Soup Diary 120521

I had a couple of interesting cups of soup on my recent trip, one that was unsurprisingly good, and one that was surprisingly disappointing.  The first, a chicken and roasted red pepper was very creamy with a slight buttery flavor. Along with the chunks of chicken there were a few cheese tortellinis mixed in as well, which were a pleasant addition.  The disappointment was a Mexican Avocado (similar to that in the picture above), which had a decent peppery flavor, but little hint of the titular avocado (which is what I craved as soon as I saw it on the menu). It was somewhat similar to a chicken tortilla soup in terms of its hotness, but without the chicken or tortillas, of course.  That's the risk in going for the offbeat option, that it won't live up to expectations.  But then, even the standards often fall short, so I guess it's 50-50 no matter which direction you go.  Over the past few years, I think I'd say the risks have been well worth it, since the truly great soups seem to more often emerge from the ranks of the new and different than the familiar.  Let's hope that continues to be the case through the remainder of my summer travels.