[Alki Seattle, WA] - Ma'ono Fried Chicken & Whisky

When I first looked at the menu for Ma'Ono, I found the prices a bit offputting. A loco moco for $17? Saimin for $15? It better be a damn good loco moco for that price! The thing is though, I pay those kinds of prices for good food, even though I have never paid that kind of money for Hawaiian comfort food. I still had to give them a chance, because honestly, fried chicken is one of the things I really enjoy in life. I will pay that $21 for half a chicken or $40 for the full. 

This was during my birthday weekend (yes, I celebrate the entire weekend), so I was with a few people. I read online that if you want the fried chicken, you have to order it in advance when you make your reservation (which means I have no idea what happens if you try to walk in and order it, but you are welcome to find out if you are that curious about it), so we had to figure out sooner than later if we wanted the full or half chicken. There were four of us, and we wanted to get some sides also. Because of that, we ended up just pre-ordering half of the fried chicken. We also ordered the butter lettuce salad for $11 on top of the chicken, not realizing just how good it was going to be. If you want some veggies with your fried meats, get the butter lettuce salad! It has parmesan, some herbs, sliced radishes, and it's mixed with a citronette dressing. 

The fried chicken now, was delicious. The skin was crispy perfection with the meat so, so juicy and tender. The flavor, as advertised was umami. You can also use the syrup that they serve with it. Since I'm more partial to savory, I ate the chicken "plain." Still really good. The only thing I was left for want was hot sauce. I really need to carry some hot sauce in my bag for these occasions. Served alongside the chicken are some biscuits. They're a tad dry, but go well with the gravy.

I also enjoyed the ice cream. I'm glad we shared though, because after all of that chicken I was running low on stomach space. If you aren't used to sea salt, it might be too much for you. I let the larger pieces sit on my tongue while scooping more small spoonfuls of the ice cream. It tasted, as advertised, like buttery popcorn. If you like popcorn and ice cream, I feel like you'll enjoy this. Next time though, I want to give the malasadas a try.

Btw, if you are a whisky connoisseur, you'll probably like this place. They have Pappy VanWinkle on their top shelf. You're welcome. 

Half order of the fried chicken. In the menu it's described as "The Fuller-Ishida Families own Hawaiian style fried chicken" and that the "local birds... are twice fried for crispiness then umami spiced." 
Their super popular popcorn ice cream. Each $8 order gets you two scoops with sea salt sprinkled on top.

 Address:
4437 California Ave SW
Seattle, WA 98116

 Phone #: (206) 935-1075

 Hours:
Sun-Thurs: 5PM-10PM
Fri & Sat: 5PM-11PM
Sat & Sun Brunch: 9:30AM-3PM

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