How do I make soup like you get in a restaurant? Warning - you will think I am very unskilled if you open this!!

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I have lots of recipes for soup my latest one that I tried today was honeyed carrot and leek and it had the potential to be yum, however..

Something is not quite right with my soups as if I don't blend it is looks watery with lumps of vegetables in it and if I use a hand blender it reminds me of baby food. I never4 blend it completely just about 3 quarters.

How do other people get around this? Is there a big secret that I am missing? I want that yummy soup that you get in a restaurant, totally blended but not baby food.

Does anyone else have this issue?

If it reminds you of baby food it sounds as if it's too thick. I think you need to blend it completely but try adding some more liquid to get a good consistency. Also presentation is a big factor in restaurant soup. Try adding a swirl of cream or a little chopped parsley, or similar.

A restaurant recipe I recently used holds back 1/3 of the veg ( it was butternut squash and pumpkin), cook veg in (fab) stock, blend fully, then re heat with the remaining 1/3 of the veg grated and added with cream. It gave the soup a lovely texture