Mamnoon has been on all of the restaurant critic’s best restaurant lists, inluding Seattle Magazine and Metropolitan Magazine, so Salumi suggested that we give it a try for our next dinner. Mamnoon is Syrian and Lebenese food, which seems similar to middle eastern food in general. Lots of yogart, hummus, and flatbread type breads on the menu.
There’s a walk-up window for kulage sandwiches and mana’eesh (similar to pita/flatbread) and the restaurant itself is large with a very modern design. We were lucky enough to be seated in a small corner in the back of the restaurant, but it was still very loud. After some research on what other people said were must try items on the menu, we ordered:
Overall, I was hoping to be blown away by flavors that I had never experienced and combinations that would electrify the pallette, but Mamnoon fell short of the hype. I like that it’s a trendy middle eastern restaurant, but I felt that all the dishes we had all had similar flavor profiles (except the yellowtail) even though we ordered from all parts of the menu with a variety of items. This is a great place if you want to show out of town guests something out of the ordinary in an upscale restaurant, but I wouldn’t go so far as to claim that it’s the best restaurant in Seattle. Maybe I need to try the lamb kefta next time…
SUMMARY
Overall: bittersweet ending
Highlights: the variety of fresh made flatbreads and bread for dipping in the olive oil
Footnotes: it is very loud in here with lots of groups gathering for dinner; no one ever explains what you’re about it eat – when ordering dishes that we can’t pronouce or really know what to expect, this can be a little confusing; it is pricey for the ingrediants – plus one glass of wine for Salumi was $116 for what we ordered