One word: cute panda pau (okay, that's three).

Definitely a crowd pulling item. Despite having read some really "blah" reviews about the food here and knowing this to be a tourist trap, we still decided to walk into it and get the too-cute-to-resist panda pau to try. Mama Panda Kitchen is a cross between a restaurant and fast food outlet. The Chinese-inspired decor here with lanterns and bamboo dividers is something you might expect in dim sum restaurants. But the environment here is more casual and instead of giving your orders to waiters who will bring the food to your table, you have to join a snaking queue to order and collect your food at the service counters, much like a fast food outlet. Panda Chocolate Custard Pau ($2.90)
Since this was just newly released when we went, we tried this first. The panda pau here are designed to imitate the face of a panda and they are served up in bamboo containers dim-sum style. Unfortunately, the chocolate custard pau we got was a flop. The bun was too damp and felt too sticky and clammy. The chocolate custard filling is actually quite decent, but there is too little of it and its flavour could not redeem the rest of it enough. Panda Pau (Red Bean) ($2.90)
This is way better than the chocolate custard pau. The texture is soft and spongy and not damp or sticky like the chocolate pau. The red bean filling is also quite decent and not too sweet. This made us wonder if the failed chocolate pau was a one-off and we were just unlucky enough to get a bad batch. Unlike the chocolate pau, we enjoyed this. But some may find the price tag of $2.90 to be a tad tough to swallow.Spring Roll (2 for $3.90)
Unlike the cute panda pau, presentation is so-so for this. Even so, this is among one of the lower priced items on their menu. The spring rolls are quite crispy though, with a nice crunch to the skin, but we find the grated filling to be a tad mushy for our liking.Mango Pudding ($2.90)
The mango pudding here is rather creamy, not very smooth. It feels more like mousse to us. You can taste the mango flavour easily enough but unfortunately, I am not really that keen on it overall.Soft Drink (Iced Lemon Tea) in Souvenir Cup ($3.90)
Many will probably baulk at paying $3.90 for just a cup of run-of-the-mill lemon tea. But wait! The soft drink here comes in a plastic panda-print souvenir cup with straw which you can bring home as a keepsake or to reuse. You can choose from a selection of Coke, Coke Light, Sprite, Soya Milk, Ice Lemon Tea and Fanta Grape. For $3.90, it is indeed pricey for a drink but certainly one of the cheapest and decent Panda related souvenir around that you can get in comparison to the other items at the Panda souvenir shop!

Long story short, the food at Mama Panda are really quite over priced especially for the mains like the Shanghai Wanton Ramen Set ($15.90) which is really quite pricey even with the extras it comes with. I'd recommend just going for the snacks instead. Items not to be missed are the panda pau. The pau may be pretty much standard tasting and is also pricey to boot, but seriously, what the heck, everyone is still going to get it to try anyway, so just get it. Resistance is futile when it comes to adorable looking panda pau that look up at you with doleful eyes when you open the container! That, and get the soft drink in souvenir cups for a "decently priced" souvenir!

I was actually looking for a certain brand of chocolate and decided to check out Choc Spot when I passed by it. The place was neatly organized and the products on the shelves were all arranged and stacked in an orderly manner, which made browsing quite pleasant. What was not so pleasant was the staff shadowing us closely around the store, which I personally felt was kind of annoying even though we knew they were just doing their job.

There were indeed quite a range of chocolates from brands like Ritter Sport, Droste, Frey, The Belgian, M&M’s and so on. Unfortunately, most of these brands are easily obtainable elsewhere like NTUC or Cold Storage and the one I was looking for was not available. Kind of disappointing actually.

The products here are supposed to be "competitively" priced but I found quite a few of them to be more expensive than supermarts like NTUC or Cold Storage. The pricing only works if you are buying the more popular items in bulk since many of the items are on bundled pricing such as 5 for $5.00 or 2 for $10.00.

I did manage to find the Duc d'O brand of Chocolates here which I got, so I didn't leave empty hand, but the selection here is not as varied as the Cocoa Tree. Duc d'O Assorted Mini Pralines ($3.50 or 4 for $11.00)
Duc d'O Belgian Liqueur Chocolates ($8.00)

Passed by the coffee shop here in the evening and saw quite a nice array of Pau and Dim Sum such as Char Siew Pastry, Popiah, Sesame Ball, Chee Cheong Fun, and so on. These looked really very tempting in the display and since I was hungry, I got a few to try.Lian Rong Pau ($0.90)
The pau was too dry which made it a tad difficult to chew on. The filling was actually quite nice and it was sweet and moist enough for me but I found the portion given somewhat too small for the entire pau, so it didn't really do much to make up for the dryness of the pau. Egg Tart ($0.70) - Bottom Left
This was quite crumbly and the egg custard was pretty smooth, but the taste was a little too light for me with just a tiny hint of sweetness. It's good if you prefer something light. I enjoyed the crust though!

