Present Restaurant, web site, 6678 Arlington Blvd., Falls Church, VA, 703-531-1881 (Metro Trip Planner – opens in new window) [Yelp]
This is in the mall with J.V.’s Restaurant (described by the Washington Post as “One of the last Virginia honky-tonks“) and Merchants’ Tire, west of Seven Corners/Eden Center. This used to be the Beewon.
The restaurant is finer in décor than most Vietnamese places and you could even take a business client here. The menu has vague, flowery descriptions of the dishes, so if you know real Vietnamese food you may at first be a bit confused. Don’t be.
Right now this is one of the best Vietnamese restaurants around. The dishes are done in very classic style, with French influence. The menu is pretty short so they may not have your favorite Vietnamese dish. And I think the place can still get better. Recommended.
We’ve been at this place a couple of times. It seems they are taking their time workign through some of the kinks of a new restaurant, but the servers are very pleasant and the food is terrific. Give them a shot!
We’ve been here a couple of times now. I have mixed feelings about it. Several of the dishes we’ve had here were outstanding, but there were a few misses (avoid the lemongrass tofu).
The servers (including a guy who I believe is the manager) are very friendly and helpful. The manager-guy spent almost 20 minutes walking through the menu!
The decor is almost too nice for me… Weirdly, I like my Vietnamese restaurants to look and feel like a restaurant in Vietnam.
With all that said, this is the perfect place to bring your friends who’ve never had Vietnamese food before. Excellent service, nice decor and generally great food.
Skillet Doux has a pretty spot on write up and some great pictures of this place: http://www.skilletdoux.com/2009/08/present.html
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