The differences between eating in a restaurant serving a Western cuisine and one representing the cooking of an Asian region begin with the length of the menu. Once I've turned a couple of the - usually - laminated pages, I'm in a dither of indecision and a quiver of vacillation.

This is not a problem you'll have at Present, a Vietnamese restaurant. The suave and smiling maitre d' and his equally charming staff will guide you. They will explain what goes with what, keep you to the straight and narrow if you under-order, and pull you from the brink if you over-order. Then they will continue with their recommendations, if you want them to, as to the sequence in which you should help yourself from the dishes on the Lazy Susan in the center of the table.

I can't tell you what to chose - pretty well everything is well executed. It's a cuisine whose freshness of flavor and contrast of textures generally demands last minute cooking which makes for lighter eating than an Indian meal. If you are a novice, all you have to decide is how adventurous you want to be - and there's plenty on the menu to please the most timid diner - and how hungry you are. The rest can be left in the capable hands of the staff and the award winning chef.

The restaurant takes reservations, and is as full with Vietnamese as it is with foreign fans. The prices are reasonable, too.

Present, 6678 Arlington Blvd, Falls Church, 703 531 1881.

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