Cobs

In Canada, Cobs Bakery has somehow managed to become the corporate titan of neighbourhood bakeries.  At 700 locations, it's only approximately 32,000 franchises away from being the next McDonalds.  In other words, it is The Man, omnipresent and each as consistent as the next.  And yet, each one seems like a friendly mom and pop operation, suited to its location, which is the great ideal of what franchises are supposed to be.  They have a quite varied, if predictable, selection of scones.  I avoided the ones that were greenish in hue (possibly a misguided, week-late St Paddy's day themed scone?) and went for the raspberry and white chocolate.

I've been grappling for a while with the problem of Cobs scones, trying to understand our relationship.  Soft, sweet, chewy, bready, delicious- it's very hard to find anything to complain about.  True, they may be a little small, but at a reasonable $1.50, you can well afford two.  The ratio of raspberry to white chocolate is absolutely precise.  This is a scone perfectly engineered to please and satisfy.  And I think that's exactly the problem.  This scone lacks soul.  Somehow in all the consistency and the mass production, they've lost that crunch, the burned edges, the dripping berries, the mess and crumbs.

I'll go back again, of course, and sure, they'll be good- what else could they be?  But I'll feel a little empty on the inside.  Well, not literally, but you know.

Overall: 3 / 5.

P.S. Some bonus points also have to go to the Main & 14th location because they were listening to some pretty killer dubstep at 8:30 in the morning.