The Feisty Foodie

Opinionated Food Critic

  • Around NYC
    • Brooklyn
      • Bay Ridge
    • Bronx
    • Downtown Lunch
    • Long Island Eats
    • Manhattan
      • Chelsea
      • Chinatown
      • East Village
      • Financial District
      • Flatiron District
      • Gramercy
      • Greenwich Village
      • Hell’s Kitchen
      • Lower East Side
      • Midtown
      • Murray Hill
      • SoHo
      • Tribeca
      • Upper East Side
      • Upper West Side
      • West Village
    • Queens
      • Astoria
      • Bayside
      • Corona
      • Elmhurst
      • Flushing
      • Elmhurst
      • Flushing
      • Forest Hills
      • Howard Beach
      • Jackson Heights
      • Kew Gardens
  • Cuisine
    • Africa
      • Moroccan
    • Americas
      • American
      • Argentinian
      • Brazilian
      • Cajun
      • Canadian
      • Creole
      • Cuban
      • Hawaiian
      • Mexican
      • New American
      • Southwestern
    • Asia
      • Cambodian
      • Chinese
      • Filipino
      • Indian
      • Indonesian
      • Japanese
      • Korean
      • Malaysian
      • Russian
      • Thai
      • Ukrainian
      • Vietnamese
    • Europe
      • Austrian
      • Belgian
      • French
      • Greek
      • Italian
      • Lebanese
      • Mediterranean
      • Spanish
      • Turkish
    • Other
      • Fast Food
      • Fusion
      • Tapas
      • Vegetarian
  • Feisty Fun
    • Articles
      • Feisty Bento
    • Baseball
    • BlindBakerNYC
    • Events
      • FF Giveaways
    • Fiction
    • Food Memories
    • Food Services
      • CSA
      • Fresh Direct
      • Ready to Cook
    • Jenn of NEB
    • Product Reviews
    • Project 365
    • Recipe Fridays
    • Serial Thursdays
    • The Beer Boor
    • Tuesdays with TT
  • Recipes
    • Baked Goods
    • BBQ
    • Beef
    • Beverages
    • Breakfast
    • Brunch
    • Chicken
    • Desserts
    • Duck
    • Lamb
    • One Pot Meals
    • Pasta
    • Pork
    • Ramen
    • Sauces
    • Seafood
    • Side Dishes
    • Steak
  • Restaurants
    • Bakeries
    • BBQ
    • Bistro
    • Breakfast
    • Burgers
    • Cheese
    • Deli
    • Desserts
      • Ice cream
    • Pizza
    • Seafood
    • Shabu shabu
    • Steakhouse
      • The Great Steakhouse Tour of NYC
    • Tea
    • Trucks/Carts
    • Wine Bar
  • Stadium Eats
    • Citi Field
    • Citizens Bank Park
    • Nationals Park
    • PNC Park
    • Shea Stadium (Closed)
    • Yankee Stadium
  • Travels
    • Asia
      • Hong Kong
    • Europe
      • England
        • London
      • France
        • Paris
      • Greece
        • Athens
      • Spain
        • Barcelona
      • Turkey
        • Istanbul
    • North America
      • Canada
        • Montreal
      • United States
        • Arizona
          • Phoenix
        • California
          • Los Angeles
          • San Diego
          • San Francisco
        • Connecticut
        • Georgia
        • Hawaii
          • Maui
        • Illinois
          • Chicago
        • Louisiana
          • Baton Rouge
          • New Orleans
        • Maryland
          • Baltimore
        • Massachusetts
          • Boston
        • Nevada
          • Las Vegas
        • New Jersey
        • North Carolina
          • Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill
        • Pennsylvania
          • Philadelphia
          • Pittsburgh
        • Texas
          • Austin
        • Washington
          • Seattle
        • Washington DC
    • South America
      • Argentina
        • Buenos Aires
        • Iguazu Falls
      • Peru

Ma’Ono Fried Chicken & Whisky

January 7, 2014 by Feisty Foodie 5 Comments

With a name like that… seriously…

I have some really amazing friends. Included amongst this small group is a lovely woman named Naomi aka the GastroGnome. I consider myself truly blessed to know her… especially when she invited me to partake in her family’s Thanksgiving 2013 feast. Thank you again for all your generosity and hospitality! … all this to explain why I was in Seattle over Thanksgiving – to re-visit a city that I fell in love with but left quietly in the night, never to call again… until now!

Ahem.

In any case, knowing my affinity for fried chicken, Naomi planned a huge fried chicken day for the day after Thanksgiving. Unfortunately, due to some craziness, the places we were going to pit head-to-head were closed, so we wound up only going to a third contender – Ma’Ono – but as I told her, I’ll be back in a flash, and honestly? I eat a lot of fried chicken. It’s okay.

Onwards to our meal at Ma’Ono!

