present

this place will rip you off !!!. i went to this restaurant the night before mothers day, i was asked to wait 30 to 40 minutes. that is no problem, since most places are busy on a a saturday night. my group of 4 were sat in just 20 minutes, great! the restaurant has a very traditional vietnamese look, very pleasant. i was disappointed when i saw the menu though. very expensive for the little bit of food they bring you. i ordered fried fish off of the menu that was $29.95, yet thewaitersaid "sorry, we only have the $50.00 version tonight", wtf?? bait and switch at it's best, so my guest and i split this and two other smaller entres and one pot of tea. the food was bland, i have had much better food at other places, there was no salt, no pepper, no sugar and thewaiterdid not refill our tea or anything. when we got the bill some of the things we ordered were much more expensive than reflected on the menu...warning......check your bill... !!!! i was very very upset, for 1 pot of tea, i main course and two appetizers it cost $119.00 for 4 people and there was not enough to go around. very very expensive, misleading menu and staff, poor food quality, and very little portions. the only good thing i can say about 'present' is i will not be going back there.......

wow!. from the outside it's a little questionably, but once inside the experience changes completely. the staff are extremely friendly and the atmosphere is comfortable and reminded me a little of being in asia (a little). i don't know vietnamese food well so i had thewaitermake a few suggestions. i appreciated that he didn't immediately go for all the most expensive items. he brought me the imperial autumn rolls, which i downed in seconds. they come with what i thought was just garnish, but when thewaitersaw i was almost done suggested wrapping them in the lettuce and mint leaves and dipping them in the sauce. holy @$%# were those good! for the main course he directed me to something called "cow in the open field." i could have eaten three more plates.

i'm not sure how the place stacks up against other vietnamese restaurants, but this was the best food in general that i've had in some time. every time i visit falls church i'm going here again.

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 spring rolls and 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. ourwaiterwas 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.

pretty good food -- well above the usual pho place.waiterwas a little brisk but otherwise service was good and rapid.

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 spring rolls and the crispy fish was plopped on our table. when we asked thewaiterwhy 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.