What’s on the takeout menu at Ruru Baked, a new Bloordale ice cream shop that’s drawing seriously long lineups
More Great Takeout
Name: Ruru Baked
Contact: 659 Lansdowne Ave., rurubaked.com, @rurubaked
Neighbourhood: Bloordale
Owner and chef: Luanne Ronquillo
Outdoor seating: None
Covid-19 safety measures: Strict mask policy for staff and patrons, frequent sanitization, Plexiglas barrier at cash, stickers on the floor to indicate physical distancing, max four people inside at a time
Accessibility: Accessible entrance; bathrooms not open to the public
The food
We covered Ruru Baked back when it started as an Instagram-based business run out of a tiny, rented kitchen in Little Italy. This is the brand’s first standalone location, where you can grab scoops and pints of their super-popular ice cream. It’s a major boon for fans—when the coveted pints were only available via pre-order, they would regularly sell out in less than five minutes.
There’s a new machine doing the churning, but otherwise, pastry chef and owner Luanne Ronquillo is sticking to her original formula: preservative-free, custard-based ice cream with a strong focus on house-baked mix-ins and whole ingredients (versus extracts). This kitchen regularly goes through cases of fresh produce, which is why the banoffee pie flavour tastes like real bananas and the mint chip has absolutely nothing in common with toothpaste.
Ruru’s flavour repertoire currently stands at 34, with 10 on offer at any given time. There are some mainstays, such as raspberry cheesecake, Viet coffee, honeycomb cereal and the aforementioned banoffee pie. New varieties are always under development—look out for a watermelon lychee sorbet in the near future.
Cones—waffle, sugar and regular—are available, including a gluten-free option for an extra buck. Or, take home a pint (or four, which is the maximum number you can get) and savour at your leisure.
The space
The shop has a minimal, industrial look with high ceilings, floor-to-ceiling windows and an open kitchen so customers can see all the ice cream-making action. There’s no seating, and helpful floor stickers keep patrons at a safe distance as they order. Lineups can start as early as half an hour before opening, but they move fairly quickly—you can expect to wait for around 15 minutes, depending on the time of day.
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