VICTORIA AND VANCOUVER ISLAND - British Columbia: Including the Alaska Highway - page 248

FOOD
For basic groceries, Tofino has a mid-sized grocery store (140 1st St., 250/725-3226,
8:30am-9pm daily) at the far end of the main street into town. For the very freshest seafood,
stop by Trilogy Fish Co. (630 Campbell St., 250/725-2233, 11am-6pm daily), which pro-
cesses and smokes fish in their own facility. Everything is seasonal, with summer highlights
including crab, halibut, and prawns.
Cafes
Common Loaf Bake Shop (180 1st St., 250/725-3915, 8am-6pm daily) is a longtime fa-
vorite with locals (delicious cinnamon rolls for $3.50); sit outside or upstairs, where you'll
have a magnificent view down Tofino's main street and across the sound. Also a part of the
café scene for many years is Caffe Vincente (441 Campbell St., 250/725-2599, 6am-5pm,
lunches $8-13), set back from the main road through town. This place has great coffee and
healthy snacks and meals such as soup, salads, and chili.
Perfectly reflecting the Tofino lifestyle is Outside Break (1180 Pacific Rim Hwy.), a col-
lection of locally operated eateries, boutiques, and the coast's original surf shop, surroun-
ded by coastal rainforest on the road into town between Lynn Road and Hellesen Drive.
At the front of the complex is the Tofitian (250/725-2631, 7:30am-4:30pm daily in sum-
mer, 7:30am-2:30pm daily the rest of the year) which, once you get past the rather dark
exterior, is a welcoming café with an amazing array of coffee drinks and a wide range of
loose leaf teas. The orange van at the back of Outside Break is M Tacofino (250/725-8228,
11am-5pm daily, $6-10), a brightly painted food truck that possibly has the best fish tacos
on Vancouver Island. They are freshly filled with local fish and reasonably priced. After
being served with a smile, enjoy your feast at one of the surrounding picnic tables.
Restaurants
Schooner Restaurant (331 Campbell St., 250/725-3444, 11am-10, daily, $22-41) has been
dishing up well-priced seafood for 50 years. Over time the menu has gotten more creative
(soya-marinated salmon baked on a cedar plank), but old favorites (grilled halibut) still ap-
pear. Expect to pay $9-21 for starters and $22-41 for a main. Also of note is the service,
which is remarkably good for a tourist town.
In an unassuming building near the entrance to town, Shelter Restaurant (601 Camp-
bell St., 250/725-3353, 11:30am-midnight daily, $26-37) brings some big-city pizzazz to
tiny Tofino. Inside you'll find an open dining room with imaginative treats such as crab frit-
ters and yellow Thai curry filled with local shrimp.