Ruby's Restaurant at the Roundhouse Tavern

Ruby's Restaurant at the Roundhouse Tavern

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Posted 2011-06-28 by Shannon Meyerkortfollow
I really wanted to like the Roundhouse Tavern . What's not to like – it was a Monday and I needed to rescue a friend with a broken car from Balcatta, so we thought we would stop for lunch. I love pub food. It is generous, unpretentious and simple, and when it sticks to these rules, is usually a winner.

The Roundhouse Tavern, comprising Ruby's Restaurant, a sports bar, and a drive-thru bottle shop is located in the Northlands Shopping Plaza in Balcatta. It's an odd looking place, but I liked it – sort of Canadian ski resort meets Indian bazaar with a hefty dose of Sayers , although only because of the dozen of rice paper lanterns hanging from the cavernous ceiling.


When we entered, the place was completely empty. The bar next door was doing a fair trade, but the tavern was bereft, so it would probably be a great place to have an illicit rendezvous if you didn't want to be seen by anyone. The staff were friendly, and remarked that although Mondays are typically quiet, they were not usually this quiet. Still, it had its advantages and meant that service was prompt and our lunches were on the table within 10 minutes.

The menu is predominantly typical pub food – steaks, burgers, fish and chips, pasta, lamb shanks, chicken parmigiana – but with a fair number of seafood dishes including paella. There were also a few slightly more challenging items such as dukkha crusted kangaroo fillet, pumpkin and walnut zucca (filled pasta) in pesto sauce and crispy soft shell crab. Mains range between $22 and $40, and many include salad and fries. There is plenty to drink if you want alcohol including some interesting sounding cocktails, but if you are the designated driver your choices are limited (and not published anywhere that I could find).

My friend ordered the Cajun spiced chicken strips ($24), and the serving was generous – 5 large pieces of chicken, crispy on the outside, still moist on the inside. The accompanying fries were fresh and crisp, exactly how chips should be, and the aioli and salad was more than adequate. I ordered the crispy soft shell crab ($30) and probably should have known better. Since the restaurant was very quiet, it was probably not the type of thing they had sitting fresh in the fridge. The crab had been defrosted and then deep fried, leaving it soggy and not at all crispy. I wish I had ordered the zucca.

The desert menu reads as quite orthodox with options such as cheesecake, apple pie, banoffi and a jaffa chocolate mousse, all $7.50, but most of the desserts are made in-house. We shared a warm chocolate brownie and it was a delicious, fudgey mass of chocolaty goodness, reminiscent of a cake that has been pulled out of the oven long before the timer has rung. Bliss.

I wanted to like the Roundhouse and I did.


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212798 - 2023-06-16 06:49:30

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