Black Ruby

Ok, went on a sunday afternoon and we missed the food service, so insert a sad face.
However, we did get one of the Gluten Free loaves of bread, and this is hands down better than any gluten free bread I have found either here in Australia, or back in the UK (where we sampled the GF goods from Southampton to Edinburgh). Also, the GF bread is priced well for such good quality.
It holds up beautifully for sandwiches and toasts amazingly.
I’m holding off on the 5 stars rating until I try the food menu, but confident the Black Ruby crowd will come through.
Cheers all.

This is truly an amazing café, I have been here numerous times and I have never been disappointed. I can’t visit melbourne without having breakfast at black ruby. My two friends have Coeliac and believe that the bread is the best they have ever had. They even ask our friend in melb to bring a few loafs each time she visits Sydney– that just shows you how amazing the bread is. The French toast and pancakes are my fave. I also recommend you ask for the French toast to be made with fruit bread. it’s amazing.

This place has *the best gluten-​free bread in the world*. I’m not joking. My mother and sister and i have been gluten-​free for combined total of about 38 years and we all agree on this.
Their GF brekky is incredible. Their dinner doesn’t have as many items that you can’t find GF elsewhere. However, the desserts are pretty hot. Especially the apple pie.
Make reservations for dinner in advance as i think they only do one seating per night. You can usually buy bread anytime the restaurant is open.

I’ve been to Black Ruby a couple of times now as it is a really sweet spot to sit outside on Rathdowne Street to watch the world go by and indulge. On each occasion I didn’t even realise that it is a gluten free café (this wasn’t reflected drastically in the price).
Two things really stick in my mind about the experiences…
1) I don’t usually go for sweet breakfasts when out but for some reason wasn’t feeling a savoury one. Their stack of pancakes with fruit and syrup was D-​licious!
2) Although the spot outside is fantastic, the service was a different story. I’m trying to think of the slowest but friendliest animal in the world to describe it. Maybe a koala? A sloth (they hug you don’t they)? Anyway, they were really friendly but the food took an eternity.
I’d come again but not if it wasn’t Friday and I actually had shit to do.

Black Ruby is an entirely gluten free café that serves up pretty tasty food and a damn good chai latte. I don’t usually drink chai lattes (there’s no coffee in them — wrong!) but I’d been told I had to try Black Ruby’s, and it didn’t disappoint. Still, I had to have a coffee chaser just to get that kick.
I also had some toast (gluten free, of course) and it was good. I don’t actually know the difference between gluten free and non gluten free bread — am I the only one who has no freaking idea what gluten actually is??! Anyway, it’s a good, quiet brunch spot in the Village.
They also do lunch and dinner — I checked out the menus and they look like real crowd pleasers, with lots of different meat-​n-​vege combos and sweeties, including crème brulee!

Located in Rathdowne Village, Black Ruby just happened to be conveniently located between a friend and me, so it seemed a perfect solution to distance.
Whilst there are many café options in Rathdowne Village, what makes Black Ruby stand out is that their entire menu is gluten free. With 1 in 100 Australian being gluten intolerant, Black Ruby is definitely in the right country. Luckily, for me, I don’t suffer from being gluten intolerant. I love bread and beer too much (usually not together). However, for anyone who is, definitely check out Black Ruby.
Black Ruby has the usual brunch options — big breakfast, poached eggs with this and that. All very standard dishes, but done well. The only complaint I have about the food is how long it takes to get the table. I don’t think the kitchen understands timing. We were a large group (6 or 7) that had arrived around 1pm. We didn’t leave until nearly 3pm. I thought perhaps it was busy inside, but there were only 3 or 4 other tables. I don’t know where they went wrong?
If you are coeliac and patient, definitely give it a try.