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A quaint seafront cafe, said to have "the best garden in the county", has reopened to great acclaim this year, despite fears from locals that it might be converted into a private residence.

The small eatery, already hailed by The Times as one of the country's Top 20 places to eat by the sea, is located just a few yards from the East Portlemouth ferry. It offers stunning views across the estuary to the upmarket town of Salcombe - one of the most coveted corners of the British coastline where the average house price is £750,000.

The Old Stable, as it's known, is nestled in an area fondly referred to by locals as "Millionaires' Row," with celebrities such as Steve Rider, Kate Bush and Michael Parkinson all owning homes nearby.

Since its reopening, the cafe has become an instant hit - not only with tourists but also with locals who are crucial for sustaining the business during the winter months.

Charlotte Hodgson, the general manager of the cafe, expressed her pride in serving the local community to . She explained: "We have little old ladies that essentially don't speak to anybody during their day and they can come in and get their milk rather than having to drive 40 minutes around to Kingsbridge."

Charlotte emphasised the importance of ethical practices at the Old Stable, including the use of fair trade organic coffee beans for their espresso machine and locally-sourced pork for their best-selling homemade sausage rolls.

"We utilise organic vegetables and fruit, and our meat comes from the local farm," Charlotte explained. Just up the hill, local farmers John Taylor and his wife Liz rear a herd of Devon Lane Black pigs, supplying not only the Old Stable but also its sister cafe, the Village Farm.

Another small enterprise has sprung up on John's land, with a polytunnel cultivating much of the vegetables and salad ingredients used in the cafe, making it a truly farm-to-table operation with minimal food miles.

The Old Stable, which opened under its current management in April this year, has rapidly gained a reputation as a must-visit destination for anyone touring South Devon.

"It's an incredible location," Charlotte remarks, adding that there probably isn't anywhere else in the region where one can enjoy a coffee whilst taking in such a splendid view. "We also get to see the sunset when the rest of Salcombe is in shadow," she adds.

Looking beyond a quick coffee and a nice sausage roll, Charlotte says that she and John have ambitions to expand the cafe's repertoire of events. She continued: "We could potentially have some yoga classes on the beach, followed by brunch, and we're just just trying to do things slightly differently to bring people in."

Alongside the range of hot drinks, and the cafe's remarkable sausage rolls, visitors can try Salcombe smokies, a local mackerel dish, or curried lamb and flatbread, or sourdough panzanella salad, as they watch the boats go by.

Last winter, the cafe played host to feasting nights, and Charlotte stresses that "anything that keeps things going over the winter in quiet rural places like this has to be good."

She adds that despite being in such a small village the cafe is part of a small cluster of business in the area: "We've got a florist, we've got a reflexologist, we've got a craft centre for children which is called Naturemake - where they make beautiful fairy-houses out of dried shells and leaves."