This Chain Restaurant's Banana Dessert Has No Business Feeling This Fancy

For an average price of roughly $0.68 per pound, bananas are one of the cheapest fruits in the U.S., making them a go-to choice for fast food and restaurant chains when creating desserts, especially considering the fruit's versatility. And who doesn't love bananas? (Other than Ree Drummond?). But typically, chain food establishments offer fairly standard banana desserts, whether it's Chick-fil-A's banana pudding milkshake or a classic slice of banana cream pie from Village Inn. However, P.F. Chang's is flipping the script.

Although P.F. Chang's is considered casual dining, the atmosphere and menu give off upscale vibes, and that carries through to its banana spring rolls. If you've never tried this dessert before, it looks like something you'd be served at a fine-dining restaurant. Slices of perfectly sweet bananas are wrapped in rice paper and then fried until golden and crispy. The bananas are then topped with caramel-vanilla drizzle and served alongside a scoop of coconut-pineapple ice cream and fresh berries.

They're all very simple components, yet when assembled together, they create an effortless harmony of sweet, toasty flavors contrasted with creamy and crispy textures. The best part? Depending on where you're located, this fancy-looking dessert is less than $10. That's about what you'd expect to pay for a few scoops of sorbet at a high-end restaurant. As a bonus, if you're already satisfied from your meal but want a few bites of something sweet afterward, this dessert may be a relatively lighter option that won't leave you feeling overly stuffed. 

One creator on Facebook taste-tested all of P.F. Chang's desserts, but specifically captioned the video, "Banana spring rolls at P.F. Chang's changed my life." Even without that endorsement, the banana spring rolls practically speak for themselves — you can almost taste how delicious they are from the video by the satisfying crunch of the fried crispy rice paper wrapped around the soft banana. It's no wonder that it landed on our list of 14 chain restaurant desserts that have no right being this good.

One of the reasons this dessert stands apart from those at most chain restaurants is because, according to comments on Reddit, P.F. Chang's makes much of its food in-house. One Redditor wrote, "Worked at Changs for years. Everything made in-house. Only used chef Mike to warm up the giant pieces of chocolate cake."

Considering the number of copycat P.F. Chang's banana spring rolls recipes available online, it's likely these dessert bites are easy enough to prepare when ordered. Fried food doesn't develop that kind of crunch by sitting under a heat lamp for hours, and it certainly doesn't arrive at the table looking presentable enough to pass for a plated dessert from a prestigious upscale bistro.