The Jolly Farmer in Windsor and Maidenhead

A lovely country pub surrounded by beautiful walks in the village of Cookham Dean. Cozy, great service and bonus points for any family - a playground in the garden! Recently taken over, the food is much improved and a great atmosphere for either a sunny day in the garden or a snug meal by the fire in winter.

Brilliant lunch! We hadn’t booked but they gave us a lovely table and we had a wonderful meal - my fish and chips were some of the best I’ve ever had - and came with chips, curry sauce and tartare sauce which must have been home-made. The sausage and mash and venison pie (proper pie with top, bottom and sides!) were also delicious. Unfortunately we were too full for pudding… lovely New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc and a wonderful beer coupled with very friendly, efficient service made our lunch just perfect. Thank you everyone.

This pub needs a good front of house,/ restaurant manager,to make sure it runs smoothly, having worked in hospitality all my life i can see great potential. Kitchen needs to speed up and communicate with bar and restaurant

I'm not in the habit of posting reviews but having had a couple of lovely meals at The Jolly over the last few weeks, I feel compelled to share! It wasn't just me, everyone I was with thoroughly enjoyed their meal. The new menu is a real winner :))

Wow. Great Guinness got me there, poured by a man by the name of Will. Duck confit was sublime. Potato pureé was Joel Robuchon-esque. 10/10 would recommend, what a fabulous meal and a great atmosphere!

Had a fabulous evening at the Jolly Farmer. Very attentive, welcoming staff who couldn't do enough to help us. The log fire was lit and the pub felt so cosy. Delicous food, could have happily eaten everything on the menu! Both the burger and the fish and chips were superb. Will be visiting again very soon.

With a new chef at the helm we couldn’t wait to try the new Autumn menu. We shared a number of starters, the parfait, prawn cocktail, soup, salt baked beetroot and goats cheese salad. Comforting pub starter fare but beautifully and delicately executed. The baked Welsh rarebit pot is pure indulgence and worth a trip alone. Mains include impressive burgers, huge salads and for myself a delicious ricotta gnudi. The chocolate brownie was heaven - gooey and delicious and the passionfruit cheesecake light and pretty. By these standards chef is going to be very busy over the few months and we cannot wait to go back!

. The food was some of the best I have tasted for some while, delicious and well-presented, and the friendly and efficient service and staff could not be faulted. It was also lovely to come in from the cold and damp to a warm, cosy and friendly atmosphere. The sharing plates were delicious.

Great pub, very friendly staff, best outdoor play area for kids in the area, even gave us some roast potatoes and yorkshires

Really nice place. Check booking procedure where you can order food

Had a really great lunch here last week! The food was great, and the pub has a nice cosy vibe. We all loved it and have booked to come back with the family next Sunday xx

We hadn't been to The Jolly for a few years since moving out of Cookham, but we visited this weekend to meet some friends, and I'm so glad we did! The new team has done an amazing job revamping the place. The food was absolutely brilliant—one of the best roasts I've had in a long time! Mike, who runs the pub, was fantastic, making sure we had everything we needed. Great food, great atmosphere, and excellent service. Highly recommend

Nice place bit disorganised our booking eventually found having insisted we hadn't made one Servers all excellent and food very good

We came for a birthday meal and sat outside - it was a hot Sunday lunchtime. It took the staff a while to come out and take our drinks order and even longer to take our food order. We had to wait for a high chair and when it came it was broken so waited even longer for another one. We were told that at least five dishes weren’t available - only roasts, burgers and pizzas! We then waited nearly an hour for our food. When it came it was really tasty but had to keep asking for salt and pepper, sauces, more gravy etc! Unfortunately we were then set upon by flies and wasps so quickly ate and abandoned our table. We then waited at the bar for about 10 minutes to be acknowledged before we could pay. It seems there was no manager - just a large young staff who didn’t seem to be able to organise themselves to provide a good customer service. This was a shame as both the setting and food were very good!

Love my friendly staff, who went the extra mile. We sat and waited until the pub opened at midday, as the church chimed the hour the doors opened.

