Homefries: Sake with Steph

Last night was hopefully a start to a new tradition. Steph, friend, food lover and fellow blogger and I decided that we need to start going on our eating adventures together and then both blog about them after. Our first pick was Blue Elm on the Lower East Side. For a fairly new restaurant in the midst of a recession, this narrow asian/french eatery was packed. The hostess even had to kick out the couple eating at our table because they had been there for three hours.

It didn't take us long to decide what we were going to eat because Steph and I had already looked at the menu approximately 4 times each, just yesterday. We decided on the pomme frites with three different dipping sauces, the tuna tartare (an all-time favorite), the yucca crusted salmon and a sushi roll.

The winner of the night was the tuna tartare for me. It had sliced almonds and raisins in it which added a little crunch and sweetness that was just right.
The pomme frites were also good especially with the spicy dipping sauce. The salmon was just okay and didn't really stand out to me and the sushi roll was good. The fish was fresh and the pieces were big. Good thing Steph wasn't judging me on my chop sticks to sushi ratio because they were below average.

We topped off our meal with a half bottle of sake - a new drink for me. I usually only drink sake when it comes in bomb form but I decided to give it a shot (no pun intended). A half bottle goes a long way when you're drinking out of a shot glass and I even learned a new fun fact. You're never supposed to pour your own sake -- it's bad luck. The waiter/waitress should do it for you but if they're not around, someone else at the table needs to do it. We definitely obliged on that rule because who needs bad luck these days?!