Rubira's — Restaurant in Melbourne

I generally only post a review for really good places or really bad places. The mediocre I don't bother with.

The really bad I get a savage sense of power for them messing up my night and stealing my money. Because that's what they're doing.

But I also love giving a great review for places that deserve it and Rubira's deserves this in spades. The food was simply superb. Wait staff were friendly and attentive but not pushy. And, wonder of wonders, we could park next to the restaurant. But let's get back to the food.

This is a seafood restaurant but they do a nod to other dishes. A duck, a veal and a steak I think. But you really come here for the seafood. This night I was starving and couldn't decide what I wanted so ordered the first 7 items off the Entree menu to be shared with my wife, a salad and a bowl of fries. Everything was perfectly cooked and beautifully presented. The only thing I had to season were the chips. everything else was just perfect.

The only real criticism I can raise is that the food came out a little too fast. I would have prefered a little more time before courses but I'm positive that they'd do that if i asked. Why? because they get everything else right.

Tiny niggles now. a couple of more side would be nice a few kids dishes would be nice

And, to wrap up, we had to ask for a doggie bag because the last few dishes hadn't even been brought out and we were all stuffed. And there was no way in hell I was leaving any of this food behind.

We will be back. With friends. And take photos this time because this food deserves it

Really well done job from the whole team and a great night for us. Oh - and it was a little pricey my wife says. I say you get what you pay for and this was well worth it. Better than some of Melbourne's top...

Mixed feelings about Rubira’s. Upon seating we were given a drinks list which didn’t have any non alcoholic drinks on there. No mocktails, juices or anything the waiter just tried to guess off the top of her head the non alcoholic drinks they had. A visual list would of been greatly appreciated especially some fun mocktails for the non drinkers. I ended up getting sparking water. They then offered us some bread I informed them I was gluten and dairy free. They didn’t have any bread that I could eat, my partner ate the bread and I had nothing. Cmon guys it’s 2023 it’s not that hard to have some gluten free bread with some oil for dipping or something similar for people with dietarys. For entrees we had the prawn and avocado cocktail which was nice the prawns were large and well cooked, we also had the curried scallops with rice which was the favourite dish of the night absolutely outstanding! For mains my partner ordered the beer battered Tarakihi fish which was nothing special the beer batter was not really crispy he overall rates this dish 2/5 also for the $40 price tag the market fish only comes with a small bucket of chips there should at least be a small side salad with the fish as well to balance the dish out. I had the crayfish which was $104 for 500g including the shell. I quite liked the dish this also came with chips and a salad. I ordered it “natural” it came with a seafood cocktail sauce on the side I would rate this a 4/5. The ambiance is ok when we went there were a lot of kids running around it’s more of a family friendly/rustic pub dining establishment rather then a date night venue. Overall we would return but this time our expectations would be...

As it was my daughters birthday I asked what sort of food she would like and she said seafood. This place was recently recommended so I thought, great, this will be a lovely night out to celebrate.

As soon as we walked in, I was thinking, this is going to be an upmarket pub meal with the prices to match. Staff were pretty good, friendly and attentive although one that we asked a simple question of, look utterly confused and bewildered and we had to ask another waitress shortly thereafter to reconfirm our request.

We scrolled the menu and selected salt & pepper squid, barramundi spring rolls, Morton Bay bugs, John dory fish of the day panfried and the roast duck. On paper it all sounds delicious and it should be after all how can you go wrong with seafood. I won't go into each but the salt & pepper said was so salty it destroyed the taste, Morton bay bugs were very mediocre and rubbery, the John dory fish was starting to curl up on the edges and overcooked and the duck was super bland with no taste, not to mention the accomplying chips were even more so sub par. .

The food over all was so below average we were not game to try the deserts even though some sounded good.

Another disturbing aspect was the strong fish monger smell as you go to the 1950's style restrooms. This night cost $229 and we did not even have any alcoholic beverages so feel ripped off considering the highlights of the night were the free bread rolls at the start and walking out the door to head home demoralised.

Obviously other diners must like the food however it is not our cup of tea and won't be going back...