This week, I suggested the Hume Hotel, which has a salad bar I was interested in. My appetite being what it is these days, I needed the flexibility the salad bar had to offer. That, and I really wanted some soup. The salad bar comes with soup of the day, which that day happened to be white bean & chorizo. Not my bag, so I subbed in the French Onion Soup.
Now, if you read this post, you'll see that the Hume has a history, and part of that history for me, involves a spectacular French Onion Soup I had there when I was a kid that had beer in it. To this day, it is the yard stick against which I measure all other French Onion Soups! In fact, my dad is the same - he still rhapsodizes about that soup. I knew, however, from our last lunch there that the recipe had changed and the beery soup was no longer on offer, but the current soup is supposedly made with sherry, as specified in the menu's description.
After having a sampler from the salad bar, my soup finally came. And...
...Well, it was good, but not that good. A bit weak, and not tasting too much of the sherry. It also didn't have very many onions in it. Also - they hadn't taken the bay leaves out and had used small bay leaves, so twice I took a spoonful and chomped down on bay leaves. I was a little annoyed.
My dad had ordered the lasagne, which came with garlic toast and a surprise Caesar salad. The salad was a surprise because the night shift had just come on and they put salad with their dinner entrees, so Dad got lucky.
He said the lasagne was really good and enjoyed it very much.The shift change might explain the slowness of the service. Because it was S-L-O-W.
Dad was full, but I wanted dessert, and I knew that the Hume has a great dessert list. I opted for the lemon meringue pie and was not disappointed at all - except, once again, it took forever to come out. But it was delicious and I realized I hadn't had lemon meringue pie in ages. Yum!
So, while the food was good, the service was iffy. Perhaps they were having an off day. It happens.
10 comments:
I enjoy reading about your lunches with your dad, you are a very lucky girl.
You make me want to try "the soup that was"! I wonder if there's a way to dig up the old recipe!? Everything in the photos is enough to get my belly rumbling and ready for breakfast, though!
Lemon pie without the meringue please :) Looks like a good lunch.
Everything looks really good! How about trying to make the soup at home? I'm sure you could create something much like the original.. with more onions and without the bay leaves pieces. ;-) My mom makes a kick-butt french onion soup. Next time, I'll suggest to her about making it with beer.
The soup looks great, too bad it wasn't all that. I'm a huge sucker for all that browned cheese. :D
Palidor: actually, I make a KILLER French onion soup with real caramelized onions & red wine.
I am so jealous! What a perfect lunch my dear.
I love lemon meringue pie...have never made one though because I thought I couldn't measure up to my mother's pie. But I purchase it when I see it available.
I remember your previous post on the Hume....would love to eat there.
Your lunch sounds terrific. So sweet you and your dad spend quality time together.
I love a great onion soup so I can understand the disappointment when it isn't up to par! But it looks scrumptious! And that pie! Yum, now that I want!
Post a Comment