The Coastal Cafe Guide: Eating on the edge 

From coffee and pastry horse boxes to street-food trucks and gourmet seafood bars: The Coastal Café Guide has got your year-round ‘food with a view’ box ticked. We choose our sea-swim-appropriate selection

Britain is wrapped in first-rate coastal landscapes, from the sandy and serene to the surf-dashed and spectacular. The Coastal Café Guide is the new foodie travel book from Printslinger (the team behind best-selling The Extra Mile: Delicious Alternatives to Motorway Services).

Upon launch this July, it became an instant Amazon #1 Hot New Release, with millions of people diving headlong into summers full of holidays, eating out, day-trips and coast-path adventures. The guide seeks out and celebrates some of the best independent places to eat and drink on the coast to help support local communities, from tourist-soaked corners of Cornwall, to remote Scottish sea lochs, and secret spots in the most westerly reaches of Wales.

The book features around 150 smaller, independent places worth visiting. From coffee and pastry horse boxes in South Wales to street-food trucks in Devon’s Croyde Bay, and from gourmet seafood bars on Scottish sea lochs to oyster restaurants in East Anglia, The Coastal Café Guide has got your year-round ‘food with a view’ box ticked. For our sea-swim-appropriate selection, we’ve gone for bang-on-the-waterfront places, so you won’t have to pad far in bare feet and wearing your robe to find that much-needed cake and caffeine hit.

The Coastal Cuppie, Pennan Harbour, Aberdeenshire

If the quaint streets of this waterfront harbour seem familiar, you may have seen the 1983 hit film, Local Hero. Its setting, Pennan Harbour, is as pretty now as it was then, and, to maintain its olde worlde charm, Shona doesn’t yet take cards (blame the local wifi). So, bring your pennies to Pennan to spend an enjoyable hour in great company at the delightful Coastal Cuppie wooden beach hut.

With just 54 houses, the village is small yet has a popular summer ball and an arts and crafts festival. Just as creative are Shona’s bakes. The blueberry, lemon and lime layer cake is sharp yet creamy, and the fresh-fruit Victoria sponge is criminally good. Shona used to make curious tourists coffee from her own house and now loves running this cute little cabin. Her motto? “If the rain is off, the kettle is on!”

What: Beach shack
Hours: Open year-round 11am-4pm. Hours can vary, check Facebook
Where: Aberdeenshire, AB43 6JB East Pier, Pennan Harbour 07376 100586
Facebook: pennancoastalcuppie

Lobster and Môr, Pembrokeshire

Little Haven is a picture-perfect fishing village in the heart of Pembrokeshire’s coastal National Park. Punching way above its square meterage, Lobster and Môr is baited to lure you in with tentacled treats, high-end local crafts, crab sandwiches and unbeatably fresh fish from the in-store aquarium and live lobster tank. Owner and lifelong fisherman Danny lives and breathes lobster; he even has a prime specimen tattooed on this arm.

This commitment to the cause permeates everything Lobster and Môr does. Its new craft gin, Tir & Môr, now vies with the outstanding coffee as visitors’ favourite takeaway tipple. Perch on a stool while your take-out lobster or crab rolls are freshly prepared (expect a wait when busy), then wander down to Little Haven’s sheltered beach for a swim, a paddle or a sunny snooze.

What: Seafood take-away and shop
Hours: Open year-round, hours vary. Check ahead
Where: Pembrokeshire, SA62 3UG (Grove Place, Little Haven, Haverfordwest 01437 781959)
Site: lobsterandmor.co.uk
Facebook: lobsterandmor
Instagram: lobsterandmor

Biffen’s Kitchen, Ocean Pitch Campsite, Croyde Bay, Devon

Croyde is one of Devon’s best not-a-secret-any-more surf spots. At its beachfront Ocean Pitch Campsite, Biff has been serving up surfers’ breakfasts and brunches for several summers, rightfully scooping up some awards en route. The shirts are bright, the smiles big, the food colourfully uplifting and the vibe about as upbeat as it gets. Make friends in the (likely) queue while your feast is prepared.

