Source: CNA Lifestyle
Hey Hive!
We're back with more of our hawker adventures! It's been a while but one of the things we do on dates is trying out different stalls in different hawker centers to find which are our favourites!
This is actually related to a previous post I did, when we ate Katong Delicious Chicken Rice at Katong Shopping Centre. This is one of the few remaining classic shopping malls left in Singapore, where the stalls are run by individual owners and not big brand names subletting from a property developer.
Source: Straits Times
The inside of the shopping centre looks very retro compared to the standard malls these days. Just walking through the building makes you feel like you traveled back in time.
There are actually quite a lot of famous stalls here apart from the Chicken Rice shop we went to, and one such store is called Dona Manis Cake Shop. Apparently they're known as the Home of the Original Singapore Banana Pie! I honestly didn't even know that banana pies were a dessert here, but the sweet aroma of the bananas mixed with butter was too appetising to resist.
This shop has been around since 1990, and has quite a messy history now that started from this man known as Uncle Tan. After he passed away there was quite a feud on who owned the recipe and the business, that it became a hotblooded issue.
Now there are two competing stalls selling the famous banana pie, one known as Dona Manis Cake Shop that looks like this:
And just a few stalls down the aisle there is a separate stall called Auntie Peng Banana Pie, obviously also selling the same dessert.
Not only do they sell the same dessert; banana pie, but they're also priced the same, at $33 for 10 slices or a whole pie.
However, a Single Slice at Dona Manis goes for $3.50 while one slice goes for $3.30 at Auntie Peng's.
While both stalls specialise in the signature Banana Pie, they also sell other baked goods as well, all handmade in-house.
I think these chocolate tarts at Dona Manis are also quite well-known among locals.
Auntie Peng also has various other desserts like cream puffs.
Both kitchens also look the same; simple, full of industrial-sized ovens and appliances with staff busy making the pies and cakes by hand.
Honestly the pies looked so similar as well that initially we thought this whole feud going on with competing stalls were all a hoax just to create drama.
There was even a documentary episode by CNA about this whole feud. It was quite a shame to see how the family business turned out and that if they had just worked together they probably could've created a chain of banana pie shops.
Anyway, we bought one Dona Manis pie and a few slices from Auntie Peng just to see what was different. My family and I did a blind taste test to see and honestly they were about the same.
Both had a very nutty topping of almonds and coconut with a nice flaky crust and a hefty amount of fresh banana filling. The base was also quite nutty and had a slight crunch to it as well. I think this was my first time actually trying a banana pie and I was quite blown away by how good it was! It's not too sweet, and even with all the bananas it didn't feel overpowering. It's no wonder they have such a longstanding history here.
We did try this after a big meal so I was plenty full by then but I think there was a very subtle difference between the two pies. I think we generally agreed that Dona Manis was slightly tastier but honestly they were both so good that the difference was negligible.
Since the stall itself is located quite a ways away from our place, every time we visit my family we make it a point to buy a pie to bring back home. Regardless of the feud, it is still a very delicious dessert and I'd recommend it to anyone even if they don't have sweet tooths. This pie is completely worth the calories for sure.
Thanks for reading!
To find out more about me, check out my intro post here!
