High-Octane People Fuel: Ruby Asian Bistro

By ZACHARY WILLIAMS
Contributing Writer

Yes, I recognize the title sounds ridiculous, but the truth is, that’s what food is – “people fuel”.  You need food every day, several times a day, so that you can continue to walk around, chat with one another, perform “certain activities” (wink wink, nudge nudge) and do whatever else it is that normal college students do.  The point of this column is to have yours truly go out and pound the streets to find good, filling food at a price that won’t hit you like a punch in the stomach.

It was at the Ruby Asian Bistro that I began this journey through the gastronomical Wonderland of Albany. It quickly captured my heart, my stomach and my purse-strings. Less than half a block away, on the other side of a funeral parlor and several large buildings of indeterminate purpose sits Ruby Asian Bistro, a small, quiet restaurant nestled between another building supposedly owned by the College, and a bar ever-so-subtly named “The Pub”.

Ruby is an oasis of calm in an otherwise busy city; a small, homey restaurant with all-wood chairs and booths, warm, low lighting and soft music playing over the radio while a small force of dedicated chefs and servers prep the day’s meals, bantering in a tongue that I don’t understand, over dishes from all over Asia.  At the head of all of it is Grace Sim.

Sim, an Albany resident, moved here from Malaysia, and has spent most of her life cooking, to the point where she has perfected her craft.  With so much experience under her belt, she decided to go into the restaurant business; a decision realized when Ruby opened in May of 2010.  Grace is a kind woman with a good sense of humor, but she politely suggested that I should worry less about her own story and more about the food that they serve, a point which I was all too happy to oblige.

Ruby’s extensive menu of appetizers, soups, salads, entrees, and bento boxes is enough to impress even the greatest of Asian enthusiasts, ranging from spicy Singaporean laksa and savory Japanese yakiudon, to the more well-known, ubiquitous dishes, such as General Tso’s Chicken, pork-fried rice, lo mein and so on.  Everything is surprisingly inexpensive and adaptable to the average college student’s shoestring budget, with the most expensive things on the menu – a tie between the Sushi and Sashimi Combo and the Hibachi-cooked Shrimp – running only $18.

With the meal, Ruby serves up a variety of drinks to go alongside it. However, the only one I enjoy is the Manchurian White Coffee (go figure because I can barely get out of bed in the morning without a dose of caffeine). They also serve basic fruit milkshakes (Taro, anyone?) and tea (black, jasmine or green) to flavored tea with pop boba, an interesting concoction known as pearl tea (known to us Americans “bubble tea”), and a glass of tea with milk and small tapioca pearls (called boba) in the bottom, providing the drink a unique texture and taste that I can’t say I’m fond of, but is doubtlessly appealing to someone.

My first encounter with Ruby was my first day alone as a boarder on campus; deep in the throes of Slightly Inconvenient Rainstorm Irene I was struck with hunger only to realize that the dining hall was closed at the time.  So I decided to hit the streets and follow a lead in the Student Survivor Handbook about an Asian restaurant named Ruby, and I therefore pulled the coat over my shoulders and bravely trudged headfirst into the storm.

I arrived at Ruby several minutes later, soaked through to the bone, where the first thing to appeal to me was the yakiudon, a Japanese mixture of udon – thick, hearty Japanese noodles – squid, onions, peppers and who knows what else coming together in a delicious mélange of savory flavors, combined with rice, sushi rolls and dumplings served up piping hot – the perfect way to ward off the impending chill of Pissant Rainstorm Irene’s downpour settling into my bones through my thick jeans.  One bite of this delicious bento meal and I was transported to a sort of transcended area; a heaven on earth and a temporary release from all your mortal obligations.  This meal later served as a replacement for what would have been dinner.

My second meal was pad thai, but I won’t talk about that because it was a tip from someone else, and although I’m sure it was delicious, it just isn’t my thing.  Thin noodles, a heady combination of vegetables, peppers and aromatics making for a satisfying meal to anyone who enjoys pad thai (people that evidently are not me).

The next meal I enjoyed, which was with a friend, and another rookie to the Asian food scene, was a bowl of Ruby’s Singapore Curry Laksa; a spicy broth containing shrimp, cilantro and many other delicious things that delivered well on all levels, and proved to be so filling that I couldn’t actually finish it.

My fourth, and most recent meal, will forever go down in infamy as The Night of One Thousand Flaming Taste Buds; otherwise known as “baby’s first experience with Tom Yam Kung; a Thai seafood soup consisting of shrimp, celery, okra (I assume) and insanely hot Thai peppers combined together in a spicy hellbroth that definitely is not for the faint of heart.  I’ve been brought up eating home-grown jalapeños and other such peppers straight off the plant, so I’ve encountered heat before, trust me.  But my first sip of this tiny iron pot of liquid fire made my mouth burn, my eyes water and – I’m pretty sure – caused my brain to begin to melt and drizzle out through my ears.  But in a good way, I assure you!  Just, if you ever need to warm up in an incredible hurry – say, after being buried in one of New York’s infamous snowstorms – this will do the job just as readily as any glass of hot chocolate.  I am absolutely sure that anyone who saw me must have been laughing, because I was probably a sight.  My face and general mannerisms aren’t too flattering when I eat something extremely hot.

I heartily recommend Ruby to anyone who hasn’t been there. What’s surprising is that I haven’t heard of anyone from Saint Rose covering this place in any official capacity.  Most every day I was there I encountered college students from either UAlbany or our own Saint Rose– so how has it managed to slip under the radar? If you want delicious filling, high-class cuisine with a traditional Asian flare for fair prices, in a quiet place with friendly staff that isn’t too far off campus, you could do much, much worse than Ruby.  Suffice to say that this place has completely earned my badge of approval.

Zach Williams is a freshman with a sweet hat and a desire to die fat and happy (although that’s unlikely since he’s never broken 150 lbs. in his life).  If you have a restaurant you would like him to review, you can contact him via e-mail at williamsz063@strose.edu.