Papillon Restaurant - Fremont, CA
I have a history of giving very, very little leeway to soups which venture into non-traditional presentations or ingredients. But I found this soup to be amazing. It is described on the menu as “French Onion Soup Baked with Puff Pastry”. They have been serving the soup this way for over 20 years, and it’s very popular in the Fremont area. The pastry is delightfully light and flakey. The cheese is cooked under the pastry, resulting in a sort of “upside down” onion soup. It was like “bizarro f.o.s.”. Because the cheese is not exposed when the soup is baked, the cheese cannot become browned and loses some of the flavor potential. It’s a “double broiler” effect. The soup is served in a Crème brûlée bowl, and when it comes to the table it looks like a chicken pot pie (as you can see from the picture). The cheese is a mix of gruyere and standard swiss, and tastes great.
Rating: 8 out of 10
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March 30th, 2008 at 7:27 pm
I was privileged to have dinner with Ron during this Onion Soup Tasting. Ron and I have been best friends for over 7 years now. Our sons have been best friends since they were 4. I can attest to Ron’s dedication and expertise in his review of Onion Soups. If Ron says a soup is superb (>8) then it is. The food at this restaurant is excellent and I highly recommend it. If you’re in the area, you should definitely have dinner here. The staff is friendly and while we were there, there were a number of people that clearly were regulars. It was a great atmosphere and made for an enjoyable dinner.