In the home of cream teas, you’re never far from a good scone. But how can we distinguish good from bad? The perfect scone is crumbly, light as a feather, warm and served with fruity jam and clotted cream thick enough to stick to your spoon. Stay away from places that serve buttered buns or small packets of sauce; they don’t know what they are doing.
This Devonshire teatime ritual is so important that science has devoted itself to finding the perfect formula. The ‘hedonic break point’ (optimal level of sweetness) is a 4:3:3 ratio of scone, cream and jam, with the cream applied first to ensure the ingredients are evenly spread.
For more Devon inspiration, check out our guides to the city’s best hotels, restaurants, bars, beaches and things to do.
Hotel Endsleigh, Milton Abbot
Despite complete decadence, nothing beats the Hotel Endsleigh, a quintessentially English Elizabethan mansion on the edge of Dartmoor National Park. Freshly cut finger sandwiches, delicate pastries, freshly baked scones, mounds of clotted cream and glass jars filled with Tiptree fruit preserves come with fragrant loose leaf tea served in porcelain cups. Relax by the open fireplace in the wood-panelled lounge, on the sunny terrace or in the parterre overlooking the Tamar River. Burn off your calories by wandering around the hotel’s first-degree protected gardens.
Best treat: Blood orange cookies and financier cake
To contact: hotelendsleigh.com
Price:%s: £££
Otterton Mill, Budleigh Salterton
The donuts at this cafe-music venue are made daily with organic flour ground in the on-site working water mill, which dates back to 1068. Free tours allow you to taste the fresh and hot flour coming out of the canal. The cafe is located on the banks of the peaceful Otter River, so eagle-eyed can spot kingfishers, otters and beavers, which have recently been reintroduced as part of a rewilding programme.
Best treat: Rare West Country brisket sandwich or crab baps served on a wide variety of organic handmade breads including tangelo, rye or spelled
To contact: ottertonmill.com
Price:%s: £
Fingle Bridge Inn, Drewsteignton
Cream teas are better enjoyed after a tour of the countryside, and fewer walks in Devon will whet your appetite than Fingle Gorge in Dartmoor National Park. Perfectly located for hungry walkers, the family-run Fingle Bridge Inn is located on the banks of the River Teign and has a sunny terrace that makes the most of the riverside views. It’s not gourmet, but excellent value and an idyllic location next to a centuries-old buttress bridge more than make up for it.
Best treat: homemade buns
To contact: finglebridgeinn.co.uk
Price:%s: £
Dartmoor Llama Walk
Devon’s strangest cream tea is carried by a llama and eaten on a tortoise (a granite-topped hill) in the wilds of Dartmoor National Park. Dartmoor Llama Walks run circular guided cream tea walks for groups throughout the summer. The walks last three hours. Make a reservation in advance.
Best treat: homemade buns
To contact: dartmoorllamawalks.co.uk
Price:%s: ££
Rosemoor Kitchen Garden
Nestled among the rose beds, orchards and botanical gardens of RHS Rosemoor near Torrington, RHS Rosemoor’s Wisteria tea room is located in the home of Lady Anne Palmer, who donated the house and garden to the RHS in 1988. Jams are made from fruits collected in bounty. – award-winning kitchen garden, scones and cakes are baked on site and the tea is Cornish-grown Tregothnan. Entrance to the restaurant is free.
Best treat: Earl Gray lemon cake
To contact: rhs.org.uk
Price:%s: ££
Eat on the Green, Exeter
It’s a tourist attraction, and for good reason: This half-timbered Tudor restaurant and tearoom has the best views in town from its terrace and first-floor restaurant overlooking Exeter Cathedral and greenery. Traditional scones are baked daily and served warm with Dorset-made clotted cream and fruity strawberry or blackberry jam. Vegan and gluten-free cakes are available, as well as gluten-free versions. Note the original bread oven and the ship’s decking.
Best treat: carrot cake legend
To contact: eatonthegreenexeter.com
Price:%s: £
Especially the Corn Mill
Located just 300 meters from the stunning Hele Bay Beach, the owners of this mill and tearoom must be Devon’s most experienced scone makers and have 75,000 of them on hand. Everything is baked daily by the miller’s wife, often using stone-ground flour from the on-site watermill, which dates back to 1525. Seating is located in a fairly enclosed courtyard overlooking the mill. Gluten-free and vegan options are available.
Best treat: Devonshire split – The original scone made with a soft brioche style scone and served with black treacle and clotted cream.
To contact: helecornmill.com
Price:%s: £
How do we choose
Each restaurant on this curated list has been tried and tested by our visiting destination expert to give you the insider’s perspective. From neighborhood favorites to Michelin-starred restaurants, we cover a variety of budgets to best suit every traveler’s taste, and we consider food, service, best tables, atmosphere and price in our recommendations. We update this list regularly to keep up with the latest openings and provide up-to-date recommendations.