for some strange, strange reason i seem to have gone on a banana rampage for the past 2 weeks. i suspect this has something to do with the changing of my windows password to a 6-letter word that is banana related - after all, my feeble subconscious can only take so much manipulation before it caves :(
so for the past 2 weeks, i’ve been going around town trying to locate the yummiest banana stuff i could find. and i present to you, in no particular order, the harvest of my efforts …
1. Banana Sundae @ New Zealand Natural
New Zealand Natural’s Bananarama is a nicely put together sundae of their low-fat Banana ice cream, generous banana slices and whipped cream. it is then drizzled with liquid caramel and topped with some very nice waffle wafers. overall, pretty yummy i think, definitely good comfort food - but i dont think it was worth the RM11 at all. that aside, it made me a very happy girl for the 15 minutes i spent attacking the sundae :D
New Zealand’s is at KLCC and Ikano Power Centre.
2. Peach and Banana Crumble @ Alexis
being a serious peach fan, as well as an overzealous banana fan at the moment, when i saw this in the glass display, i thought - OMG i simply HAVE to have this! so what it is, is a crumble pie with banana and peach and raisin filling, served atop a plateful of slightly thickened milk. and it was … not very good. even ice cream (which it was not served with) would not have saved this disaster. there was more flour than anything else, i could taste NO peach, and the bananas were tasteless. they should have, i dont know, sweetened the thickened milk base or stuffed some caramel in the pie or something, then maybe it would have been better. this is the worst of my top 10 banana picks!
this goes for 10 bucks. even more not worth it compared to NZN’s sundae!
Alexis is at Bangsar Shopping Centre, Great Eastern Mall and Telawi 3 in Bangsar.
3. Roti Pisang
Roti Pisang (directly translated - banana bread) is VERY GOOD Malaysian fare that can be found in any mamak stall. Savoury dough is flattened and used to wrap up margarine and banana slices, and then fried n’ flipped in oil over a heated flat pan. some places serve it crispy, some places slightly soggier. the one in the picture is from Steven’s Corner in Pandan Indah, and theirs is of the soggy type unless you tell them you want it super crispy, in which case they will only give it to you kinda crispy. Roti Pisang goes very well with dahl and curry, or even sprinkled with sugar. the yummeh. cheap too, at about RM2 to RM3.
4. Banana Pancake @ Paddington House of Pancakes
Paddington’s serve sooooo many different types of pancakes with bananas, but my favourite is most certainly the American pancake! their American pancakes with bananas is served with a huge scoop of vanilla ice cream and a little jug of maple syrup. pretty conventional, nothing to shout about, but you should try this simply cos their pancake batter is so fantabulous. this also goes for RM 11, and i’d definitely pick this over the Bananarama Sundae.
Paddington House Of Pancakes is at The Curve and Plaza Damas.
5. Banana Pizza @ Bakerzin
the banana pizza at Bakerzin’s comes in two small slices served with an average sized scoop of ice cream at the side. it comes under the Tapas section in the menu, and you have to select 3 tapas choices. i would totally recommend that you pick this one (but NOT the creme brulee!!), it’s cheesy and sweet and savoury all at the same time - a nice blend of cheese, cinnamon, caramelized banana and bread. delicious!
Bakerzin is at Bangsar Village.
6. Banana Kaya Dessert @ Domino’s
hehe this would be the local version of Bakerzin’s banana pizza! and more value for your money, at that. this one comes in a mini-pizza of six small slices, looking weirdly greenish on first sight, but is seriously MAD INSANE LOVE on first bite. they are a bit stingy with the bananas (the picture is deceptive, the banana slice is nowhere near that size) but the kaya + cheese more than makes up for the inadequacy of banana size and serving size. Domino’s Banana Kaya Dessert is crazy addictive, and one person can easily finish off one pizza.
Domino’s Pizza is a phone call away, at 1800-888-333.
