Short answer: Town Farmhouse up at Mortehoe does the cream teas above Woolacombe, and if the listing says closed it is still worth ringing. The Harbour Cafe at Combe Martin is the highest-rated café on this coast.
Town Farmhouse at Mortehoe, up on the headland, is the cream tea stop for this stretch. Opening days vary out of season and one reviewer makes the useful point that if the listing says closed, it is still worth ringing.
Mortehoe is the better half of Woolacombe in winter anyway — quieter, higher, and with the walk out to Morte Point for seals.
The Harbour Cafe at Combe Martin, right by the beach. Proper cooked breakfasts around the £9 mark and consistently the best ratings between Ilfracombe and Lynmouth. Not exclusively a cream tea place, but the standard is the point.
The Bideford Railway Heritage Centre has a café in a restored railway carriage, sitting right on the flat, traffic-free trail. Tea in a carriage after a walk or a ride is a better experience than it sounds, and it is cheap.
The National Trust tea room at Watersmeet, at the bottom of the wooded gorge where two rivers meet. Bring cash for the car park.
Annie and the Flint at the top of Ilfracombe high street is the best coffee in the area by common consent. The Greenhouse in Lynton bakes its scones on site and is open nine till nine.
Around £7 to £10 for a proper one with two scones, clotted cream and a pot of tea. Anything with a foil-lidded tub of cream is not the real thing.
Cream first, then jam. This is Devon.
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