FOOD: Restaurant Review of Present Restaurant

BY Ra Chan

Special to the Falls Church Times

April 29, 2011

Present Restaurant opened up a few years ago but I had not made the extra effort to go there until recently.  I’ve known a lot of people who have dined there, and the reviews for the restaurant have been relatively positive.  You also have to realize that I did have some pretty high expectations as I’ve been spoiled by having mother-in-law cook amazing Vietnamese cuisine at home, so I wanted to see how it compared to home cooking. The restaurant itself was not what you expect from the outside. It’s located right off Route 50 in a strip mall type location. You walk in and the decor is a combination of modern and traditional. I loved the wood work on the wall and the orchids everywhere. What I found really amusing were the names of all the entrees; I’ve never seen such naming conventions like “Fish Swimming in Spring Water” or “Blue Paradise Summer Roll” but found it very original when you compare it to the countless other Vietnamese restaurants in the area.

With expectations in check, and an appetite waiting, I ordered 2 appetizers and 2 fish entrees. When the waiter described their daily specials, he mentioned a fried rock fish that had me salivating. As for the appetizers, I ordered banh beo (steamed rice cake with dried shrimp) and cha gio (a crispy spring roll with a pork and shrimp mixture). The waiter talked me out of getting the normal cha gio and recommended their special cha gio wrapped in rice thread paper.

The presentation of the spring roll was really cool and it was recommended by the waiter to roll up the spring roll in a lettuce leaf and add a mint leaf. I love cha gio and the crispiness of it with the delicious pork and shrimp mixture on the inside. I think the version I ordered with the rice thread paper had a little too much going on; the rice paper was a little too intricate and I felt that it was taking away from the flavor of the meat mixture. Wrapping it in the lettuce with the mint leaf and dipping in the nuc mam sauce did give it some flavor, but I regretted not ordering the normal cha gio.

Next up were the banh beo. Again, I was very impressed with the presentation. It looked like the perfect appetizer to share with each rice cake in their individual shallow dish. I think however, I made the mistake of trying to compare this to the version my mother-in-law makes. It was good, but not what I was used to and it was a little difficult to eat since the rice cake was clinging to the bowl it was served in. The crispy pork fat and dried shrimp on top were both lacking in flavor. I prefer my dipping sauce to be a little bit on the spicy side, so I felt that the dish in its complete package was a little too bland.

For one of the entrees, I ordered the Fish in Shallow Water – the caramelized fish dish served in a clay pot. When it came out, the waiter warned me to not over do it with the sauce since it was salty. I love salt, so I didn’t heed his warning and scooped a lot of sauce and slathered my rice with it. And oh boy, it was salty. The fish itself was cooked very well, but the caramelized flavor was a little over powered by the saltiness of the sauce. This one I blame on myself for not heeding the waiter’s warning about the sodium overload.

The next entrée was the fried rock fish fillet with the ginger sauce dipping sauce. That entree was enough for 2 people; it was a huge fillet, fried to perfection! The chef had filleted it from tail to head and all that was left was a huge piece of delicious fish! The sauce that accompanied the dish was good as well – a a light soy sauce with ginger, onions and shallots. I think this entree was my favorite, how can you go wrong with a classic – fried fish and rice!

Overall consensus, the food was good, but I think my tastes are a little biased. The rock fish was really good and I enjoyed every bite of it. I think though that I should have perhaps tried a few different items. But all in all, I did enjoy my dinner and the prices were super reasonable. I had heard the desserts there were really good, but since I had a pretty big dinner, there wasn’t much room left for dessert. Oh well, there’s always next time!

Ra Chan grew up in Richmond, Va and moved up to Northern Virginia in 2006.  While enjoying the mecca of amazing cuisine, Ra has taken on the challenge of conquering the kitchen to learn how to cook especially taking on some intricate Cambodian and Vietnamese dishes. Ra started blogging and can be found at: http://eatingchronicles.blogspot.com/ .