New menus and family-friendly fun launched by new owners of The Jolly Farmer in Manston

Lisa, Daniel and Jess have taken on The Jolly Farmer

Take one pig (must be dirty) and a farmer (needs to be jolly), mix them together and you get a fantastic revamp of a Manston pub by the new owners.

The team from The Dirty Pig takeaway, which opened at The Centre in Margate in July, have taken on Manston’s The Jolly Farmer and have lots of plans to make sure it is a family-friendly pub for the village,

Couple Daniel Brearley and Jessica Dolton plus Jessica’s step-mum Lisa have taken the helm and with no hanging about have put in a new kitchen, created new menus and organised events, with more plans in the pipeline.

The doors opened to customers old and new on November 12 and a special event was held for Remembrance with tea and coffee for those outside and live music in the afternoon.

The menu has incorporated some of The Dirty Pig favourites with speciality hotdogs, burgers and fries alongside traditional pub meals of steaks, breakfasts, bar food, Sunday roasts, ribs and  ‘Little Pigs’ offerings. Vegetarian options are available and the team is putting the finishing touches to a vegan, gluten free and free from menu.

There is also The Dirty Pig Challenge with a person having 30 minutes to clear the plate of 5 x footlong Quex butchers sausages, 8 bacon rashers, 8 fried eggs, 8 hash browns, 8 toast, beans, tomatoes, 2 black pudding and 2 tea or coffee.

Complete the challenge and get the breakfast free, plus a T Shirt and your picture on the leader board. If you fail then you pay the £30 price tag.

Lisa says the driving force has been Daniel, who she describes as a “hurricane.”

She said: “We got it signed and sealed then went in, ripped the kitchen out, asked for lots of feedback on facebook, done a whole new menu with lots of stuff from The Dirty Pig included. We still do deliveries, although customers eating in take priority, and we will still be doing Sunday roast deliveries especially for vulnerable people in the village.

“We want to do a carvery like the Toby but much more personable with the head chef out there carving.We are building a family atmosphere and want people to feel happy bringing their kids in.

“The weekend before Christmas we are having snow machines, donkeys, Santa’s Grotto, Olaf, Anna and Elsa and we are going to have pool and darts teams,live music, focus groups particularly for PTSD and a swear jar with the money going to Help for Heroes.”

A New Year’s party is also being arranged.

A new logo has been designed and the team are planning an historic mural on one of the walls of the pub, depicting the community of Manston.

Daniel, Jess and their little boy are also due to move to the village so want to make sure the pub embraces the whole community.

The Christmas event takes place on December 19 from 11am to 6pm and costs £5.99 for children, inclusive of a gift from Santa, adults go free. Booking is advisable. Small traders are welcome to get in touch to have a stall

Call 01843 823 208 or message The Jolly Farmer facebook page here

Deliveries can be booked though Just Eat, Deliveroo, Ubereats and on The Dirty Pig website

16 Comments

    • Im in here now and its totally change dont now if its for the better as there a pool table in here now. The menu is not what it use to be looks cheap and laminated not a good sign wipe down menus. Iv order ribs to see if there fresh cook as they state here. Fills a little groggy were we are sitting

  1. Should and could be a very good pub and restaurant but only if they consented on food alone ,it doesn’t need the dirty after work builders swearing and loud when people are trying to eat

  2. There used to be signatures of RAF pilots on the ceiling , then a landlord took it on and painted the ceilings , lost forever !

    • Wow, that’s a great shame. Could an art restorer do something clever with the layers of paint to get them back? I’ve got a portrait of my grandad whilst he was stationed at Manston in the 1920’s (he was from the New Forest). I’d love it if he made it onto the mural in his RAF uniform from a century ago!

  3. Hi my Father used to drink in this pub during the war as he was stationed at Manston before flying of to Arnhem// When i lived in Spratling street i also used the pub many many times before i moved to London// it always had a great atmosphere and the people were so friendly i have not been back for20 years but i will look in 2022 hope you have a fantastic time REGARDS DAVID BIRD

  4. I look forward to enjoying an affordable lunch again at the new Jolly Farmer. It had got very expensive, so was empty most lunch times. Good luck to the new owners. Word (good or bad) soon travels in Thanet, so fingers crossed.

  5. “There is also The Dirty Pig Challenge with a person having 30 minutes to clear the plate of 5 x footlong Quex butchers sausages, 8 bacon rashers, 8 fried eggs, 8 hash browns, 8 toast, beans, tomatoes, 2 black pudding and 2 tea or coffee.”
    Meanwhile, 2/3 of the world are starving.

    • You are a happy soul. Two thirds of world starving, I think not. I suggest you check your facts before commenting.

    • My mistake. You’re quite correct.
      Only 680 million are hungry, and a mear 9 million people a year die from starvation.
      But as long as people can pointlessly stuff their faces with enough food for eight people, then that’s ok.
      Look on the bright side. It’s not starvation these people will die of.

  6. Good evening. I have been diagnosed with coeliac disease. This means I must avoid gluten as you are probably aware. Also unfortunately I also have to avoid cross contamination from gluten containing dishes. This is much more difficult. Are you able to cater for me? Fingers crossed.

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