I’d go back. For sure. In fact, I’d love to enter this one in the This Is BANANAS! Tournament of Champions.

I called Cecil’s Deli ahead to see if I could get just a slice of the Banana Cream Pie and if they had any ready.

I felt the look on his face as he said: “It’s not a slice, it’s a one-person pie.” Like I was supposed to know this, having been to Cecil’s before, I have since learned that Cecil’s is fairly famous in “The Cities.” I apologize for not knowing.

Was it worth crossing the river from Minneapolis to St. Paul? Absolutely and I’d do it again.

Okay, individual pie…which I thought no problem; I can take this down…took half of it home.

The crust is crumbled graham cracker. But it isn’t packed down. It’s easy to grab a spoonful as you dig into the pie. Then there is a layer of banana cream pudding. On top, there is a generous mountain of whipped cream. Every spoonful got a nice layer of each and it was delicious.

My only minor criticism is a lack of actual banana in the pie. There were a few but not enough. And it might have just been mine but I also know that real bananas don’t last long in a pie.

Over all, it’s a winner and I’d go back.

Okay. Decent. Not great.

But I ate the whole box. Not all at once. It took about a month.

I like all these flavors.

Chocolate? ✅

Banana? ✅

Cream? ✅

Yellow Cake? ✅

But somehow, all together, they didn’t become my favorite combination.

I think it was the sponginess. I was expecting a crust-type middle. Or something crunchy.

I don’t think I’d buy it again but it was worth the sidequest.

Cheers!

Gelee Bananan.

I figured out “bananan” quickly. It means, shockingly, banana. After digging a bit farther, I learned it is from a few different languages spoken in West and Central Africa.

I should have dug further with the “gelee.” Or just have been smart about the language skills I have.

What does "gelee” mean? It means I wasn’t going to like this Sidequest Banana. I do not have a fondness for jelly candies. Ugh. So gross. The banana was alright but I could not get past the jelly. Gross. Oh, well. Win some, lose some. Language lesson learned.

THE HUNT WAS ON!!!

Several stores. Lots of sadness. No success.

Until Cub Foods!!! A whole end cap of “Twist Lick Vote” Oreos. What were the other flavors, you might ask? No idea.

I found the Banana Pudding. My Oreo Holy Grail. I bought two.

TOTALLY WORTH THE HUNT! And the sadness because these were DELICIOUS and DEVOURED.

‍ The cookie part is simply the golden Oreo base, which is a delicious start. The middle is the magic. Half was a whipped cream-ish flavor. The other half of the middle was banana. Perfect balance between the banana, the cream, and the crust.

I’ll be going back for more. This is tied for the best Banana Sidequest item in the past 6 months, including the MN State Fair.

It’s almost too perfect. Here’s me restarting the blog and wanting to add a crazy That’s Bananas part to distract me from education for a bit this summer. And then, BAM! A new Minions movie! A new collab with Wendy’s.

BANANA FROSTY SWIRL!!!

Yep, too good to be true.

As excited as I was for this, it’s a one-time deal for me. It was good but I don’t need to go back.

The banana was delicious. My daughter accurately described it as banana pudding. She then said, “Ick,” and I replied, “Spot on and delicious.”

Thankfully, no one else at the table liked the banana and I got it all to myself.

For the record, I did get the chocolate frosty base and didn’t try the vanilla. I figured you can’t go wrong with chocolate banana. It was a solid evening treat and I’m happy with the experience but won’t be going back…unless someone twists my arm.

Also consumed that evening: Goomi's Glimey Lime by the daughter. Coming out of the fountain, it looked like a toxic sewer explosion that would need a radiation suit. As for the taste: Pretty much lime Sprite. The color was the highlight.

Y'ALL. Seriously, y’all.

Glazed donut. Sliced in half. Scoop of vanilla ice cream on the bottom. Layer in some banana pudding. I'm not even sure how they pulled that off. Put the top back on.

But wait. Throw the whole thing in a modified waffle iron.

A WAFFLE IRON.

Then, because apparently that wasn't enough: whipped cream and banana chips.

I'm not saying it's healthy or dietitian-approved in any way…BUT…SO GOOD.

The donut was fresh and warm from the waffle iron. The ice cream was cold and sweet. The banana chips added crunch. The pudding threw just enough banana flavor in. The whipped cream melted in my mouth.

My only disappointment was not grabbing a knife when I grabbed a fork. Would have been helpful. Or I could have just picked the whole thing up and eaten it like a sandwich. No shame.

We found Hot Scoops MN at the Stone Arch Bridge Festival last weekend. They have a calendar on their website. You can find them at TC Pride this weekend at Loring Park.