RIP Ruby's at Bulli

This weekend marks the end of an era with the closing of Ruby’s at Bulli Beach. Many residents expressed their support for the current owners, who were not successful in winning the tender for further trade.

Ruby’s will be missed for it’s amazing burgers – including such delicacies as the Teriyaki Mushroom burger (which I don’t even think is on the menu anymore, but consisted of a meat patty, loads of fried mushrooms with onion & garlic, butter lettuce and tomato on a bun, with the most delicious soy/teriyaki sauce); the Fish Burger ( a battered, deep fried fish fillet with tomato, lettuce, fried onion and lashings of thousand-island dressing) and an incredible bacon & egg roll that must have had at least a quarter of a kilo of fried bacon. Oh, I nearly forgot the hunger-busting English muffins with bacon, tomato and melted cheese on top!

Many years ago Ruby’s introduced my then young boys to the delight of chicken salt, they would hand it out in sachets, which the boys would take home – not sure what for as we didn’t cook chips at home. We enjoyed sunny days, rainy afternoons and would go there for an afternoon tea treat on birthdays. It was a great stop-over or destination when bike riding or walking along the bike-track. And none of us will forget the great victory lunch after we (I use the term loosely) won the Under-10’s Grand Final.

Nowadays, mothers groups and respite care groups enjoy Ruby’s pretty much every day of the week, still using it as a local meeting place. As we did for our team meeting this week, where we were discussing the projects and plans we were all working on.

I have often bemoaned the fact that out of ALL the time I have spent at Ruby’s (which over the years has added up considerably) I have NEVER seen whales. Dan would come home after surfing at Bulli or Sandon Point telling me of the whales (and dolphins) he had seen. Rick would comment on how the car pool had seen yet another whale while coming down Bulli Pass. I had never seen whales at our local beaches – and it wasn’t for lack of trying.

So on Tuesday, our team meeting was adjourned while we watched TWO groups of whales off Ruby’s at Bulli Beach. They slapped their tails, threw their bodies out of the water, waved their flippers, poked their heads up and generally cavorted, while we stood there (and then sat there) oohíng and aahing as if we were at the circus. We could see that both groups seemed to be one or two adults with at least one baby.

After a (long) while, we finally tore ourselves away and dragged ourselves back to work– BEST TEAM MEETING EVER!

Ruby’s is open for a farewell dinner on Friday night and then has its last day of trading on Sunday. I am looking forward to seeing what the new café will be, word on the street is that it will open for business mid-late November.

Thanks for the memories Ruby’s.