You don’t need to go that far back in time to remember when Próżna looked like it was going to come tumbling down: flanked by disintegrating tenements precariously propped up by wooden scaffolds, it was the street that time forgot. In many ways, its gentrification has been a little too rapid, but no-one can fault the quality of the restoration work: in a nutshell, it’s beautiful.
But with the renovation work all but nearly done, along comes the task of filling the street’s ground floor units. Bistros and brasseries have been the popular choice, but for the last year and a bit we’ve also had a Thai plugging away, carving a name for themselves.
Positioned inside a glass-fronted oblong room, San Thai feels chic and smart with just the right amount of Asian masks and decoys to remind you that, yes, you will be eating Thai. Upmarket but never intimidating, the interiors are harmoniously balanced with a menu that whistles with authentic tastes: delicate pouches of steamed homemade dumplings; chicken and shrimp skewers marinated in coconut milk and served with thick, paste-like peanut sauce; King Prawns in a snappy phanang curry; and the kind of Pad Thai that could be sent across Poland fulfilling ambassadorial duties for the nation it represents. Próżna might be an emerging center of bistronomy, but San Thai is a timely reminder of this area’s wider skill set – and a welcome one at that.
San Thai ul. Próżna 10, restauracjasanthai.pl
