Buffet 101: Affordable Eat-All-You-Can Restaurant in Manila

Buffet 101 is one of my favorite buffet restaurants in Manila. In my opinion, it fared better compared to other similar restaurants after the pandemic. It still offers good food with decent variety, in affordable rates.

In fact, whenever I’m craving for fresh sashimi, I invite Hali for a drive to Buffet 101 in MOA, Pasay. We usually go during weekday lunch for the discount rates. Our last visit was in their branch in ATC, which has just reopened this month.

Here I’ll talk about the Buffet 101 experience.

What to expect in Buffet 101

Buffet 101 prides itself as the largest buffet table in the Philippines. You can find food stations for salads, as well as Filipino, Western, Japanese, Chinese, and Korean dishes. Some of the crowd-favorites here include paella, garlic buttered shrimp, tempura, sushi and sashimi, and their dessert cakes.

Salads

This is your typical salad station, where you can pick veggies, potatoes, and mixed fruits with a variety of dressing.

Bread and cheeses

Buffet 101 has few bread and pastries on display, and from my observation almost no one touches them. Very few variety of cheese slices available.

Main dishes

Buffet 101 has a lot of good-tasting dishes. My favorites are the bread bowls, paella, vegetable kare-kare, pork hamonado, steamed pompano, and some Chinese dishes including schezuan chicken and tofu with mushrooms. The MOA branch also makes good pasta – so far I’ve tried the carbonara, creamy tuna pasta, and cheesy macaroni and I liked all of them.

For the carving station, there is roast beef, lechon roll, and sometimes roasted chicken as well. The lechon is okay, but I find the roast beef consistently dry.

Seafood is good, though choices are limited. There are shrimps and mussels on ice, garlic buttered shrimp and salt-and-pepper squid, and steamed fish. Sometimes there are scallops too. No crabs or oysters. The ATC branch has an additional section with shrimp, squid, and salmon belly displays and you can ask the chef to grill it for you.

They also have a variety of sushi, but no nigiri sushi. They also offer salmon sashimi, which they put on a small plate one at a time and replenish every 5 minutes. You can’t ask for a refill and will instead be asked to wait. It’s a bit of a bummer if you love sashimi like me, which is why we often visit during lunch hour to take advantage of the fewer people dining in. The sashimi slices are mostly good, but sometimes there are batches with too-soft slices. For me it’s okay since I’m still getting my sashimi fix and the rate is cheap anyway.

There is also a food section for noodles. You can choose what ingredients to put and the kind of soup you want, and the chef will prepare it for you.

Dessert

For desserts, there is a candy section, little cakes and puddings, ice cream, and halo-halo. The ATC branch has an additional chocolate fountain too. I’m not really into desserts so I often skip these sections, although I do enjoy nibbling on the candies or taking a bite in one of the gelatin slices after a meal.

Drinks

Buffet 101 has a variety of drinks available including juices, soft drinks, coffee, teas, and red wine with fruit cocktail. I love the drink selection in MOA branch. The coffee is really good, there are many dried ingredients available for tea, and the red wine with fruit cocktail are a favorite of Hali and mine.

Overall

I like the quality and variety of available food choices in Buffet 101. I prefer the MOA branch than that in ATC because it seems to have a wider selection of food and drinks. I was specifically disappointed with the drinks in ATC – there were no fruit cocktails, no coffee, and fewer tea choices. However, most items were the same. The ATC branch also feels classier than the one in MOA and it seems to be less crowded on weekdays, so if ambiance is important to you, then the first is a better option.

Buffet 101 will give you the bang for your buck. Just manage your expectations and enjoy the food. Don’t expect to see high-end items like oysters or lobsters.

If you want to check out other buffet restaurants, we highly recommend Marriott Cafe by Marriott Manila Hotel.

About Buffet 101

Buffet 101 has branches in the following:

• Mall of Asia (Pasay)
• Alabang Town Center (Muntinlupa)
• Ayala Center (Makati)
• Robinsons Magnolia (Quezon City)

(Updated as of 2022) Here are the current Buffet 101 prices:

Weekday Lunch	P758
Weekday Dinner	P858
Weekends/Holidays Lunch & Dinner	P938

Buffet 101 offers a birthday promo where you can dine in free for the whole month of your birthday if you’re accompanied by 3 full-paying guests. Discounts are also given to large groups.

What was your experience in Buffet 101? Do you have other favorite buffet restaurants in Manila? Let us know in the comments section below!

What to read next:

Love eating at buffets? Check out these articles:

• Buffet 101
• Marriott Cafe
• Medley Buffet by Okada
• Cafe 1228 by New World Makati Hotel
• Cafe Eight by Crimson Hotel
• Misto at Seda BGC
• The Alley by Vikings
• Ultimate Buffet Guide: The Best Buffet Restaurants in Manila