Last night during my travels I was trying to think of where I wanted to eat in the area I was in. I’m pretty familiar with the area and had several decent options but I just wanted something out of the normal, when I remembered a decent steakhouse I had been to 10+ years ago. It was the in-house dining option of what was considered a 4 Star National Hotel chain in the area. I did a quick google search, the Hotel was still there and operating so I went the 5 miles out of my way to grab dinner. As I pulled up the sign Christie’s Steakhouse was still prominently lit on the hotels signage so I ventured in. Well the fact the place smelled like a cross between a Motel 6 in 1970 (when everyone smoked Lucky Strikes) which was being masked by industrial cleaner. (By industrial I mean that stuff they use in hospitals and or the stuff a janitor would place over vomit in school when someone unexpectedly vomits). Yes I should have turned and ran at this point but no, my carnivores impulses were too strong and pulled me in.
Here is a picture of the outside of the menu clearly it says; Christie’s Steakhouse, now lets take a look at the menu itself…hmmmmm there is 1 steak??? You have 7 “signature” dishes at a Steakhouse out of which you have 1 steak??? There are twice as many fish options and 2 vegetarian options???
WTF? The entire experience was so bad but it was late and I was committed so I stayed. The entire hour I was there I watched a half used gallon of milk sit on a kitchen prep table as dozens of people passed it and worked around it, none thinking to put it away.
I’m tempted to write an email to the hotel to express my utter contempt for their restaurant management.
FIVE onion soup? Are there five entire onions per serving or is it made with five different kinds of onions? A quick recipe search reveals neither to be the case.
Wow…if I’ve ever seen “false advertising” this could be it. I’d be pretty disgruntled too if I went in and they had a single steak there…a 12oz sirloin to boot.
Five onion soup is definitely a thing. I’m not defending the restaurant - late night room service is an apt description, as is mid-range cruise ship - but they didn’t invent that soup.
I think the menu says a lot about their clientele. And apparently you’re just not their target audience…!
Definitely mediocre room service in a lower end chain hotel in a random very suburban location is the vibe i get from this.
Not even a big baked potato side dish?? And even the vegetarian choices (hummus, grilled veg wrap and cheese ravioli) are like a bad cliche from 1992.
My quick search revealed that it is a thing. But what is it? 5 types of alliums?
Here’s the alliums from the top search hit (MyRecipes):
2 white onions, halved and sliced 1 red onion, halved and sliced 5 shallots, sliced + 4 green onions, sliced 1/4 cup chopped fresh chives
Here’s the alliums from the second hit (geniuskitchen):
2 large yellow onions, chopped (1/4 - 1/2-inch pieces)
2 red onions, chopped (as above)
4 shallots, chopped
2 leeks, halved lengthwise and sliced (white part only)
1 cup scallion, sliced (white part only, save greens for the croutons)
1 garlic clove, minced
Here’s the alliums from the third hit (epicurious):
3 shallots (about 3 ounces), thinly sliced
1 small yellow onion (about 5 ounces, thinly sliced)
1 small red onion, thinly sliced
2 green onions, chopped
1 leek (white and pale green parts only), chopped
1 tablespoon minced garlic
I’m curious what makes this a “Rich classic french soup” (from the menu). Where did the name come from? Did this precede what we call commonly call “french onion soup”? I’m having trouble finding history behind this recipe and name.
For now, a it’s just a curiosity for me. Wikipedia is not the end all be all but it is crowd sourced and peer reviewed. It’s not under “alternative names” under the “french onion soup” entry nor is it listed in the “list of all soups”. I’m curious to its history relative to french onion soup as each recipe seems to serve it the same way, even calling for comte or gruyere. Could it have been a re-naming like “freedom fries”?
