present

came in before the dinner rush; had the entire restaurant to myself at 445pm on a thursday. very pleasant and helpful server, although was a bit confused about my questions about which entrees were served without rice or noodles (special diet). springrollswere tasty, however the green onions which were intact in the roll were tough- couldn’t bite through and had to pull them out intact. the jasmine tea was strong and fragrant. the beef springfield (marinated beef stir fried with green beans) was a bit tough/over cooked, but was tasty, well presented, and a generous portion. the steamed baby bock chou was acceptable, would have been much better with a little spice or garlic. pretty decent bountiful healthy meal at a reasonable $30

as good as advertised.. once again i have to start my review with a caveat, i'm allergic to most shellfish and i would say the majority of what was available involved something i couldn't eat. and with that…

to begin, the interior of the restaurant is very nice. there is nothing striking from you outside. it sits in the corner of a little strip center next to a tire place but when you walk inside it's adorned nicely and has some nice woodwork. we were able to walk right in and be seated on a tuesday evening but while there was no wait when we arrived the majority of the tables were filled by the time we left.

as for the food it was not disappointing. i started with veggie springrollsand they were good but didn't stand out over any other i've had. now… this was one of very few appetizers i could eat and i was really jealous of what i saw going on at tables around me. there certainly were more adventurous options. for my entrée i shared the "cow on the open field" and the "warm heart piglet." both were very tasty. i've had the "cow on the open field", aka shaky beef, before and i think this might be the best i've had. the beef was nice and tender. the onions and watercress were delicious with the sauce. even after i was full i kept picking at anything edible on the plate until they took it away. the presentation was attractive (see the picture).

i'd also like to point out that the service was nice. our waiter was very knowledgeable about the menu and even made a few suggestions that were helpful. in one case he suggested we get some steamed broccoli if we wanted some veggies because it was good to dip in the sauce that was served with the "warm heart piglet." and he was right. overall i was very satisfied.

bad experience. i don't know why there are so many excellent reviews for present. we love vietnamese food, but present does not live up to our expectations or taste buds.
we had early saturday evening reservations. we were rushed through our meal - had barely had a bite of the springrollsand the crispy fish was plopped on our table. when we asked the waiter why he was hurrying us through our meal, he said they had a large party of 40 coming at 6:30. why should that force him to hurry us through our meal?
the crispy fish was very small, not fresh (very fishy smelling), and was soggy.
we will never return and will tell our friends to not try the restaurant.