Siew Mai ($0.60) - Bottom Right
This was the best of the lot. The meat was very tender and juicy. I thought it was worth its price tag of $0.60 as I've tasted less tastier ones at higher prices. Will definitely get more of this next time!

Admittedly, service was so-so and the lady was pretty snappish when I asked about one of the pau but I supposed it was a busy day and one can't expect too much from a coffee shop stall. To her credit though, she was aware when someone actually cut queue in front of me and took my order first even though there wasn't really a proper queue here. That scored some points in my book.

I wouldn't discount the possibility of paying this stall another visit in future to try the other pau and dim sum, especially since the dim sum here are quite affordable, but just probably not during busy periods.

Despite its name, Ananas Cafe is more like a "mini coffee shop" with different "stalls" selling different food here. There is a chicken rice stall, a economy mee hoon stall which also sells nasi lemak, and a beverage stall which also offers fried snacks like popiah and curry puffs.

Ananas Cafe is strategically located just outside the MRT turnstiles, which makes it very convenient for the going or returning crowd to grab a quick meal along the way. There are just a few tables here for dining in and you can pretty much expect to share a table with strangers.

We were here for a quick dinner on a weekday and there was quite a queue for the chicken rice, which we also ordered. Roasted Chicken Rice ($2.00)
We weren't really expecting much for the price, but the chicken rice was surprisingly quite decent. The rice was fragrant and tasty and the chicken meat was tender. However, the chicken rice here does not come with soup, but at $2.00, this was still quite value for money.Fried White Bee Hoon ($4.50)
Out of a variety of noodle available (such as Fried Bee Hoon, Fried Kway Teow and Fried Mee), we opted for the white bee hoon which costs $1.50 alone which was reasonable, but each add-on was about $1.50 per piece, which came up to a total of $4.50 for 2 add-ons. I must say I was pretty shocked at the price. Pretty steep if you ask me, especially for a plate of food that was served cold. Might as well get a decent hot meal at the Food Republic at Causeway Point for that price.

Overall, we didn't think the eonomy bee hoon was worth it, unless you are just getting the bee hoon only without any add-ons. Or you can consider getting their nasi lemak set at $2.00, which is kinder on the wallet. However, the chicken rice was quite worth it. If you happen to pass by this area and just want something cheap to fill your stomach, you can consider grabbing a quick meal here. Just consider yourself warned about the add-ons at the economy bee hoon stall...

Khun Thai is a small, self-service eatery located at a far corner of Woodlands MRT and has a range of affordable food such as Mee Siam ($2.00), Mee Rebus ($2.00), Lemon Chicken Cutlet Rice ($2.00), Nasi Lemak ($2.00), Thai Chicken Drumstick Rice ($2.50), Thai Style Hokkien Prawn Noodle ($3.00), and so on. If you need a drink, there are also beverages such as Milo, Bandung and Lemon Tea. The place was full when we were there during dinner time on a weekday but fortunately, we managed to find a seat after a very short wait.Mayonnaise Chicken Cutlet Rice ($2.00)
This looked pretty promising on the menu but was a disappointment when it came. The portion of the chicken cutlet given was meagre and it wasn't evenly battered or very crispy. The serving of the mayonnaise on the chicken cutlet was quite stingy too. The rice was not very fragrant and tasted quite average. For $2 though, I supposed one can't really expect much of this dish.Thai Style Fried Kway Teow ($3.00)
Likewise, we thought that the portion was a little meagre considering this cost more than the chicken cutlet rice at $3.00, but we agreed that this was slightly better in taste than the chicken cutlet rice. It was a tad salty but we liked that it wasn't too watery or too dry.

Overall, the food were average and the service was okay, but we appreciate that there was a staff who took the effort despite the dinner time rush to clear the tables as soon as it was vacated. The pricing of the food can be a draw if you are not too particular about taste and just want something cheap and convenient to fill your stomach along the way.