Minoriten Platz.
I never thought I would type in “shit” to be published here but the name of this restaurant (bok) means exactly that in Turkish! There is a big Turkish community in Vienna. I don’t how they are handling it 🙂
I found out about this place during my search for vegetarian restaurants in parts of Europe before we even got to Vienna. Not because of their reputation or anything, simply because of the meaning of “Bok” in Turkish. If only they had known… Of course, we didn’t tell them but we had to try it out.
We took the bus (or tram) to go and find this place but it was worth it. I don’t know about you but after trying vegetarian versions of every single local dish we end up missing a large dose of vegetables. When that happens, we start searching for a vegetarian Asian restaurant. So, this is exactly what happened: The urge for vegetable dishes kicked in and we found ourselves at the door of Bok Restaurant.
It’s a small place with an air of family-run restaurant. They are specialised in sushi and other Asian delicacies. They have a menu with pictures which helps as they don’t speak very good English there.
As for the starters, we had Hana Sushi. It is the inside out style of sushi which was fresh and delicious. It came with pickled ginger and wasabi paste.
Hana Sushi (below)
As for the main, we had Crispy Chicken in Teriyaki Sauce to share. This was also quite delicious. The teriyaki sauce was not too heavy or sticky. The vegetables were cooked lightly so they were nice and crispy.
In Vienna, Yamm! was a great find; we really enjoyed this place. It was close to our hotel and pretty much everything else we wanted to go and see. Sometimes, we even popped in for a drink or two.
Yamm! is conveniently located right across from the university –the one Sigmund Freud attended. The décor is quite contemporary. There are tables outside and the weather is just perfect in the summer to sit there and enjoy a balmy Viennese evening.
The Buffet
The food here is presented as a vegetarian buffet (above) and you pay by the weight. Here’s how it works: Once you go inside, they give you a card which is very much like Sydney’s Opal card or London’s Oyster card. It’s just green; happy green. You go to the buffet and pick a plate (there are different sizes) and start filling it up with whatever you choose. Then you go the scales. That part a little tricky but if you’re struggling –like me –waiters/waitresses help you. Then, you sit down and order your drinks.
The style of food here is international. The buffet is reasonably big with neon lights at the top. It’s full of a large variety of warm and cold foods from Mediterranean, Middle Eastern, Asian and European cuisines. Although, it’s a vegetarian buffet, vegan dishes are labelled. So are gluten free and dairy free dishes.
My plate (below).
There is a soup section with bowls on one side, against the wall and the dessert section on the other side.
And the Wine…
We did fall in love with Austrian wines. For us it was love at first sip. To top it all up, the wines at Yamm! are organic. We tried: Muskateller, Reisling and a pinot noir. Here’s the details:
Gelber Muskateller 2012 from an organic vineyard called Zillinger. Austrians know how to make aromatics with fruity notes. For me, this was the winner.
Reisling DAC Sprinzenberg 2010 from an organic vineyard called Geyerhof. I do enjoy dry style white wines and this was one of the elegant examples of that style.
Pinot Noir Steinbügel from Castle Graf Hardegg
This was stunning the first time we had it. The second time around it wasn’t good so we sent it back and they opened a new bottle. It wasn’t a problem, they said and it was back to stunning again.
Visiting Orhan Pamuk’s Museum of Innocence in Istanbul
During Gezi Park protests, a dear friend of mine sent me a photo of a police officer firing his gun at protesters, aiming right underneath the sign of Orhan Pamuk’s real life Museum of Innocence. It was a heartbreaking scene; my country, my police, my people and one of my favourite author’s museum sign.
When you see something like that, you immediately want to go back and do whatever you missed out during your last trip. However, Turkey is a bit like India —only in a smaller scale—that every region has its own cuisine, natural beauty, unique history and dialect. So, you can never see everything; there’s always something else, some place else to see and experience. I mean, I’m from Turkey but there is a lot even I haven’t seen yet. Well, The Museum of Innocence was one of those places.