Family meal on bank holiday Monday. Great service, great food, great setting. Park is fab for kids.

Took almost 90 mins for food to come out. Staff didn’t seem to care about the delay. It’s a pity as the beer garden and play area are nice.

A bit ‘just ok’ mainly down to the service.

The jolly farmer was sadly not so jolly. We always enjoy the walk through the fields to get to the pub but that was the best thing about it. We ordered a number of steaks with peppercorn sauce only one diner managed to eat their meal, the peppercorn sauce was weirdly sweet, the steaks, although cooked correctly to rare and medium rare, arrived cold, but with piping hot chips and onion rings (so likely a timing mistake). Despite sending one of our dishes back as being inedible and requesting for it just to be left, the staff kept trying to persuade the diner to have their steak reheated to make it warm (and overcooked) and when the staff went ahead and did this despite being told to just leave it, the dish was refused but then still charged on our. When the bill was disputed the steak was removed from the bill but inexplicably the remaining steaks were now being charged at a higher price. When again the error was pointed out the staff response was - so what would you like me to do - refund you the difference? The wine was also bad. Good pints though! All in all, wouldn’t recommend, go next door to inn on the green much better food and staff!! X

Had lunch there at the weekend. The food was great (especially the fish burger), but we had to wait nearly an hour for the main course and another 45 minutes for the dessert to come. Shame as the pub has a great beer garden and a decent drink selection at the bar.

Brilliant lunch food was fantastic, meet the general manager Mike such a nice guy and made the whole of my group feel very welcomed we had great time and will definitely be coming back!

Awful, couldn’t sit near the playground incase I took my cutlery in there.was given a table to eat at when it was ready which was taken and not reserved and told to sit at another. Good very disappointing. Just sandwiches but a christening going on so no attention given to other guests. Won’t go back. Shane, nice pub, lovely garden. Let down my hospitality 😢

Tried this pub as kids wanted a play area. The service was appalling, forgotten drinks, food took around 50 mins to arrive, forgot children’s meal, asked for condiments that never arrived, all ontop of the lack of engagement from the server. All round, a very very disappointing dinner out and we will not be revisiting again.

I visited today , the staff were absolutely brilliant. They managed everything with efficiency and a smile, making sure everyone was well taken care of. The atmosphere was lively, and the service was top-notch. A perfect spot for a sunny day out—definitely 5 out of 5!

Fantastic lunch today. Park was fantastic and food was delicious

I will never go back to eat here again. Food was SO slow to come out, and when it did, half the ingredients weren't included. When questioned, the very grumpy waitress told us that we had looked at the old menu that SHE had given us! We were made to feel like it was our fault. Very rude staff who act like customers get in the way of their chats with their colleagues. Great location, fab park and outdoor space. Terrible service. Such a shame.

50% of menu wasn't available. Service charge added to price... Not brilliant...

We held a small gathering in the snug bar last night. We all had such a lovely evening. Jenny, Mike and all the staff were so helpful with the booking process and very attentive on the night. All our guests commented on the food, atmosphere and customer service. Brilliant, thank you all very much. Our son had a great send off. We will be back for sure.

Lovely place - large garden area, great for dogs. Staff were very welcoming and polite. Nice beer and wine selection and food was as good as expected. Will be back.

A lovely pub with a lovely garden dining area where they DON’T SERVE FOOD! Crazy. Why would a pub deny themselves revenue? Management needs to have a stern word with themselves.

