Ruby Sunshine
Chicken St. Charles and One Tomato Two Tomato Benedicts
Sunday Brunch! What's not to love, right?
A recent addition to the Charlotte brunch scene
My friends and I came to Ruby Sunshine for Sunday Brunch. One of them had been to the location in New Orleans and was so excited to come to the one in Charlotte. They just recently opened! Congrats to the team. Pro tip: They don’t take reservations, so put your name on the Yelp waiting list, or go early in the morning.
Order strategically — not all food is created equal
I always like to try TONS of food when I go to a new restaurant, and this one had a particularly enticing menu…so we may have gone a bit overboard. Here’s the low-down on the food:
We started by ordering all three appetizers:
Cinnamon and buttermilk biscuits. Cinnamon & buttermilk biscuits with cream cheese icing, cane syrup butter & bacon onion jam. Moist, tender, and delicious...especially with that bacon jam!
Pig candy bacon bites. Applewood-smoked bacon bites with a candy glaze. I was not a fan. I love candied bacon, but this wasn’t candied — the sugar wasn’t melted. Instead, the sugar was simply coating the bacon, giving it a grainy texture.
French toast bites. Brioche-based French toast bites fried and tossed in cinnamon sugar served with cream cheese icing & praline sauce. Great flavor, but the texture was off. I wanted them to be crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. These were crunch all the way through. It reminded me of cinnamon toast crunch.
The breakfast benedicts
Eggs Cochon. Slow-cooked, apple-braised pork debris served over a buttermilk biscuit and topped with two poached eggs (they were closer to a jammy soft boiled egg), finished with hollandaise. It was very rich, but also incredibly flavorful. I also loved their take on the hollandaise. I would definitely order again, but only as part of "The Peacemaker" —which allows you to pick two benedicts.
Chicken St. Charles. Fried chicken breast served over a buttermilk biscuit, topped with two poached eggs (also closer to a jammy soft boiled egg), finished with a pork tasso cream sauce. Delicious. This was the best benedict we tried. I would absolutely order again.
One Tomato, Two Tomato. Fried Green tomato & grilled red tomato served over a buttermilk biscuit topped with two poached eggs (again, closer to a jammy soft boiled egg) & hollandaise. This one was OK. I like the fried green tomato benedict at Tupelo Honey more, but this wasn't bad either.
Eggs Blackstone. Applewood-smoked bacon & grilled tomato served over a buttermilk biscuit, topped with two poached eggs (once again, closer to a jammy soft boiled egg), finished with hollandaise. This was my second favorite behind the chicken benedict. The grilled tomato was super flavorful, while still keeping the dish fresh (and not heavy like the pork one).
Non-benedict mains
We ordered two “mains” that weren’t benedicts. These were super basic…nothing to write home about.
Southern Breakfast. Two eggs any style, stone-ground grits, applewood-smoked bacon, fried green tomato with a buttermilk biscuit.
B.Y.O Omelet. Served with a side of stone-ground grits and a buttermilk biscuit. The omelet was super basic and didn't feel filled. It was more like scrambled eggs with ingredients mixed in and cooked in the shape of an omelet (rather than eggs with a delicious filling). I would skip this.
If you know what to order, Ruby Sunshine is excellent! Skip the basics — opt for the benny’s. Overall, I’d give it a 6/10.
