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Wednesday, June 26, 2013

Hard Water-Charles Phan's New American Whiskey Bar

 In a quest to eat at all 3000 San Francisco restaurants (500 plus and counting), Linda and Mike L. Mc Colgan's culinary journey recently took them to Charles Phan's latest addition Hard Water.

This new creation was designed by famous architect Olle Lunberg who also partnered with Charles on this new venture. It features a selection of over 150 whiskeys to make your visit memorable and unique.

The menu also features a wide choice of oysters and Charles Phan's New Orleans theme of interesting cajun recipes. Manager Laura Markham was very helpful in suggesting some popular dishes to try and Olle Lunberg was also eating there that day. The place was full of energy and every seat occupied with happy faces.
We started out with the pork cracklins which are pork bellys seasoned to perfection and washed them down with Louisiana Ambita Amber beer.

 We also shared a cocktail A La Louisiane which was mixed perfectly at the open bar. It consisted of Rittenhouse 100 rye, Carpano Antica Vermouth, Benedictine, and Peychauds bitter that was hand mixed and served in a chilled glass. It was described by the bartender as being a Louisiana Manhattan.

Since there are only 37 seats in the modern circular bar and restaurant, everything that was served looked very fresh and very good. Linda selected the seafood gumbo with andouille popcorn rice that was a hearty proportion of culinary excellence.

I chose the fried chicken sandwich with mortadella, provolone and pickled peppers that was excellent and large enough for two people to split.

For desert, we sampled the warm banana butter-scotch fried pies that were served warm and a satisfying ending to a fun and fantastic lunch.

We will definitely return and sample the various flights of whiskey. This new eatery will definitely be a hit among the "San Francisco Foodies" that appreciate high quality at a reasonable price.
For more information and to make reservations, go to: