.: lunch at el patron :.

for two saturdays in a row, jason and i have hit up el patron in mt. vernon. it used to be a quaint chinese restaurant, and when i wandered the halls of the big rowhouse i saw remnants of the former resident. they still had a few of the silk ottoman chairs and the frosted glass doors had dragons depicted on them. we mainly stayed in the front room tho, which fronted as the bar. our first lunch there was pretty busy for just one waitress/bartender. poor girl was running around between the different rooms. despite the lack of a waitstaff, service was not slow. jason ordered the beef enchillada platter and i went with the classic jalapeno cheesesteak.

jason devoured his plate, i think i had one bite of my sandwich and he was basically done. then again, i'm a notoriously slow eatter. my sandwich was good, fresh. i liked the way the steak was cooked, just medium rare, and the added avocado gave it some creaminess. i washed it down with a fruity red wine sangria. it was actually really good and i'm not usually the biggest fan of mexican cuisine. naturally, i had to have dessert: flan. :) mexican flan is different from vietnamese flan. it's heavier, thicker and more bitter. still enjoyable tho.

our experience there was so positive that for vday lunch, jason and i went back there. this time, their staff had grown. again, service was good. i had a white wine sangria with lunch. jason and i shared the beef enchillada plate. we didn't stay for very long, but i'm sure we'll be back often.