7. Banoffee Pie @ Delicious
i dont know what to say about this other than it is one of the best damn desserts i’ve ever had in my life! it is a round pie about the size of your palm, with a digestive biscuit base (OMG!) and a super scrumptious filling of banana + melted toffee. it is topped with dense whipped cream and drizzled with dark chocolate sauce. all in all, it is orgasmic, it is perfect, and you should go out to Delicious immediately just to get yourself a plate of this RM 9 heavenly banana goodness.
(i am so paranoid that everytime i have plans to go to Delicious, i actually call them to check that they have enough Banoffee pies to go around, or else we switch venues. hahaha)
Delicious is at 1 Utama and Bangsar Village.
8. Banana Cream Frapp @ Starbucks
the Banana Cream Frappucino is a new summer addition to the Starbucks menu, its predecessors being the Zen Lemon Tea as well as the Strawberries & Cream Frapp (both very good as well!). though i will always be partial to the Strawberries & Cream frapp, the Banana Cream frapp is not too bad either. it is smooth, very creamy and has a good solid taste of bananas. dont be fooled by the signboards that claim this drink has ‘real bananas’ however .. :P all that’s real in this drink is the banana syrup! nevertheless, still yummy, a good introduction to the menu. though i believe this drink will be taken off the menu come June/July, so .. hurry!
this one goes for RM13, but if you were to make me pick between this and the banana sundae .. i think i’d pick the banana sundae.
Starbucks is on every corner of Malaysia.
9. Banana Chocolate Cake @ West 57th Street, Zang Toi
you think Secret Recipe’s Chocolate Banana cake is good?!??! HAHAHHAA THINK AGAIN!!!! cos i have found the banana chocolate cake to end all banana chocolate cakes!!! (well okay, maybe except for Bayou’s, but Bayou just closed two weeks ago!) 57th West Street is a quaint little cafe by Zang Toi, the famous Malaysian high fashion designer. i’m not so hot for his dresses, but holy crap, i would love to marry his banana chocolate cake recipe!!!
it is a HUGE slice of cake, and tastes nothing like Secret Recipe’s. this one has a more Moist Chocolate Cake kind of taste, so if you like your cake with a more defined chocolate taste, this is the cake for you. and did i mention that they pour this extremely delicious chocolate hot fudge on the cake prior to serving?! and that the cake comes with a giant scoop of vanilla ice cream?! this is so bloody good, that i would sell my soul just to be able to eat this for all eternity.
goes for RM 10.
West 57th Street is at Sungei Wang.
10. Pisang Goreng
ooooh the ubiquituous banana fritters :D my favourite comfort food after chocolate and ice cream! for you oddballs who’ve never had a banana fritter in your life - where the HELL have you been - it is simply banana dipped in batter and then deep fried in oil. most places go with different types of bananas and different types of batter - some use the small and super sweet pisang emas, some use the bigger pisang raja .. and then when it comes to batter, some places go overboard with it, while others serve their fritters with only a light coating of batter. (i ask them why, they say healthier maaa)
the best pisang emas (small and very sweet) goreng that i’ve had is the one under the overhead bridge at Kampung Pandan. VERY ADDICTIVE!!! it’s terribly oily though, and has a light coating of batter, but the batter is just so oddly different and nice. if you like light fluffy batter on huge bananas, go to the stall at Jalan Imbi. the one in the above picture is from the stall opposite Leisure Mall - it’s more banana than batter, but still very nice, and not oily, feels very healthy. finally, if you like your banana fritters extremely coated with batter, there is this stall opposite the 7-11 at Taman Maluri that has pisang goreng sinful enough to send you to confession :D
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the must-have’s on this list are :
#6 - Domino’s Banana Kaya Dessert
#7 - Delicious’ Banoffee Pie
#9 - West 57th Street’s Chocolate Banana Cake
#10 - Pisang Goreng
those that didnt quite make the cut :
- Chocolate dipped bananas at Chocz KLCC
- Banana doughnuts at Dunkin Donuts
- Banana smoothie at Juice Lab KLCC
- Banana cake at Coffee Bean
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