ma'ono fried chicken & whisky

legit korean fried chicken. my dining companion and i have traveled in south korea. koreans love fried chicken, something that really interested us on our trip, and something that we enjoyed there when we wanted a taste of home. they have their own spin on it and we thought ma'ono really got it right. we especially enjoyed the kimchee served with the chicken, very delicious. we pre-ordered a whole chicken and we were happy to take home some leftovers.
we each had a whiskey, because of course, and i think we were both sad about the very skimpy pour. we switched to beer for our meal.
we each had a steamed pork bun before our main course and really enjoyed them, they are served with some crunchy pickles that are just the right addition.
i thought our waiter was a little aggressive in trying to up-sale us on a couple of items, but really, no harm no foul.
i will happily return to ma'ono in charming downtown west seattle.

fried chicken dinner. ma'ono makes incredible fried chicken. the batter is perfectly seasoned, with just the right amount of crunch. the chicken itself is moist and flavorful.

the menu now includes fried chicken ($20 for half, pictured here, or $39 whole) served daily. it comes with kimchi and rice, and sweet chile sauce for dipping. the chicken has a slightly thick crust with juicy, flavorful meat inside; the staff tells me the secret is in their technique, which involves brining, soaking, multiple dredgings, and double-frying.

overall, i enjoyed my meal – and the tom boy cocktail i ordered – at ma’ono greatly. great conversation and company make every meal better. maybe i’ll go back and order just the fried chicken. i don’t think it’ll make a difference though – the fried chicken is good. but definitely not the best i’ve ever had.

dense crispy take on southern classic. i lucked out an stopped in for a take-out order on sunday evening before things got busy and enjoyed a beer at the bar. parking won't be the easiest, but expect prompt service and attention to detail. - -

i came here after seeing ma'ono listed on a top 10 places for fried chicken around the us and having spent my fair share of time around the southeast, i have to agree with the assessment. moist meat is under a dense and crispy breading, which is appropriately served with two sauces on the side, one with some solid heat. i went with some sweet potato fries enjoyed every bite, all before passing out into a food coma. - -

the rest of the menu looked appetizing and this is certainly a place to see and be seen. not all that large, expect to make a reservation.

if you enjoyed spring hill's fried chicken you'll be happy to know that the recipe is still the same however they use soybean oil now instead of peanut oil. while checking out their dinner menu , i discovered they also offer a gluten free version of the fried chicken that i really want to try some time. they use bob's red mill gf flour for the batter and have a separate fryer so there is no cross contamination of gluten. they ask that you call 24 hours in advance if you want the gluten free chicken so they can have it prepped and ready for you. mark and i attended a photostroll in west seat

über salty: check your blood pressure. salt scale - 10 is the highest (it's like eating a teaspoon of salt straight from the spoon). warning: stay away from the small plates- stick with the fried chicken, and maybe their noodle dishes. this should only be a fried chicken and whiskey restaurant. as most other reviews state the chicken is popular because its the best thing on the menu.

ordered the brussel sprouts with apples - swimming in bacon grease, cooked to mush, burnt, and so salty that the apple wedge sweetness was completely missing. salt scale a 9/10. would i ever eat this again? no. gainsborg in greenwood sprouts rock not to mention local 360 sprouts in downtown seattle or 8 ounce burger sprouts in capital hill.

ordered the edamame - salt scale 5/10. messy red coating had only a super salty paprika like flavor. i added a squeeze of lemon for a bit of acid just to get them. i've only found spicy edamame at four restaurant in melville ny that had a nice inviting flavor. eat at a japanese restaurant if you want edamame in seattle.

ordered the kimchi. it came in an interesting picking container. although it appear fresh it was again extremely salty (5 of 10) and odd and flat tasting. it appeared to be missing a key kimchi ingredient fish sauce which would have given it depth. maybe the heavy salt masked the fish sauce. i could only eat 1/4 of the serving.

and finally the tuna poke. it was served with nearly burnt peanuts and heavy sesame oil based sauce. if it weren't for the nearly burnt peanuts and salt it might have been good (salty 5 out of 10).