Decent roast and very reasonably priced, and really nice garden with play area for the kids. Will. Definetly come back

Lovely pub and great garden for kids, but very average food overly priced, place run by kids who haven’t been trained adequately

Nice atmosphere lovely people. Enjoyed my pint

We were really disappointed by our Sunday dinner today. Although, this is not the fault of the two poor girls serving behind the bar, in particular the blonde girl who was doing everything she could for everyone, but we feel was let down by the management. She deserves a raise for her work! Firstly, the bar was clearly understaffed, with just the two young girls taking all the garden food orders, bar orders and were meant to be doing the table service. For the entire pub and garden! Yet there were numerous members of staff taking individual meals out to the garden, with no rush or care in the world. There didn’t seem to be any management in sight, and there seemed to be no process’s in place for the smooth running of the pub. Secondly, there was a young girl of about 10 behind the bar, clearly getting in the way of the waitresses, causing problems. Moving the card machine, processing orders in the till wrong, making the delays even worse. The waitresses appeared frustrated by this, as it was clearly increasing their stress levels, but appeared unable to ask the child to leave. We have grown up around family pubs, with the children of owners/staff being present, but this situation was ridiculous. Thirdly, the food took over an hour, and came one meal at a time, with dishes 10 minutes apart. The roast lamb wasn’t cooked, with one of our party eating around these bits but leaving quite a bit, but we sent another back because of how bad it was. 30 minutes later we asked where this meal was, to be told the chef had sent it out for someone else and was going to have to cook a new one. Fair play to the waiter though, who refunded that meal. We also had to remind the staff numerous times that we were waiting on the children’s nuggets and chips, to the point this came after everything else. Only the aforementioned blonde waitress finally resolved this for us. Overall the food was good, at a good price. This pub has the potential to be amazing, with the best children’s play area we have ever seen in a pub, and an amazing pub garden. But the management need to get a grip, because each member of our party described the entire place as chaotic. This would be 1 star, if not for the efforts of the young blonde waitress.

Went for Father’s Day recently , we all had the Roast Dinners . These were absolutely excellent , simply delicious. Fresh vegetables. The only thing that spoiled the experience slightly ,was that having the Roast Beef there was not any Horseradish Sauce . Which was a bit of a surprise . We had pavlova for dessert, again scrumptious.

We visited the Jolly Farmer on Father's Day. The play area is best around and our girls loved it. We all had a Roast and we all thoroughly enjoyed it. Delicious meat cuts and fresh vegetables. We ordered desserts to share but they were soooo good, we ordered more. The pavlova was perfect. A great memorable Father's Day, perfect!!! We will be back!!!

Good food was served hot, but the service was not brilliant. Children's food came out early (good) but so early they had finished and wanted to get to the exceptional play area 10 minutes before the adult food came out! Tables were not cleared of empty glasses at all, eventually, empty plates were cleared. The children, of course, wanted ice cream, the issue was again how long this took to arrive. The garden though was really big and the play area is exceptional for a pub. There is a small outside bar serving the garden all the popular drinks, great idea.

Good food, good pub garden with kids area. Nice atmosphere.

Lovely gastro pub. Excellent food, friendly service. Whitebait is highly recommended

A lovely little pub with a fantastic play area for kids (age 2+)- our 2.5 year old had a brilliant time. A varied menu with options for all- we'll be back for sure!

Lovely family friendly country pub. Great beer, excellent food and a fabulous outdoor playground. Very popular on a Friday teatime.

Staff were friendly and helpful, dogs very welcomed. Food was over priced and mediocre, As for bacon to be well done in BLT but not cremated and so over cooked it was like dust, chips were was also very over cooked, surprised as we were the very first customers to order food! Probably wouldn't return.

The food and the service was brilliant the staff all go out of their way to make sure everything is to your taste, the food was amazing we had dinner 2 nights running as the first night was so good 😊 thank you all so much we will be back

Nice place to come with children, big playground. Service could be a bit better.

This place is great. We came here for Saturday lunch. Nice steak and the kids loved the play ground.

Friendly staff on a busy Sunday. Great food

Rather Jolly good! Delicious & plentiful ‘homemade’ Sunday lunch washed down with lovely selection of house wine. Cosy, comfy & freshly decorated interior. Friendly, efficient service. Faultless from start to finish. Highly recommended.

Great local pub, great burger n beer

A nice friendly pub - but expensive !

Yet another great experience at The Jolly! Fabulous food, great atmosphere, friendly staff... the perfect recipe for a lovely evening.

Delicious food, lovely atmosphere and great live music to top off an excellent evening. Would definitely recommend. Such a perfect setting in such a pretty village. Will definitely return!

