But that's starting to go away with every visit. The new interior is quite impressive and the food always seems to be hot and freshly-made. Veg-leaning eaters should try the Yasai-Itame if they are looking for a nice dish of crispy tofu in a mild red sauce.

The few times I've been there, the service has always been friendly and quick, which is another pleasant surprise. Also, Summertime is for sitting on the roof and looking down on the sprawling city.

Small (you may want to call ahead and reserve a table if you're more than 2) and inviting, the Bok is a vegetarian dream come true in the 4th district. The mock meat dishes are excellent, differing in flavors from many of the other local vegetasian restaurants and the staff are extremely friendly.

Open until 2200 M-Sat, Bok is the first place in Wien to give me the feeling of sitting on a San Francisco street corner (a good thing).

I highly recommend the veggie lemon crispy duck!

Not the most authentic or the tastiest, but, open to 2330 every night and is quite affordable.

They unfortunately do not have the Yasai Itame that's on the Akakiko menu, but, they have several vegetarian options (which are vegan-friendly) and that's nothing to complain about.

Sushi King is absolutely one of the best kept secrets for amazing Japanese cooking in Vienna. Their sushi is always fresh and delicious, the service there is always great for me and the owner(?)/chef is one of the kindest gentleman chefs I've ever met in this city.

Often over-shadowed by the trendier spots across the street in the Naschmarkt, Sushi King is a great little family owned restaurant with seating for around 20 people, serving some of the freshest and healthiest authentic Japanese meals in the area. Ignore the major franchises and go local folks.

Running sushi is a bit odd to me, I always wondered about the quality, taste and how many people sneezed on the food as it passed. But I have to admit, I love the thought of plates full of food running along a little track next to your table. Seems kind of futuristic and reminds me of all the great 50s and 60s sci-fi where the year 2000 would be this automated, motorized world run by floating robots with lasers for eyes.

The quality was quite good at Tokyo Running Sushi, the plates of food were fresh, new dishes appeared often and we were sitting a few tables away from local celebrity Vera Russwurm.

The vegan options were few and far between but vegetarians would make out like bandits. The avocado and cucumber maki were quite ok, tasted fresh and were quite refreshing. Lots of fresh fruit (apples, pears, oranges, litschi) salads, seaweed salads and noodles made up for the fact that the frühlings rolle had meat in them.

And it ended with a nice kitschy touch, after paying everyone at the table got free rice wine in shot glasses with images of nude pinup girls form the 80s in the bottom of them, only visible when liquid was still in your glass.