This is surf-inspired street food at its best, for meat- and plant-lovers alike. Bright ‘pinkled’ onions are a house hit and top off many a take-away dish; for dinner, you might turn up at a meze, noodles or katsu curry-themed evening. Ogle some high-calibre campervans over a coffee, trek up for views from the top of Baggy Point, follow the coast path north to a UK-best beach, Woolacombe, or simply swim in Croyde’s surfer-pocked, life-guarded beach.

What: Food truck
Hours: Open seasonally, Monday-Sunday 8.30am-7.30pm. Hours can vary, check online
Where: Devon, EX33 1FF Ocean Pitch Campsite, Moor Lane, Croyde
Site: biffenskitchen.com
Facebook: biffenskitchen
Instagram: biffenskitchen

Soar Mill Cove Hotel, Soar Mill Cove, Devon

Soar Mill Cove is within a walker and wild swimmers’ paradise. Glorious views unfurl, cliffs loom and secluded beaches beckon. This very family- and dog-friendly restaurant welcomes drop-ins to enjoy anything from coffee with cake to afternoon tea, lunch or bistro-styled dining. It even has its own valley (studded with Highland cattle) in which to forage for foodie finds. Mum and daughter Jenny and Becky now head up this family-run staycation location.

Jenny’s Gin Gravlax (with cove honey, samphire and gorse blossom) is an excellent entrée. Long-standing head chef, Ian MacDonald, selects quality local seafood and produce, giving the restaurant a market feel; locals have threatened to revolt if his signature lobster dish leaves the menu. Boutiquey Salcombe is nearby as are the gardens at Overbeck; Bolt Head offers majestic views as you walk off dessert.

What: Restaurant
Hours: Open all day year-round. Closed Mondays off season
Where: Devon, TQ7 3DS Malborough, Salcombe
Site: soarmillcove.co.uk
Facebook and Instagram: soarmillcovehotel

Hut 55, Deal, Kent

This solar-powered takeaway and bike hub is on the shingle next to Sustrans’ National Cycle Route 1. Former journalist Kate is its driving (or, pedalling) force, her quaint fisherman’s hut now a showcase for all that is good about the Great British seaside. They do memorable ‘hot dogolates’ (the beach welcomes dogs), too. Join a beach yoga class, swim some loops or hire a bike and stuff its panniers with savouries.

Stripy deckchairs and classic picnic food abound: think massive sausage rolls, offensively large scotch eggs, home-baking by the bucketload and doorstop Kentish Huffkin baps. The strawberries with clotted cream are a summer highlight. Take in a Tudor castle, the White Cliffs of Dover, Deal’s Brutalist pier or historic Ramsgate. With the closest point to France just round the corner, c’est parfait.

What: Beach cabin take-away
Hours: Opening hours are seasonal. Check Instagram
Where: Kent, CT14 7DN Marine Rd,
Deal 07745 527972
Site: hut55.co.uk
Facebook and Instagram: hut55deal

The Beach Café, Littlehampton, West Sussex

Super popular when the sun shines, The Beach Café also has one of West Sussex’s coolest watersports hubs. Whether you’ve come to eat or to kitesurf, swim, paddleboard, windsurf or wing foil, this friendly place with its surfy vibe does it all. Vast sea views are included, whether from inside or up on the rooftop.

The café is the beach hang-out for a community that is keen to enjoy all that the ocean offers. Once off the water, head inside for Surfer Wraps, vegan breakfasts, stone-baked pizzas and succulent burgers. Visit the West Beach Nature Reserve or stroll along the river Arun while in town.

What: Restaurant
Hours: Open Monday-Sunday 7am-9pm
(Apr-Sep) 7am-6pm (Oct-Mar).
Booking recommended at peak times
Where: West Sussex, BN16 2NA Sea Rd, Littlehampton
Site: thebeachlittlehampton.co.uk
Facebook and Instagram: thebeachlittlehampton