Disappointing dinner my fish and chips were tired both the cod and chips overcooked and the peas came out cold. The staff lacked personality and experience.

Just had an excellent Christmas dinner at the Jolly. Fab service and fab food. Thank you!

Thank you to all the Jolly team for a great meal. An excellent Christmas lunch with an incredible cheese platter!

On weekend visit to Village, popped in for a drink. We ended up eating lunch and 2 evening meals there. Food was delicious and staff so eager to help. Warm and friendly atmosphere, what a gem !

Loved it,by far the best roast dinner when eating out,reminded me of my mums roast.

We were welcomed by a very friendly and organised team even though they had a very busy day. We had the roast pork belly and roast butternut squash both were delicious. The scotch eggs are amazing. Very nice country pub with a large garden and is child and dog friendly. We will be back.

Not been here for a while due to bad experience. Had the shepherds pie, was absolutely delicious. Looking forward to going back soon.

We had a great night at The Jolly Farmer. My shepherds pie was delicious; such tender, pulled meat and rich gravy and it went well with the full bodied red wine. Service was friendly and the restaurant was buzzing. I’d definitely recommend booking a table. A lovely Friday night treat after a busy week. Well done Jenny and team.

Really busy and inviting atmosphere, genuinely good service and delicious food....what a turnaround by the new landlady Jenny. Apparently there is a refurbishment planned for January 2024, I can't wait to she what she has in mind.

Such a great atmosphere for a pub and one of the best dinners out I have ever had thanks to all team especially the chefs. Will definitely be returning

We came for a meal for my birthday. The food was amazing. We didn’t have to wait long and was nice and hot. My children loved the play area in the garden it was great for them. The manage Mike and his staff were really friendly and catered for all our needs. Such a lovely cosy pub with a great atmosphere. Will definitely be back.

Had an amazing lunch with my husband at this beautiful pub. Service was outstanding from arrival all the way through the meal - attentive and professional. Food was fresh and delicious ! Can’t wait to go back !

The experience I had was absolutely amazing fish and chips was extremely good I was very pleased, service was impeccable, great vibe going on inside good music and friendly bar staff can’t wait to rebook!!

Have tried most things on the menu with family and all are absolutely excellent, Sunday Roasts are great value and scrumptious, well done team x

The worst pub meal I have ever had. Battered fish really salty, dry, over cooked. Peas over cooked - appeared to heated up in a microwave. Starters and main courses arrived together, complained about food, no apology or acknowledgment from staff.

The food here was a pleasant surprise. We stopped for a warm bite to eat after walking up from Marlow. I had the shepherds pie and my wife had the cauliflower kiev, both absolutely delicious. The mille-feuille with bananas and popcorn was the star of the show. We will be back very soon.

Sunday beef was delicious and really tender. Carrots were soft and sweet. Kadisha was lovely. Talked me through the menu. Looking forward to my next visit.

The staff were pleasant and the service was fine. There is a nice garden and kids play area, which we really enjoyed. Sadly the food wasn’t great - limited selection, quite a few dishes on the menu not unavailable and what did come was a mixed bag. The pizza that my daughter ordered looked like the best option - so that seems like the way to go if you’re eating here.

Gastro pub making the transition from order at bar to table service. Food was very good but offering has some gaps; one of which may arise from Chef humour - asking what the cheesecake on the day was garnered a description of the recognisable features of cheesecake without identifying the type (lemon/mixed fruit/caramel being the anticipated response). Our table missed delivery of 2x drinks and 1x dessert that were ordered but never delivered or charged. Hot drinks seem to be an afterthought. The outdoor space with large play area lifts the family experience and surroundings could be described as post-card perfect. Warning for tall people - this is an older building with irregular floor, low doors and beams ~ mind your head!

