Restaurant 101 - Taguig

As many of you are aware, an excellent European meal is not easy to obtain in the Philippines--for want of ingredients, unavailable high quality meats and sea foods, freshness of products, and often the very management and direction of the kitchen barely schooled in the culinary arts.Now here's a restaurant run by a culinary arts college associated with the Institut Alain Ducasse in France. Thus, not only the backing of high grade `French cuisine from a French culinary institution and a refined chef, Alain, but organizationally linked to that Institute and to its own faculty and students.The menu comes in three parts: the Alain Ducasse à la carte menu, which contains the up market plates and refined cooking of Ducasse; the market menu, featuring the best of goods currently available in the market; and the prix fixe, or the menu of the day set at a very reasonable and reachable price in a gourmet setting!This month 101 featured 5 lobster dishes, grilled, stewed, in a cold salad, cooked in various spices under the Ducasse menu. Prix fixe was a choice of sea bass or slow stewed pork loin with mixed vegetables, including a dessert of chocolate mousse. Under the à la carte was a special dish of broiled snails in a spinach and cheese sauce.Desserts are specially designed for their taste and looks! The chocolate ball is literally dripping with chocolate sauce. The lemon sherbet is literally a candied chilled lemon filled with lemon sherbet. Both the sherbet and the lemon are edible!Waiters are excellently trained and there is an experienced maitre d' to propose the proper wines.I believe you will not go away disappointed from the tables of 101. The waiting staff are composed of professionals and student apprentices, as students also assist the several chefs. It is the practicum of the Culinary Arts Program. Even at lunchtime, I have always found 101 full and have had to reserve ahead of time! or wait for a table. hint hint!

Ambiance is beautiful, food is good (we had the French onion soup, sea bass, korubota belly, potato gratin) but the service needs improvement. They forgot to serve our dessert so it had to be wrapped for take away instead. I believe the students/interns are their servers thus the lapses in service so if you're ok with some mishaps like that, then "dine in at your own risk".

This restaurant serves as the 'kitchen lab' for the Enderun Culinary School. Meals are prepared by students, but closely supervised by Chefs, allowing the students to get practical work experience in a controlled environment. Because most of the staff are students - including the front of the house folks - prix fixe menus are reasonably priced. We had the 'Market Menu' designed by Chef Koberl. A 3-course menu cost PHP880 (US$20). The best dish was the seared scallops with crustacean foam and green peas - perfectly done. For the price, it's worth a try.

My workplace is just beside Enderun. Restaurant 101 provide, culinary service 101 to students...it's like an on the job training for the students while they serve the best dishes. I've eaten many lunch occasion in this place and I must say they serve excellent food and the service is really fine dining experience. They have a prix lunch for only Php350 for lunch which has soup,main course and dessert plus a drink! Not bad for a dining.i will definitely recommend this!

We had dinner at Restaurant 101 last month, for a party of 9. We chose from the Market Menu, and loved our choices: asparagus panna cotta! foie-gras unagi terrine! pan-seared scallops! rib-eye steak! And dessert was the legendary Louis XIV! To die for... It is described as "chocolate ganache on top of praline enrobed in silky, dark chocolate." I simply call it wonderful!