Ma'Ono 01.jpg

Our first bite was the Shoyu Tombo Poke, a very Hawaiian dish – generally, poke is raw tuna tossed with sesame oil and other assorted seasonings. This one was heavy on the sesame oil, scallions, and was very light, tasty.

Ma'Ono 02.jpg Ma'Ono 03.jpg

When we discovered they were out of the warm Portuguese sweet rolls (served with whipped pan drippings and sea salt!), we ordered the Manapua or steamed BBQ pork buns. I’d thought it’d be like Momofuku pork buns, so was a little surprised when they arrived more like the Chinese roast pork buns (char siu bao), but they were tasty regardless.

Ma'Ono 07.jpg

We also split the Fatty Saimin, which came like a heavenly bowl of some of the best ramen ever.

Ma'Ono 04.jpg

For sides, we had some of the best ‘caramelized broccoli’ I’ve ever had – I would happily eat bowlfuls of this daily if I could – and

Ma'Ono 06.jpg

macaroni salad, which, in Hawaii, comes with potatoes in it. This did not disappoint as a foil to all the other rich foods on the table – not that it cut through that richness, but just that it was different.

And now… the main event.

Ma'Ono 05.jpg

Half fried chicken, for $20 ($39 for a full). This was good. Very good fried chicken. Crisp, moist, flavorful, great texture… this was solid. But y’know… it didn’t knock my socks off. I’m struggling to remember specifics about it besides being good. It doesn’t stand out in my mind as particularly amazing, the way Peaches Hothouse in Brooklyn does. It was just… good. And for $20 for half, with not much accompanying? (Kimchi, hot sauce, and a bowl of rice) – sure, it’s good, but I don’t think it’ll top any of my best fried chicken lists any time soon.

Ah well. I can keep looking. I never mind trying more fried chicken 😉

Ma'Ono 08.jpg

To end the meal on a sweet note, we ordered the popcorn ice cream – which tasted just like popcorn. I’ve a good idea how they make it, and it was solidly tasty.

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.

Ma'ono Fried Chicken & Whisky on Urbanspoon

Ma’Ono Fried Chicken & WhiskyMa'Ono Fried Chicken & Whisky

Filed Under: Americas, By Name, Cuisine, Hawaiian, Restaurants, Seattle, Travels, United States, Washington Tagged With: dessert, fried chicken, Ice cream, poke, pork buns, Ramen, roasted broccoli

« Circo – Ceretto Wines of Piedmont & Alba Truffle Dinner
Staple & Fancy »

Comments

  1. Dessert Zombie says

    January 10, 2014 at 1:12 pm

    Meal looking really good.

    I miss steamed char siu baos.

    Popcorn Ice Cream?
    I’m only curious about the BR’s one but not enough to buy a scoop.

    Reply
    • Feisty Foodie says

      January 13, 2014 at 12:43 pm

      I guess you tried BR’s by now! Popcorn ice cream is available at several places. Offhand I can think Saison in SF offers it (I think it’s kind of famous for it), but it’s not totally unheard of. Just a matter of what you pair with it!

      Reply
  2. hungry says

    January 17, 2014 at 4:31 pm

    Do people really eat rice with fried chicken?

    Reply
    • Feisty Foodie says

      January 17, 2014 at 5:00 pm

      I didn’t even think about that but yeah I guess that’s a little weird. I do have a friend who likes to take the skin off crispy KFC fried chicken and break it up and mix it into a bowl of rice. I don’t remember if he adds the gravy too. I just remember thinking, every time he tells me this, “Why don’t you eat it with the chicken?” hahaha

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter

Recent Posts

  • Springtime Fun: Wildgrain
  • Hello from Chicago!
  • Holiday Gift Guide 2020
  • Easy Ways to Ease into Becoming an Eco-Friendly Household
  • It’s been a while!
  • Top 5 Luxury Hotels in New York City

Recent Comments

  • Stephanie on Easy Ways to Ease into Becoming an Eco-Friendly Household
  • Holiday Gift Guide 2020 — The Feisty Foodie on Holiday Gift Ideas
  • Holiday Gift Guide 2020 — The Feisty Foodie on Nesting Like a Mother – Slow Cookin’ Up a Storm (Mostly)
  • Lisa on It’s been a while!
  • zizi on Banh Mi Cart
  • Feisty Foodie on It’s been a while!
  • Xerlic on It’s been a while!
  • Daniel on Hop Kee

Tags

365 Bakeries banh mi BBQ Beef beer Blackboard Eats Breakfast Brunch Burgers Chicken Chinese cocktails contest dessert Desserts DLS drinks dumplings Feisty Bento feisty family fried chicken fries giveaway Ice cream Michelin stars noodles One Pot Meals Pasta Pizza Pork press event Ramen Recipe Fridays salad sandwiches Sauces Seafood Steak Sushi tacos trucks/carts TT Vegetarian wings

Copyright © 2025 · Foodie Pro Theme by Shay Bocks · Built on the Genesis Framework · Powered by WordPress