It used to be a great place, but the new management has introduced a more basic menu and the whole team behind the bar seems to be completely inexperienced. When I called them on Friday to reserve a table for today, they called me back after 10 minutes because they forgot if my reservation was for Saturday or Sunday. As I got in today, it turned out that my table was used by someone else just because he had the same first name as me although he booked for 12:30 while I booked for 1:30pm. Service was extremely slow and I went twice to collect drinks at the bar for me, my wife and a friend. Food is average, as in “just right” or “not bad”, but weirdly sized. Starters might seem expensive but they’re actually larger than expected. OTOH mains are indeed slightly overpriced given their size. In the end the bill was allocated to the wrong table number although the dishes were correct but the drinks were missing. I told them, they came back a bit later and still a couple of drinks were missing. They told us that they were on the house, and for this they deserve 2 stars for service instead of a single star. It feels like the entire new team working there, with the exception of the people in the kitchen, has never worked in a pub or restaurant before, they’re very nice but somewhere between naive and clueless. I’m pretty sure I’ll come here again given its nice garden and the adjacent playground for my son, hopefully they will have learned their trade by then.

We had a lovely lunch here today in the sunshine - the playground and location continue to be fab but the new ownership showed in the great food and attentive staff. Although we were right at the end of the garden by the playground we were well looked after by the waiting staff and we got out food and drinks quickly. The roasts were fresh and delicious! Good to see it busy too!

We booked the Jolly Farmer for a private function and it was fab. Great atmosphere, food amazing and facilities just perfect for us. I had been here for lunch prior to our booking and it was lovely.

Great wood fired Sea Bass and dressed salad, done to perfection Bolognese wasn’t bad either Well done Liya great service and value for money We shall be back soon

Lovely village pub, big garden with play area for the kids

Not overly impressed with the overpriced food in small quantities, ordered the chicken kebab for 2 which is £30 and comes in the form of a chicken salad and chips not even any pitta bread , a lot of the chicken was dry and over cooked , flavour okay , my father also ordered a burger that was nothing special for £14

Excellent food served in nice room with good service. Highly recommended!

Had a booking for 7 people at 3pm on a Sunday. Ordered drinks at bar, and were told there were NO burgers left on the menu, however we selected from the menus given to us and everyone made their choice with some of us choosing roast beef from the menu, (there was only one roast meat choice on the menu). However when we tried to place our order at the bar we were informed they’d decided not to do roast beef that day due to warm weather and only roast chicken was available. Very disappointing. Food came, very mediocre. £14 for a starter of the most cheap looking pancetta ever seen with some bread, a roast chicken dinner served in a bowl with everything on top of each other, no stuffing but a Yorkshire pudding thrown on top! Very over priced inadequate food, however the kid’s secure play area was fabulous.

Great to be back at The Jolly again in their beautiful garden in summertime. Had another really enjoyable experience. We did have to wait a bit for our food to arrive but they were very busy and this wasn’t a problem as we were enjoying the sun and lovely garden. Happy to wait a little longer for what was really delicious food. The best tomahawk steak we’ve ever had! Would definitely recommend.

We had a great time with friends, kids loved the playground and everyone loved the food! The staff was very warm and welcoming! Thank you!

We've eaten here twice recently and were very happy on each occasion. Fantastic looking playground for under 10s. Much better than it's Google rating. Will be back soon.

Really lovely place to eat, food was delicious and the service was great too

Lovely setting for families. Has a good play area. Venue is clean and tidy and has parking for about 10 cars The service was great, very pleasant and helpful staff. Drinks selection is good but a number of beers were out so made do. Ordered 4 meals, 2 adult and 2 kids- burgers, sausage and fish. Generally the food was ok but for the price point the quality was not there. Food is said to be fresh. For example the chips were not great. I would have rather less for better quality. Overall a pleasant experience.

Great place for meet up with friends. Excellent food and staff.

