The run is very friendly and laid back, for kids and families mainly than the ultra-serious runners. Everyone under 13 who did the full run got a certificate and a water bottle and a family pass to the leisure centre. There was a tonne of give-aways for shoes and gift baskets and massage therapy sessions. A good morning, and one which worked up some hunger.
So off to the Ruby on Victoria's Chicken Belt (the 3100 block of Douglas Street). The restaurant specialises in rotisserie chicken. And I love good roasted or fried chicken. Next door, there's KFC. Which does terrible fried chicken, and coleslaw that looks like green marsh clippings mixed with half pasteurised mayonnaise that's been left in the sun too long... and it tastes much the same.
The Ruby is in the forecourt of Hotel Zed, where Accent Inns have refurbished a tired old Motel into a bright 70's throwback affair, replete with Camper Van as a shuttle bus and big bold blocks of colour. The restaurant spills over into the hotel reception, so confusing us where to get seating, but a friendly concierge directed us along to the maitre d' who got us seated right away, onto a corner table.
The restaurant echoes the rest of the location. There's a big tiled wall with a Chicken on it. The Chicken has been divided into four parts: Leg, wing, breast and thigh. I was not aware that chicken thighs came from the egg-laying part of a hen, though. There's a small retro table with a record player on it, pumping out music. Very kitsch, but as it was Johnny Cash's Folsom Prison Blues, I will not only give it a pass, but a thumbs up.
We got the simple menu, which offers an array of breakfast choices, chicken rotisserie main courses and other entrées. But I knew what I wanted. Chicken and Waffles.
Hmm. Problem. There are no Chicken and Waffles.
There are duck confit and waffles. There are waffles and banana and toasted pecans. There are waffles and mixed berries. There's shredded chicken eggs benedict and Mexican eggs topped with chicken. But no chicken and waffles.
However, a quick request with the server, and he tells us the kitchen can prep up three plates of roasted chicken with waffles. My day is complete and I have a new favourite person for the next thirty minutes, as I sit in anticipation. Everyone bar the Brunette follows me with this choice. Her loveliness goes for the skinny eggs breakfast.
The plates arrive, fresh from the kitchen, with a pile of chicken arranged on four large, fresh waffles, topped with an over-easy egg and a crack up rasher of bacon, crumbled and mixed in with the works. I slice the egg open, letting a cascade of the runny yolk flow over the crisp chicken skins. I daub on the house hot sauce, and then carve off a section of the waffles.
Oh boy. These are light, fluffy clouds. Sweet, yes, but not cloying. There's some vanilla in there, I think, but just a hint. I slice off more, with a bit of bacon and a morsel of chicken. This combination works so well in my mouth, it has a little grin on it for the next 10 minutes as I work from one end of the plate to the other. Stopping only occasionally to pause and let things sink in further.
The chicken is great. It's tender and juicy throughout. Cooked throughout, to a fall off the bones goodness. The skin is crispy, the insides aren't. The chicken grease covers my fingers as I gnaw on the bones, as I sully up a pile of serviettes to wipe my fingers and mouth. I love it when you get chicken this good, that it leaves its mark.
The hot sauce they bring out is also wonder. It has some heat, but also a spicy tang and sharpness from the vinegar too. They told us it was a house recipe, but they did intend to start bottling it to sell. I will be ordering some. I know my hot sauces. No egg can be eaten at Vic In-Person towers without a splash of something spicy. This sauce, with chicken and some simple carbs, would knock Nandos into a cocked hat.
I commented to the server these were the best waffles I'd had in years. He relayed this vocally across to the kitchen. I think they were glad to know.
Andrea and Mavymag both agreed this was a great meal. The Brunette had no envy though. Her sauteed kale was perfect, she tells me, and the bed of hashed browned potatoes was crisp on the outside and mashed soft inside, made even tastier with the addition of carrots into the combination. I would have tried some, but I was filled to the gunnels with the meal I had. Any more, and I'd have recreated Mr Creosote, and after the staff were so nice to us, I felt this was not a good way to repay them.
In short, my only complaint is that they should make this special Chicken and Waffles order a mainstay on the menu. I may take one for the team and check out the duck confit version next time.
But I just can't see how it can be as good.
(I have had the Kaiser Chef's Ruby in my head throughout this review. The words aren't appropriate, but the tune is a great one.)
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