Goreng Pisang Mawar, Johor Bahru

It is such a hot day outside. I would give anything to have a cold drink and a good plate of banana fritters, just like the one we had at Goreng Pisang Mawar, JB.

Anyway, this is a continuation of our end year holiday. After our full day trip to Universal Studios Singapore, we spent the next day enjoying JB. We got a great deal at Thistle for their Executive Room - City View, but upon arrival we discovered that the room was much smaller than the Sea View. Not only that, the Sea View room boasted a bigger bed, an arm chair and a shower cubicle... imagine the difference! Finally we decided to upgrade to the Sea View room. So lesson learnt for next time!

The view from our Seaview room.

Bigger bed, extra arm chair and even a shower cubicle.

Goreng Pisang Mawar is probably the most famous pisang goreng in JB. Whenever I tell someone that I am heading to Thistle JB, I always get a recommendation to try the banana fritters. Initially, I simply couldn't understand what the whole hype was all about, I mean, how good can a banana fritter taste like, right? Or so I thought...

Goreng Pisang Mawar is located just a stone's throw away from Thistle Hotel. Ample parking spots, so why bother to walk when you can drive? Don't be fooled by the name, cos it doesn't only serve banana fritters for tea time, but they actually start operating at 11am for breakfast!

Nearly all the tables were filled with people.

Bananas galore!

We went at around 1pm. Despite a very heavy buffet breakfast, we were wowed over the menu and decided to have Laksa Johor and Nasi Lemak as an early lunch. Both were good but I thought the Laksa Johor was a better choice.

Aiden fell asleep while waiting for the food to arrive. *chuckles* Ignore my frizzy hair, thanks to the swimming pool.

Finally, the banana fritters arrived! I looked at it suspiciously. Biasa jer nampak? Looks like any other ordinary goreng pisang. "What is so great about it?", I thought to myself. I took a bite. Yeah okay, it is crispy on the outside, soft and sweet on the inside. But still... biasa jer? Seriously, why the heck is it so famous???

And then Hubby pushed a small steel container towards me. "Makan dengan sos dia la baru sedap!" I looked at him warily. Never in my life, have I had banana fritters with any kind of sauce. I thought he was pulling a fast one on me. He poured some of the black suspicious looking 'sauce' into a small shallow dish. Sambal kicap with cili padi, rupanya!

I dipped my goreng pisang into the sauce and gingerly brought it to my mouth. Imagine my surprise, when a burst of flavours exploded in my mouth! The sweetness of the banana fritter, when combined with the hot, spicy and savoury sauce, was soooooo good! Who knew that sambal kicap could bring the experience of banana fritters to a whole different level??!!

Needless to say, my diet went down the drain that afternoon. I couldn't stop, the sauce made the meal so appealing and addictive!

Golden and crispy goreng pisang, fried to perfection.

That awesome savoury sauce.

This is no ordinary karipap. I'm not talking about the size (it was huge!) but rather, Hubby and I both agreed it tasted like Shepherd's Pie!

Goreng Pisang Mawar gets two thumbs up from all of us. Next time you're in JB, this is definitely a must-try.

Pisang Mawar

No.888, Jalan Sungai Chat, Johor, Malaysia, 80100, Malaysia

Business hours: 11am - 5pm