Tried the £90 Cote de Boeuf after asking to see the cut, which the friendly staff were very willing to do. It looked super fresh and plenty to share between 4, plus the Russian lady chef looked like a total Boss, so we went for it. Cooked in the wood fire, it was incredible. Cooked to absolute perfection & so well seasoned! Absolute star of the show. However, lost a star for a few smaller items: * Local Rebellion ale was warm * The chips were sad (supermarket freezer style) * The meat was served on top of mixed leaves, leaving the leaves all hot, wilted and soaked in meat juices * They should list the names of the actual wine on the menu, not just the grape. We went for the malbec to enjoy with our steak, and were a little disappointed to receive the cheap jammy “splash of the bold” £6.50 bottle of Triventino from Tesco for £30 * Cherry crumble needed cherries in it - or any fresh fruit. Ours had 1 cherry in it 😂

Lovely little pub with a great history. Food is excellent.

Firstly, this is a wonderful location in Cookham with an excellent playground for kids. If you want to come here for a drink in the garden and you have young kids - there isn't a better pub in the area. Then comes the food. It is bad - as in really bad. Chicken came out undercooked, burger was tasteless, and the chips were like oven chips. Not what you expect when you are paying the higher end of pub food prices. Great for a drink - but would never eat there again.

Well, I have reviewed The Jolly Farmer previously and raved about the food and service, yet this evening both have moved to a different level. On a busy-ish, warm and sunny May evening, the service from Paul was welcoming, friendly and efficient, and the food was absolutely first-class. A shared chicken kebab was of the highest order being flavoursome and not dry (as many can be), alongside a terrific pizza for my son. The Jolly Farmer is indubitably my go-to establishment, in an area not short of excellent pubs. Always stellar service, and this evening it was uber-amazing!

Lovely service and really fresh beer. The food is over priced and whilst perfectly edible, not much more. The home made cherry crumble was a gelatinous sugary something with a topping of over baked granola. Sorry, because the staff were lovely.

Fantastic ! We regularly visit and our fussy toddler always asks for pizza when we are here! The pizzas are the best in area and the staff are very friendly. Great kids play area

Great pub for kids and dogs, awesome playground. Service was sow die to a lack of staff but they are hiring.

Very disappointed, wouldn’t recommend. For 2 (not great) burgers we waited over 45 minutes verging on an hour. When I asked the bar lady if she could check where our food was, she walked off and never came back to update us. When our food did eventually arrive, the waitress didn’t apologise and the attitude was quite poor. The excuse given was that they had a lot of orders but the pub was hardly busy or full. We could hear other people complaining about how long the food was taking as well. Wouldn’t recommend and will not be going back

Poor selection of beers but food good

Great pub, lovely food, good value, great little find near our country walk.

First time visiting here and we weren’t disappointed. Lovely olde worlde pub, roaring fire and the history of the pub explained to us by the very knowledgeable manager who looked after us very well. I had what can only be described as the best fish and chips I have ever had, the batter was to die for, lovely and crispy. My husband had the special venison dumplings in a beef broth which he too thoroughly enjoyed. We were told that all their meat products are locally sourced and impressed that they butcher their venison themselves to create other dishes on their specials board. We also enjoyed the local ale that was on offer. Great to see a village pub supporting local businesses. We will definitely return.

The bar tender was abrasive. You could easily tell she did not want to be there. We ordered 2 drinks and 2 burgers which came to £43. The burgers weren't very nice and to top it all off I ordered a cheese burger as it specifically specified there were no sauces. It came smothered in mustard and by the time the waitress dropped them off she was gone In a flash. Considering they charge a 10% service charge, I would expect friendlier service and nicer food.

Average food. Beer garden is great. Manager was grumpy AF and really took the shine off the experience.

Lovely country pub,great food, friendly staff.

Atmosphere of building is great and beer good. Staff always look hurried and task focused with no time to interact or provide a warm welcome. Group of regulars who act like they own the place congregate at the bar and often make it difficult to get served. Too often on a Sunday it looks like a bomb has gone off. Fish and chips (roast sold out) over priced and average. Fish leaking water and chips the tiny little ends at the bottom of a frozen bag. Sticky toffee pudding not good, toffee sauce was cold from where it had been squirted on from a bottle in the fridge. Could be a great pub :-(

We had a lovely Sunday lunch with the family. The roast beef was cooked perfectly and excellent portions. Will be returning soon!