Writing, like food shopping, should never be done on an empty stomach.

Instead of a basket full of doughnuts you don't want, you end up with text full of mouth-watering food references.

This is very much the case when describing the launch of Shanghai Blues; a new high-end Chinese restaurant opening in the heart of Holborn in the grade II listed building that formerly housed the St Giles Library.

Their lunchtime dim sum is a feast of steamed salmon dumplings, marinated duck slices, shredded chicken and yam spring rolls, and pumpkin with prawns and pork. If that doesn’t get your digestive system rumbling the dinner menu includes a tonsil-tastic mix of sea cucumber and shark's fin, Alaska crab and scallops, and fresh lobster braised with ginger and spring onions.

Housed in a smart, good looking, feng-shui friendly restaurant, the head chef, Hong Qiu Feng, has been flown in from Benjing with orders to take traditional Chinese cooking to a new level. Having cooked for cabinet ministers of the Chinese government, his signature dishes such as eel fillets in honeyed barbecue sauce are likely to get the popular vote.

What's more, the owners are offering Urban Junkies readers a January-busting 40% discount on their bills until 9th February. So hunger pangs, it would seem, are history.