I recently discovered Hog & Rocks in San Francisco’s Mission Distrcit Recently. Until 6 pm every day, they have $1 oysters. Not oly do they do oysters well, but bourbon and ham as well. They tout themselves as San Francisco’s first ham and oyster bar.
Ham selections are wide and broad, from La Quercia Prosciutto from Iowa, Picante, and aged 9 months, and served with Pickled grapes. The Broadbent’s Ham from Kentucky is aged 12 months and served with pickled red onion.
Enter Italy’s Recla Speck, cold smoked over beechwood chips with pickled red onion. From Spain, there’s the Redondo Iglesias Jamon Serrano, which has been aged for 18 months and served with olive oil sun dried tomato. Also from Italy is the San Daniele Prosciutto, which has been aged for 24 months and served with fresh mozzarella.
You can get a ham tasting plate for $15 or 27 for your choice of 3 or 5.
They offer Pt Reyes oysters from California, Hammersley Inlets from Washington state, The Marin Miyagi’s from California, the Glacier Bays from New Brunswick, and the Kumamoto’s also from Washington state. I always prefer them on the half shell but ou can also order BBQ oysters (3 for $9), which they serve with cocktail sauce and herb butter. 
Other great things on the menu include Shishito Peppers with lime, Kennebec Fries, Croquettes, served with aborio rice, aged ham, mahon reserva cheese and spring onion cream, Stuffed Piquillo Peppers served with salt cod stuffed peppers and sweet corn puree.
Or, you can opt for the Duck Heart Skewer with pickled cauliflower and basil puree, Fried Squash Blossoms, Bone Marrow on gremolata, toast, chicken wings or their meat platter served with bell peppers, mornay sauce, and paprika creme.
We started with the lamb meatballs which I’d highly recomend. They are served wtih a wild rice pilaf, english peas and a black pepper-lemon yogurt sauce.
Also try their Gulf Coast flounder, served with yellow corn, cherry tomatoes, black eyed peas, frisee, peppadew vinaigrette and tarragon creme fraiche, or the fish and chips, which are beer-battered with kennebec potatoes, malt vinegar and tartar sauce.
For starters, try the mussels which are cider steamed, served with piquillo butter over chorizo aioli toast.
The cocktail menu is amazing but I was disappointed by their wine menu. While I realize that they’re trying to pair wines that go best with oysters, my argument is that there’s a host of other offerings on the menu aside from oysters and they don’t offer any choices of a Chardonnay or a Cabernet Sauvignon, unheard of in a California restaurant.
There’s also no Merlot or Zinfandel – in other words, they wines tend to be on the light side, which go well with the oysters and their salads, but not the lamb meatballs or some of the other heavier choices on offer.
Renee Blodgett is the founder of We Blog the World. The site combines the magic of an online culture and travel magazine with a global blog network and has contributors from every continent in the world. Having lived in 10 countries and explored nearly 80, she is an avid traveler, and a lover, observer and participant in cultural diversity.
She is also the CEO and founder of Magic Sauce Media, a new media services consultancy focused on viral marketing, social media, branding, events and PR. For over 20 years, she has helped companies from 12 countries get traction in the market. Known for her global and organic approach to product and corporate launches, Renee practices what she pitches and as an active user of social media, she helps clients navigate digital waters from around the world. Renee has been blogging for over 16 years and regularly writes on her personal blog Down the Avenue, Huffington Post, BlogHer, We Blog the World and other sites. She was ranked #12 Social Media Influencer by Forbes Magazine and is listed as a new media influencer and game changer on various sites and books on the new media revolution. In 2013, she was listed as the 6th most influential woman in social media by Forbes Magazine on a Top 20 List.
Her passion for art, storytelling and photography led to the launch of Magic Sauce Photography, which is a visual extension of her writing, the result of which has led to producing six photo books: Galapagos Islands, London, South Africa, Rome, Urbanization and Ecuador.
Renee is also the co-founder of Traveling Geeks, an initiative that brings entrepreneurs, thought leaders, bloggers, creators, curators and influencers to other countries to share and learn from peers, governments, corporations, and the general public in order to educate, share, evaluate, and promote innovative technologies.
