Metro stop Thai

Certain sights can be expected at Prague metro stations, including buskers, seedy dark-windowed gambling bars and hapless tourists trying to figure out the ticketing system. What you certainly wouldn't expect is a Thai restaurant, let alone a good one. If you've passed through Vyšehrad on the red line recently, however, you've probably seen Yam Yam Thai Food & Café from the train. It's worth making a stop.

Vyšehrad is the only aboveground metro station so close to the city center, and its patio courtyard - which Yam Yam shares - overlooks the rooftops of Nusle Valley. Yam Yam's striking black-and-orange logo and glass front take some attention away, thankfully, from the ubiquitous industrial concrete around the station.

The eatery's interior is small, with only about 10 tables and a few rattan couches. It was packed on a recent evening visit, and also filled out nicely on a lunchtime stop. Natural light floods in, and diners can look out over the valley from their perches at white Formica tables while watching the metro come and go - soothing in an urban sort of way.

The décor is modern, sparse and mostly black and white, with splashes of orange in keeping with the logo's theme. In the evenings, tabletop tea lights provide the majority of the lighting, making the most of the atmosphere, which can verge on smoky. The wait staff bustles back and forth between tables and the bar. On both visits the servers were friendly and fast; they seem used to people popping in for a quick bite or getting food to take away.

A clearly visible location aside, it's not hard to see why Yam Yam is almost always crowded. The food is good, and the prices are as refreshing as the fresh ginger grated onto many dishes: The most expensive items top out at 145 Kč - and that includes your choice of rice or noodles.

The menu isn't big, but the items cover a wide ground. Beware the novelty Grung Tob Tom Yam starter, though: It translates as "Yam Yam Fire Soup" and has a whole page of skull-and-crossbones warnings, as well as the promise of getting the soup for free along with a free beer and your photo on the Wall of Fame if you can finish it in 30 minutes. They make you sign a disclaimer before trying it, and for good reason. My dining companion attempted it and got halfway through; the spice even made my eyes tear up from across the table. It's a cilantro-heavy broth teaming with Scotch Bonnets, some of the hottest peppers on the planet. Needless to say, you'll suffer for a day afterward (I won't go into detail), but some people can't resist the challenge.

Fortunately, no such warnings are needed with the other dishes, although several do pack a nice, tasty punch. Two spring rolls came halved for cooling purposes and brimmed with crunchy cabbage, glass noodles and carrot. The sweet, bright dipping sauce was just spicy enough warm the appetite. Chicken satay was pleasant, the meat biting easily off the stick and going well with the thick peanut sauce.

The Nu Rad Prig, ranked at four chili peppers on the menu's spice chart, should be one of the hottest dishes at Yam Yam (Fire Soup excluded, of course). But it was only marginally spicier than the Kaeng Pet Kai, marked by one chili. Both were excellent, however, with a rising heat that didn't burn the mouth but beaded the brow. The former stirred together tender chunks of beef, red onion and fresh basil in a sweet-and-sour oyster-heavy sauce, pairing for a warming bowl, while the Kaeng Pet Kai featured tender chicken, bell peppers, crunchy sugar pea pods and coconut milk in a smooth red curry - a bargain for 95 Kč. Rice was brought automatically with both dishes.

An attempt to try Yam Yam's Phad Thai failed, as what arrived was clearly one of the fried rice dishes (called Khuow Pad King Kai, which the waiter must have confused). It was still very good though: a light mix of chicken, egg, carrots, peppers and spring onion tossed through comforting, stodgy rice. The sliced ginger in it, however, was a bit overwhelming in quantity, and I had to pick out much of it.

Whatever side of the tracks you're coming from, Yam Yam is the perfect place to fill up on good Thai food for almost half the price of other places in town.

Fiona Gaze can be reached at
fgaze@praguepost.com