Luckily, the situation calmed down back in Turkey and in the end, the very same dear friend of mine and her husband who took us there on a fine May afternoon in 2015. The plan for that night was to go to a wine house around Galata Tower (see photo below) to have dinner and catch up with friends. To be able to visit the museum on the very same day, we left early. So Artun drove us down to Kadıköy. After parking the car at a nearby parking building, we walked up to the pier to catch a ferry. The ferries are the normal form of transportation in Istanbul and that is the best way to travel from Asian side of Istanbul to European side —I believe Istanbul is the only city in the world that stretches across two continents. I guess we walked through a tunnel after that, caught a tiny carriage of a train which travels underground but still doesn’t qualify as tube or metro. Once we came out at the other side, we found ourselves on famous İstiklal Caddesi (İstiklal Avenue) in Beyoğlu.
Well, The Museum of Innocence may seem like just off İstiklal Caddesi, however, it takes some searching, climbing uphill and then go downhill and consulting local taxi drivers –twice actually but Alpay doesn’t want to talk about it—to find this incredibly out of sight place. But when maroon-painted, narrow townhouse pokes its head out and you have your experience only then you realize that it is well worth it.
Although, the novel came out in 2008, I read in 2011—and of course, I read it in Turkish. I now own a Turkish copy of the novel which I bought from Turkey during one of my visits, an autographed American fist edition, and the museum catalogue called The Innocence of Objects, too. In the last chapter of the novel, this is what it says:
“And let those who have read the book enjoy free admission to the museum when they visit for the first time. This is best accomplished by placing a ticket in every copy. The Museum of Innocence will have a special stamp, and when visitors present their copy of the book, the guard at the door will stamp this ticket before ushering them in.”
So, I brought my autographed American first edition all the way from Sydney to Istanbul to be stamped at the museum which can be seen in the photo below along with Füsun’s earrings and my bookmark.
The Museum of Innocence opened its doors in 2012 and its exhibition is divided and presented in display cabinets—some of them are box-sized cabinets, by the way— which contain objects collected by Orhan Pamuk and Kemal Basmaci. Each cabinet —there are 83 chapters in the novel so there are 83 display cabinets at the museum—corresponds to a chapter in the novel with the same number and title. The way it is designed makes you feel like you’re rereading the novel. This time through real life objects.
As you step inside the museum, you are greeted with a huge spiral pattern (see photo above) on the floor: Spiral of Time. Orhan Pamuk’s catalog of the Museum of Innocence, The Innocence of Objects explains the Spiral of Time as the time spiral that the novel develops; symbolizing Aristotelian ideas about time as a line that connects indivisible moments. Objects, like atoms, are carried through to the clocks exhibited in the central stairwell that comprise Box 54, “Time.” Each object in the museum, whether a salt-shaker or a cigarette butt, helps us remember the moments, converting time into space. The little booklet you explains it a bit further as: While the spiral represents time and the story itself, the golden dots represents moments in time, or the individual objects within the story. The ground floor of the museum also houses the biggest piece under its roof: Box no: 68 with 4213 cigarette buts (see photo below).
Photo credit: Nihan Vural (Istanbul Travelogue)
On the first and the second floor, the story continues with the objects and wall movie installations. Limon’s cage can also be seen on the first floor. If you need to refresh your memory, there are copies of the novel in different languages and a few places to sit while you’re reading, too.
On the top floor, the story still continues through box numbers 80-83 this is the room where Kemal Basmacı lived from 2000 to 2007 while the construction of the museum carried out. On one wall, Orhan Pamuk’s preliminary sketches for the boxes and his manuscript of The Museum of Innocence are on display.
Kemal Basmacı’s room (above).
In the basement, you can find museum shop and toilets. I love museum shops so I actually spend quite a bit of time in every museum I visit and pick up some really cool stuff. From this particular museum shop I bought a fridge magnet, a bookmark and Füsun’s earrings (see photo). Füsun’s earrings are designed and produced by Kıymet Daştan according to the description given by Orhan Pamuk himself. I haven’t worn mine yet but I’m looking forward to it. Next time, I’m thinking of getting some of the posters as well—not that I have enough wall space but I’ll work something out.
A snippet of a narrow road (above) on the way to the museum. I personally enjoyed reading some of the graffiti on the walls as a reminder of Gezi Park protests. If you decide to visit The Museum of Innocence, you might walk down this road yourself.
The Museum of Innocence can be found in this address below:
Çukurcuma Caddesi
Dalgıç Çıkmazı, 2
Beyoğlu, 34425
Turkey
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