as a "gastronomic capital", London Restaurant Week - March 12th to March 21st - has been dreamed up by the London Tourist Board. Charged with promoting dining out in London as part of the city's 1999 programme, celebrity chefs will whip up a favourite dish on themed nights and one-off London Restaurant Week menus will appear at quirky-titled eateries such as Mash, Blue Elephant and Livebait.
A food art exhibition will start the week and in an event targeted at the next generation of celebrity chefs, schoolchildren will take part in a treasure hunt at central London restaurants. And for those old enough to drink, a cocktail master class will demonstrate how to make the perfect vodka Martini.
The "Ten Deadly Sins" breakfast menu at Simpsons in the Strand surely deserves a try just for the image it conjures up in the mind. And chocolate-lovers haven't been forgotten either, with the pastry chef at Claridges creating chocolate fondue and chocolate cocktails during its chocolate festival.
Of course, prices will vary wildly during London Restaurant Week. At Harrods, which is also celebrating its 150th anniversary, lunch at the Scotch Beef Club in the store's Georgian Restaurant will cost £28.50, a four-course dinner at Claridges costs £52.50, while at the Pont de la Tour the three Cs bar menu of champagne, crustacea and chips is an affordable £21.
The confidence of Londoners in trying exotic foods, even at lunchtime, has led to the appearance of sushi plates in sandwich bars in the past six months. Next to limp sandwiches, colour co-ordinated sushi ensembles are challenging the usual choice on offer.
The sushi plates got off to a somewhat slow start, but as one vendor commented, once people became familiar with the taste and smell of raw fish the sushi plates justified their introduction into the regular London menu.
Despite the huge choice on offer, some simple tastes remain. Who could have predicted the recent opening of a soup bar with the less than ingenious name, "Soup", by the New Covent Garden Soup Company?
Another "Soup" is on the way where cardboard beakers of carrot and coriander will compete with traditional mushroom, but it is unclear which "Soup" will retain the rights to the name.
The decision to create the first ever Restaurant Week came about because in the countdown to the millennium no city can resist shouting its achievements from the rooftops. So, it's off to the Connaught restaurant for truffles, or should I try Scotch beef at the Chop House on the Thames?