In the title mol-ecule, [Ru(C(9)H(7))(C(7)H(5)O)(CO)(2)], the dihedral angle between the mean plane of the indene ring system and the phenyl ring is 86.28 (8)°. The crystal structure is stabilized by weak inter-molecular C-H⋯O and C-H⋯π(arene) inter-actions. The Ru-η(5)-cyclopentadienyl centroid bond length is 1.946 (11) Å