Common Loaf Bake Shop

We took a weekend camping trip to Tofino, at the very westernmost edge of Vancouver Island.  It's a stunningly beautiful strip of sandy beaches and evergreen forests, and the town is a cool little place epitomizing Vancouver Island culture- slacker, surfer, environmentalist, redneck.   Having only instant coffee and bagels for breakfast at the campsite, the very mention of real coffee got me pretty excited for the twenty minute drive into town.

"Common Loaf" seems like it should be a bread-y pun, but I haven't figured it out yet.  Is it like, Common Law-f?  Not sure what's going on there, it seems like a missed opportunity to me.  Leave your ideas for better names in the comments.  Anyway, the day was sunny and warm so we could sit outside and enjoy our snacks and meet the various dogs strolling by.  There was an enticing selection of baked goods, pizza, soup, etc.  And two types of scones!  I went for the "herbal" scone.  No, this is not a THC-laden magic scone, unfortunately.  Although, for you enterprising bakers out there, there'd probably be a good market for such a product on the island.  This was just a regular savoury scone with cheese baked in.  Since it was lunchtime, that felt more appropriate than the ginger scone.
Anyway, the scone was fantastic!  In terms of baking and consistency, it's among the very best I've tried.  Chewy and soft on the inside, not at all crumbly, slightly crispy on the outside.  Perfect construction.  The flavour, though, was a little too herbaceous for me.  I'm not sure what exactly was in there, several types of green things (basil?  possibly tarragon?), and cheese.

There is a character in Enid Blyton's books, Anne, who would always say to her friends during their idyllic summer picnics, just prior to their adventures, "I always think things taste so much better outdoors, don't you?"  So true, Anne.  Of course she was probably referring to some hideous English culinary monstrosity, but the sentiment is exactly right.  I was ravenously hungry after a long night spent shivering in our tent, as it got down to nearly freezing.  So the coffee and the scone really did taste wonderful out there in the sunshine by the sea.
 
Overall: 4 / 5