Dona Manis Cake Shop

Katong Shopping Centre was THE mall of the east when I was young. Those days, mum used to like shopping there and I used to tag along, taking in the buzz from the billiard saloons, food courts, computer shops, pet store and comics store. I remember there even used to be a bowling alley, how cool is that? Haha.

Then the new malls such as Parkway Parade came up and KSC slowly became defunct. In comparison, it seemed to be stuck in the 80s without any real exciting shops to pull in the crowds. That is, of course, for basement cake shop, Dona Manis. I grew up eating their banana pies. It’s touted as "Singapore's best pie" but to me, it’s just a slice of old fashioned goodness. They also do apple and peach pies ($2 a slice, $20+ for the whole pie) which are good too (but banana is still the way to go).

Almond nuts sprinkled on top of crisp flaky pastry, with coconut and banana baked inside. OMG it's just so good! Serve warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and be transported back to the wonder years.