THE RUBY - VICTORIA, BC, CANADA
- Ashley Nawrot
- Jul 26, 2017
- 3 min read
Lazy Sundays call for brunch at a funky little breakfast nook. The Ruby is the restaurant in the lobby of the Hotel Zed, which I also want to stay at because it looks AMAZING. They have a couple typewriters that you can use, a vinyl station, and a little basket of comics on the table in the lounge for the kids/us adults who still read comics...
Anyway! I was lucky enough to grab the last free table, and started perusing their awesome menu. They have a wide assortment of different breakfast options, from healthy dishes for the fitness buffs, to lusciously uncalorie-wise, perfect for treating yourself on a sunny day. Or a rainy winter day. Or just any day at all, really.
Smoked Salmon Eggs Benedict - I'm a sucker for a good Eggs Benny. I got it with the croissant on the bottom, lemon cream cheese, smoked salmon, soft poached eggs, homemade hollandaise sauce, fried capers and some pickled red onion (great touches right there). Loved the croissant for the base, never tried that before, and the sauce was delicious. The lemon cream cheese was a great addition, cut the salt and the richness, perfect balance there. The only drawback to the dish was the salmon, was more salty than smokey, overpowered the eggs. Little less salt in the processing of that and the dish would be perfect. I'm definitely stealing the fried capers and onions on top!
The very sweet waitress recommended a side of bacon as they get it made specially for them. Of course I got the side of bacon, who wouldn't?? Great thick cut bacon, perfectly done.
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I had looked at the lunch side of the menu while there, and decided to come back for a late lunch to try out some of their duck dishes. When duck is done well, it's amazing, rich and flavorful. When it's not done right, it can be tough and gamey.
Duck Confit Poutine - pulled duck confit, fries, cheese curds and house chicken gravy. The fries were great, but other than that, it was pretty bland. The confit duck had a good texture, but not much flavor, and the gravy needed a lot more salt and seasoning. There wasn't much cheese on it, and what was there, wasn't melted. I usually hate green onion on top of dishes, but in this case, it gave it a bit of much needed flavor. Pretty sad poutine overall.
Duck Wings - the menu doesn't specify what kind of sauce is on them, but it's kinda like a chili garlic sauce? I think? The slaw it's supposed to be on is shredded carrot and no dressing I could taste. Under that was a little limp lettuce "salad" that was more spoiled leaves than anything. Pretty disappointing. As for the wings themselves, the meat was moist and flavorful, but all the breading and sauce piled on covered all that up. I pulled most of it off. The sauce was good, but just too much.
Overall, the Ruby is a great place for breakfast food, but still not sure if I would go back for lunch. The atmosphere is great, so chill and relaxed, so I would go back just for that.
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