Rubira’s – Sammy’s Foodie Map

Rubira's

-A heaven for seafood lovers looking for a bit luxury

Visited on 20th/Dec/2018 Thu
Night with drizzling rain 16°C

As a big fan of seafood, I searched a lot of seafood restaurants around Melbourne before choosing my first seafood restaurant in Australia. Rubira’s was selected as the top of my list because of their various choices and persistence and is still my favourite seafood restaurant in Melbourne. All seafood at Rubira was picked at numerous fish markets every morning. (You beauty!) For those who still prefer meat at Rubira’s (Sammy’s murmur: Why at a seafood restaurant, mate?), there are still plenty of choices including duck breast de la orange, Cape Grim prime porterhouse steak and milk-fed baby veal. But trust me, you will regret for ordering insufficient seafood at Rubira’s because the seafood is so stunning here.

When walking into Rubira’s, I immediately sensed the historical atmosphere via the preserved timber bar and casual décor in the 90’s as the display from the previous hotel. The blackboard showed some popular dishes, today’s special and daily fish, which was very helpful for ordering. There were not so many people when we just arrived at around half pass eight. However, the restaurant was fully packed soon after the first dish came. At first, I thought people coming here mostly for celebrating Christmas in advance, while later I found it’s just how Rubira’s looked like very night. The staff was very friendly and knew their food well. The waitress kindly gave me many useful suggestions of food portion and wine pairing.

In total, I tried five appetizers, one entrée and one dessert during the visit. Curried Tasmanian scallops (4 pcs AU$26) was my first appetizer. Highly recommended in many reviews, the scallops did surprise me by its high quality and freshness. With a little bit of Asian flavour, the fresh scallops were steamed with curry sauce and finished with a small piece of spring onion on the top for giving the tenderness a little bit crunchy taste.

Oysters and mussels are my must-try dishes at every seafood restaurant. We’ve got our oysters in beer batter, kilpatrick (AU$4.5/each) and original flavour (AU$4, min 3 per serve), and both of us agreed that classic is always best! Mussels are my favourite. I even had a fantastic experience of finishing a huge bowel of mussels by myself at the restaurant though it looked a bit scary, haha. (The essay is coming soon!) In spite of the fact that the fresh mussels always tasted good, the size of each mussel at Rubira’s still impressed me. As you can see on the photo, each mussel was as “satisfyingly big” as the head of a dining fork.

Next dish, Rubira’s original chilli tiger prawns (3pcs $28.5), was the best of the night. I highly highly highly recommend everyone trying this dish especially during the first time visiting Rubira’s. Each tiger prawn was gorgeous and plump matched with chilli sauce perfectly. The flavour was so unique and exceptional.

A whole roasted Moreton Bay bug (AU$68) was our entrée. The bug was well-cooked with the sauce of chilli, herb butter and ginger with spring onions on the top. Besides, the amount rice below the bug was quite generous. However, I was still thinking about the savoury chilly tiger prawns when tasting the bug. (So sorry, my bug! I love you, too!)