French Onion Soup Page

We all know that the “traditional” cheese for French Onion Soup is Gruyere.  However, I’ve rated highly some soups that depart from the traditional route and have added some adventure to the mix.  I’ve really enjoyed soups with comté, jarlsberg, fontina, and a few others.  Typically, soups with provalone, mozzarella, or cheaper swiss gets a “pedestrian” rating from me, as these are not adventurous at all; they’re just a cheap cop-out.

What we have here at The Georgian (located in the Fairmont Olympic hotel in Seattle) is certainly not a cheap cop-out.  It may be the most expensive of the cheese adventures I’ve come across in onion soup. The problem is that it is horrible! I can’t imagine why someone would come up with the idea of putting blue cheese in French Onion Soup.  Being a turophile, I’ve enjoyed my share of blue cheese.  But this combination is simply ill-advised.  What made it worse was that you could tell that the broth was outstanding!  They must have spent hours caramelizing the onions and making the broth just right, only to have the taste completely overwhelmed by blue cheese.

This is a fancy restaurant, with plenty of charm.  I think they tried to get too fancy with this soup.  I always say, “Any French Onion Soup is better than no onion soup,” and I even order some of the bad ones from here if I find myself at those restaurants.  But there’s no way I would ever have this soup again!

Rating: 0.5 out of 10

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This restaurant is in an unassuming office building, and (despite its name) is a french bistro.  They have a lunch version and a dinner version of French Onion Soup.  The lunch version is described as using a lower cost cheese, and indeed the cost of the soup is much lower.  Although not written on the lunch menu, the dinner soup can be ordered at lunch time (at the dinner price).  I have not yet tried the lunch version, and can’t imagine that I ever will.  The dinner version was quite good.  They use an excellent gruyere, that was a bit too much stuck to the bread.

Rating: 7.5 out of 10

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This restaurant is located in The Rotary House International, which is a hotel on the campus of MD Anderson.  The soup is not very good, but I wasn’t expecting much, considering the venue.  Very little, cheap cheese, with a flavorless broth.

Rating 5.0 out of 10

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This restaurant is the latest of sports bars from the “Killer B’s” from the Miami Dolphins’ memorable years.  I have reviewed Bru’s Room in the past, and this place has basically the same menu.  The soup is also extremely similar, and therefore gets the same rating.

Rating: 6.5 out of 10

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Not all Morton’s serve F.O.S. for all of their meals, so it is wise to check before going there.  Of course, if they are not serving it, go somewhere else in protest.  Apparently, the one in Boca serves it for both lunch and dinner.  The broth was pretty good, but there was a clear lack of cheese.  The cheese itself was just “okay”.

Rating: 7.0 out of 10

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Lots of paprika on here, as you can see.  Good broth, with provolone cheese.

Rating: 6.75 out of 10

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Pedestrian, diner soup.  Happy that they gave a good amount of cheese.

Rating: 6.5 out of 10

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Located in the Westin Fort Lauderdale.  Cheap provalone.  Broth was okay.

Rating: 6.0 out of 10

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Another pastry puff entry.  If there was cheese in this soup, I couldn’t find it.

Rating: 4.0 out of 10

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Great combination of cheeses, and great broth!

Rating: 8.5 out of 10

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Nice cheese, but not enough.  Decent broth.

Rating: 7.0 out of 10

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Great broth, cheap swiss cheese.

Rating: 6.75 out of 10

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Bland broth, good cheese.  The cheese was way too stuck to the bread.

Rating: 6.75 out of 10

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Located in the Cosmopolitan Hotel and Casino.  Good soup, and cheese.  Not enough cheese.

Rating: 7.0 out of 10

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Typical pub-style soup.  Nothing to write home about.

Rating: 6.0 out of 10

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