Tony Roma's-esque Baked Potato Soup

On Monday while out running errands, my wife and I stopped at one of our favourite restaurants for lunch, Tony Roma's.  We both had the baked Potato soup as part of our meal.  It was closer to a chowder than a soup.  Either way it was delicious...so I scoured the Internet and found a similar recipe.

Ingredients:
Soup:

• 2 medium potatoes (about 2 cups chopped)
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 1 cup diced white onion
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 4 cups chicken stock
• 2 cups water
• 1/4 cup cornstarch
• 1 1/2 cups instant mashed potatoes
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon basil
• 1/8 teaspoon thyme
• 1 cup half and half

Garnish:

• 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
• 1/4 cup crumbled cooked bacon
• 2 green onions, chopped (green part only)

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees and bake the potatoes for 1 hour or until done. 
• Remove them from the oven to cool. 
• Melt butter in a large saucepan, sauté; onion until light brown. 
• Add the flour to the onions and stir to make a roué. 
• Add stock, water, cornstarch, mashed potatoes, and spices, bring to a boil.
• Reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes.
• Cut potatoes in half lengthwise and scoop out contents with a large spoon. 
• Discard skin. 
• Chop baked potato with a large knife to make chunks that are about 1/2-inch in size. 
• Add chopped baked potato and half-and-half to the saucepan, bring soup back to a boil
• Reduce heat and simmer the soup for another 15 minutes or until it is thick.
• Spoon about 1 1/2 cups of soup into a bowl and top with about a tablespoon of shredded cheddar cheese, a half tablespoon of crumbled bacon and a teaspoon or so of chopped green onion. 
• Repeat for remaining servings.