by the way i love salt to bring out key flavor in a properly prepared dish but this was crazy. i think my blood pressure. rework the small plates and i'll revise my review.

the dark meat practically melted, collapsing into your mouth like a fainting victorian matron, overwhelmed by a challenge to the social order by some dashing vagabond.

so our friends wanted to try the famed fried chicken. they normally don’t serve this during brunch, but the kitchen went ahead and brought it out for us. unfortunately, all the hype around it ended up disappointing our friends. i have to admit i didn’t think they were as good as the first time i had it, but i think that may be because of the negativity surrounding me and i got swayed. i wouldn’t say this would be the last time i would be ordering it though. i’d go back for it again.

did i like it or like the idea of it?. i liked this restaurant. had a good solid breakfast. wouldn't object to eating here again and you can't beat the bottomless mimosa at brunch. i guess for a place with the words "fried chicken" in the name, i expected better fried chicken. my friend's chicken nuggets with sausage gravy was somewhat disappointing. i make better sausage gravy. i guess i like the idea of this place and there are other things on the menu i want to try so that's why i say i like the idea of this place. i'll try it again and write another review.

new and exciting. love being able to get inventive food like french toast and chicken ingest with sausage gravy. also had the chicken club. wayyyyy better than the standard version. everything was delicious. cant wait to go back!

the fried chicken was awesome. also loved the korean dipping sauce it came with. the kimchi was really, really sour. a bit too much for my liking but that is a personal preference. the musubi was okay, nothing to write home about, and the manapua (steamed bbq pork buns) were inedible for me. was not impressed with the cocktails we ordered at the price paid. i would go back for the chicken, and would like to try a few other things but the chicken is the only thing i can recommend.

not up to expectations. my husband and i read about this restaurant in an article and it's reviews on urban spoon. we ignored the "didn't likes" saying that we can only make a judgement ourselves. it was disappointing. we started with what is advertised as a california roll with dungeness crab. our waitress explained it is their version of a california roll "de-constructed", which isn't rolled in seaweed. rather, the ingredients of it come in a bowl with the seaweed on the side. perhaps we should have told her we didn't appreciate raw fish. don't hate, just not one of our things. it's why we ordered a california roll as it traditionally doesn't come with raw fish. well, this one does come with raw tuna and that was missing in her description. so, we pick around it. a different server walked by, clearly making note of the tuna picked out, and audibly said to a co-worker, "did you see that?". ok, i know it's strange to sushi lovers to pick out the raw fish, but also found her comment unprofessional. how about their fried chicken? you must order a whole chicken. there are no other options. with the chicken comes plain white rice, kimchi, and 2 dipping sauces. perhaps this is all part of the hawaiian theme? to us, it was a somewhat strange combination. the chicken was decent. i wouldn't rave about it though. luckily for us, our server took note of our pickings of the appetizer and took it off of our bill. that part of the experience was nice and we appreciated it.

still great..... i loved springhill, and on a recent visit to ma'ono i was in awe... this place does it right! great vibe happy people cause they are all eating great food.

the desserts are killer, and the fried chicken is dead on, but the other day i was feeling a little hungry and ordered 4 dishes for myself at brunch... with no intention on finishing it all i just wanted to try. it was really great from the pot stickers with pork and yolk, to the california roll poke. the fried oysters served with butter lettuce to make a wrap were amazing and the noodles there is a reason it is a big sign on there window!

go you will be pleased!

just chicken. we really wanted to like this place. it is in our lovely west seattle neighborhood. i am a fried chicken freak too.
so looking forward to the chicken and side dishes mentioned in another review, but was disappointed. the chicken was well cooked, crispy and juicy, but the flavor was not really there and you had to order the whole chicken! enough for 4 people. but great for leftovers, since we got to doctor it at home. the kim chi was nicely presented, but just okay needs more heat, the rice, grits and sesame noodles lacked a bit in flavor. we hope they tweak their flavor profile, because they cook that chicken right!