Sunday, June 24, 2012

Present

For our regular Friday night takeout night a couple weeks ago we tried Present, a Vietnamese place out our way. Our hope was that it would be like Four Sisters, but without the hike out west. And, for the most part, it did not disappoint.

My first issue with Present was that it is impossible to order a side of vegetables. You can order a vegetarian entree, but it seemed a little excessive to spend $13 extra to round out the meal. And since it was Friday and the fridge was fairly depleted of produce by then, we ended up supplementing our takeout with a frozen veg medley. I would have much preferred some steamed baby corn and broccoli! My second issue was that it was SO HARD to select just a few things from a menu where everything sounds absurdly delicious. This, however, is the kind of problem I like to have!

The star of the meal was hands down the baby clam salad. I would say this rivals Four Sisters, with maybe a higher peanut-to-clam ratio. The rice was also perfection--a teensy bit al dente and way more flavorful than I can ever make plan old rice. We also ordered crispy roasted duck with tamarind sauce and caramelized clay pot fish. Both proteins were slightly overcooked and the sauces a bit on the sweet side, but on the whole still pretty good.

Overall, solid takeout, and it's probably better dine-in while the food is freshest. We'll undoubtedly be back--we still have to try the seafood pancakes, the black pepper shrimp, and everything else on the menu. Friday, come soon! (portions x-posted to yelp.com)

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