Katong Pie Shop With S$40 Banana Pies Since 1990: Dona Manis

Dona Manis, at 95 East Coast Road, Singapore 428793, bakes the banana pie it calls an original Singapore creation, and a whole Signature Original Banana Pie of ten slices costs S$40 on its online shop. The bakehouse opens at 10am every day and closes at 7pm Monday to Thursday and 8pm Friday to Sunday, and the bakery says popular items sell out, so come early. If you search pie shop near me in Katong, look for the giant banana on the shophouse facade.

Dona Manis was founded in Katong in 1990 by Mrs Esther Kim Sim, whom the bakery describes as a pioneer of professional baking education in Singapore. It first opened at Katong Shopping Centre, where the banana pie was born, and the bakery says it has been baked the same way ever since. Today there are three locations: the original Katong Shopping Centre shop, the East Coast Road bakehouse and a counter at Takashimaya on Orchard Road.

The East Coast Road outlet is the working bakehouse, where the bakers arrive before dawn and every pie is shaped, filled and finished by hand. The bakery lists recognition from Slow Food Singapore, a Heritage Hero award in 2018 and a place among Sethlui's top 300 hawker stalls, and in October 2026 it was named a recommended dessert shop by Restaurant Guru. The giant banana on the facade has become a Katong landmark.

The signature pie is a dense, golden-baked banana custard set in a hand-crimped shortcrust pastry and finished with a toasted nut crust. The bakery says the filling is made from ripe, carefully selected fruit, and the result is closer to a firm banana custard tart than to an American banana cream pie. A whole Original Banana Pie or a Chocolate Banana Pie is S$40, and both can be bought sliced into ten pieces or uncut, with an optional candle.

If you cannot choose, the Mix Banana Pie box of five original and five chocolate banana slices is also S$40. Our honest suggestion is to start with the original, because the chocolate version covers some of the banana flavour that makes this pie different, then decide whether a whole pie should go home with you.

The online shop also lists an Apple Pie at S$50, sold sliced into ten pieces or whole, which needs two days of pre-order. A box of four Heritage Chicken Pies is S$24, chocolate tarts are S$8 for a box of four, and a Lemon Curd Tart is S$8. Banana Cake Loaf is S$12, and boxes of four cranberry cream or cheese and herb scones are S$14.

For a Thanksgiving table on Thursday 26 November 2026, the two-day pre-order rule on the apple pie means ordering by the Tuesday of that week, and a banana pie next to it gives American guests something they will not find back home. The online shop is running a 5% discount code on orders from S$60, valid until 30 November 2026, which covers a banana pie and an apple pie together.

The bakery keeps adding to the banana theme. In October 2026 it introduced a banana nice cream, a vegan, dairy-free frozen dessert in two flavours made from banana, and it took its bakes to the Joo Chiat Street Social car-free day on 3 October 2026. It also runs pop-up events and rents out an event space, so keep an eye on its journal if you want to catch the pies outside Katong.

Dona Manis frames itself against novelty bakeries. Its own line is that it competes on consistency, on a recipe that has never needed to change, and the reviews it quotes come from first-time visitors at Takashimaya as much as from regulars. A Google reviewer it highlights praised the generous banana filling and a lighter bake, which matches the dense custard style rather than a browned, caramelised top.

Opening hours are Monday to Thursday 10am to 7pm and Friday to Sunday 10am to 8pm. Inside you will find an open kitchen and a counter stacked with everything Dona Manis makes, and the bakery advises coming early because popular items sell out. Since the pies are baked from before dawn, a weekday morning soon after the 10am opening is the surest way to choose from the full counter.

The original shop at Katong Shopping Centre, on Mountbatten Road, keeps shorter hours of 10am to 5pm daily, so East Coast Road is the better choice for an evening pick-up. Delivery is available through GrabFood from the Katong Shopping Centre store, and the online shop handles whole pies for home delivery.

Dona Manis runs a hands-on heritage workshop led by Claire, a third-generation heritage confectioner and trained adult educator. Participants learn the story of the bakery and old Katong, meet heritage banana varieties such as pisang kling, pisang merah and pisang tandu, and assemble and bake their own mini banana pie to take home. The bakery says the session is eligible for the SG Culture Pass.

From the bakehouse, walk along East Coast Road past the Katong laksa shops and kueh bakeries, then turn onto Joo Chiat Road and its pastel Peranakan shophouses. Koon Seng Road has the most photographed row of terraces, with carved facades and painted tiles. Back on East Coast Road, Katong Antique House keeps a private collection of Peranakan objects, and Elijah Pies on Joo Chiat Place offers a modern take on pies if you want a second stop.

Address: Dona Manis, 95 East Coast Road, Katong, Singapore 428793. Hours: Monday to Thursday 10am to 7pm, Friday to Sunday 10am to 8pm. Original Katong Shopping Centre shop: Mountbatten Road, daily 10am to 5pm. Prices: Original or Chocolate Banana Pie S$40, Apple Pie S$50 with two days' pre-order, Heritage Chicken Pie four for S$24. Popular items sell out, so arrive early.

Save Dona Manis in the Karpo APP next to Koon Seng Road and Joo Chiat Road, and Karpo can time your Katong walk to end at the banana counter before it sells out.