There is no "best" technology. I'd suggest going with the framework or language that you are most comfortable with. That could be node.js. It wouldn't be my first choice, but it could be the right one for you.

One word of advice, as I noticed you use the word "magic" when referring to rails. I did the same earlier in my career, turns out it was just that I didn't understand it well enough yet. That takes time, unfortunately! It's only after you spend hours or days tracking down a tricky bug that you begin to get into the internals of these systems and begin to understand the "magic".