Ruby Chinese Restaurant — Restaurant in District of Canberra Central

Believe it or not after living here for over thirty years we’ve never dined at the Ruby. Friends have said it’s their go-to Chinese restaurant and today we decided to try it for lunch because I had a real hankering for duck pancakes. You are able to BYO (bottled wine only) for a $10 corkage fee and so we called on the way over and found a park around the corner. Jeff served us and the restaurant was large and elegant and although we were the only diners on a Friday for lunch I’m sure it’s a lot busier at night. We had duck rolls for entree and salt and pepper squid. The duck was lovely but the serving size was odd - it was three small rolls that had been cut to around 6-7cm each so maybe it started as one long one, and a bit difficult to share three when there’s two eating - but they were crispy and tasty and the dipping sauce was tangy too, not overly sweet. The squid looked like chicken Twisties and it was delicious, hot and tasty and tender and was a generous serving size. Some vegetables would have been great with this. For mains we had shantung chicken and pork chops with vinegar. Both were a decent size too as well as being very tasty. The chicken was moist and yet still had crispy bits and a good piquancy and the pork (not ribs as described in the menu but pork chops cut up in chunks) had a sticky, sweetish sauce and they were pretty tender. Again some vegetables would have been good with these. Next time if it’s just the two of us I’ll only order one main and have some veggies to complement the concentrated flavours. I didn’t order vegetables because they were all around the $20 mark and I feel that’s a much higher price than I think is warranted unless they’re fantastic and we wanted to try the place first to see what it was like. Plus we’d ordered a fair bit for the two of us. We ordered just one plain rice and that was enough. I did think a few of the dishes were on the higher side price wise, for example I didn’t end up having duck pancakes because the duck could only be ordered as Peking duck (they use a whole duck for the dish) and at over $70 we didn’t want to commit to this on our first visit. However what we ordered we thoroughly enjoyed and we will definitely return. Jeff was very friendly and knowledgeable and we couldn’t fault the service at all. Thank you for a...

Food Quality ~ The chicken was drier than the Sahara desert. Most meat dishes (beef and pork) should have been renamed to salads just based off how many vegetables there were as a distraction from the miserable amount of meats. Salads should be the restaurant’s specialty, vegetable dishes were acceptable. Any battered meat was just batter, no meat in sight. The Singapore chilli prawns were an insult to the actual dish based on how they tasted like sweet and sour pork, no spice whatsoever. For $98, the barramundi met its bar-at-the-ground standard, and actually was cooked fairly well.

Portions size ~ Really great if you’re a bird and feeling peckish, because the most you’re getting out of a dish is a couple of bites. Tiny portion sizes that was not worth $30+ bucks each. Every single piece of meat could be counted in all the dishes.

Prices ~ Unless you’re willing to spend minimum $30+ on a dish that leaves you still hungry, reconsider your meal place.

Service ~ If lemon iceypoles could come to life and have attitudes, that would perfectly describe the service we were given.

Atmosphere ~ The private rooms had a decent, warm atmosphere.

Other Comments ~ Corkage is $10 per bottle, was wrongly charged way over that price. If gaslighting prices was a sport, this restaurant would win first place. Ending on a better note, thank goodness there was a Maccas nearby, because their hash browns saved everyone...

Last minute booking on a Friday night of the long weekend. The restaurant was full and they kept us a table for 3. The menu is extensive and amazing. So we ordered the mixed plate(3 pieces each) to start. Mains chilli beef, pork chop shanghai style and fried rice (cause who dosnt) The mixed plate was very good spring roll, fried prawn gown gee, and a fried chicken dumpling. All very good. Mains came quickly after that the fried rice piled high even though it was for 2. The chilli beef look so good and the pork was covered in lots of thick plum like coloured sauce(as there is never enough sauce).it was hot and loads of it. Service was great for 3 wait staff who were on. We byo and corkage was $10.00 per bottle. Apparently that's the going rate in Canberra. The food did not disappointment and I would go as far as to say one of the best chilli beef I have had( that is a huge statement for me) The pork chop was extremely good but the chilli beef out shined it. We ate drank our really good aged wine and were really full and happy by the time we paid the bill. This restaurant is known for its seafood as it has vast tanks of different types. It's not a cheap place to eat fresh seafood. But what we had was very good value and most of all fantastic food. If in Canberra and want to visit their version of China town go to ruby's Chinese restaurant. It will be a...