Malaysia
Singapore
Thailand
Tucked on the second floor of Golden Mile Complex is an innocuous little stall selling golden brown fried fritters.
We took a while to find them within the Complex, but after circling the second floor a few times, we came upon Golden Banana, located right outside of the Thai supermarket.
It’s a simple stall serving a modest, but scrumptious, selection of fried fritters. The two large baskets of freshly fried banana, sweet potato and yam fritters displayed on their storefront will have you salivating the moment you catch sight of them.
The place is lively with conversation and activity. People come in and out of the Thai supermarket searching for their supplies. The neighbouring food vendor similarly displays its wares invitingly, so you’ll be greeted by a colourful array of snacks and treats.
Golden Banana’s succinct menu offers Fried Banana (S$3 for six pieces), Potato Ball (S$3 for 12 pieces),Fried Yam (S$3 for five pieces) and Fried Sweet Potato (S$3 for six pieces).
Alternatively, if you’re torn, you can get a bag of mixed flavours for S$4. This definitely worked for me as I was curious to try all four items without having too many leftovers on my hands.
The lady efficiently popped a mix of fried goodies into a paper bag and handed them to me. They smelled heavenly. As I held the bag in my hand I felt the enticingly sweet aroma of freshly fried fritters wafting out to me.
All the fritters had a perfectly golden brown exterior. The batter was exquisitely crispy and sweet, with hints of salt for a delightful balance.
To give it even more texture, the fritters were studded with black and white sesame seeds in their coatings that added light bursts of flavour as we bit through them.
Those seeds really left me biting at them long after the fritters were gone, which actually created quite a pleasant aftertaste. The hot bag of sweet fried fritters with its aromatic scent even had people’s heads turning when I walked past them.
Starting with the Fried Yam, this nugget of perfection initially resembled a fried wing but surprised me with its soft and sweet interior. The mildly sweet yam provided a smooth contrast to its crispy exterior.
Moving on, we tried the Potato Ball. This cute and neat little sphere of deliciousness packed a punch of flavours and textures.
When I first bit into it, I was pleasantly surprised to see that it had a pretty airy interior as the batter had puffed up around the filling. With a chewy core of sweet potato, this fritter was definitely sweeter than the yam without being overpowering.
The crispy batter melded nicely with the smooth, starchy interior, creating a delectable mouthfeel. To enhance the sinfulness of this treat, there was still a slight hint of greasiness hovering behind the heat.
Next, we tried the Fried Sweet Potato. These fritters boasted thick strips of sweet potato cut to just the right size to balance its sweetness with the crispy coating.
Distinctive from the Fried Yam by its deeper orange colour, the Fried Sweet Potato made for a soft and crispy snack. Even better, the sweet potato had enough texture without being too fibrous, which I find is the factor that sometimes makes sweet potatoes less enjoyable.
Instead, this rendition skilfully combined softness and crispiness without giving way to being too tough.
Finally, the one that we’d been hankering to try: the Fried Banana. These bananas were not like your usual goreng pisang (fried banana). The goreng pisang that we commonly find in Singapore is slightly larger, sweeter, and drier.
Instead, with a delicate balance of sweet and sour, this soft banana positively melted in my mouth as I crunched through the fritter. The Thai banana was so much juicier here and I could feel it mingle with the oil from the batter, adding bursts of tang that made it even more enjoyable.
Thinking about it now makes me want to traipse back to Golden Mile for another fix.
This stall fully deserves its name. With fritters fried to exquisite golden brown perfection, they have the only kind of gold that you’ll want to eat.
Undeniably, they are no superfood given the fairly copious amount of oil and grease used. But we all have time for indulgence, and I highly recommend you spend that indulgence on Golden Banana’s fried fritters.
They are best eaten right out of the bag when they’re still hot, though since their portions are pretty generous, you can get away with toasting them at home within the same day of purchase.
Expected Damage: S$3 – S$6 per pax
