Review of the Cloth Ear (for lovers of chillies)

I arranged to meet up with my good friend Marc for a bite of lunch.  He chose the Cloth Ear which is based in Waring Street in Belfast and is the Public Bar of the much feted Merchant Hotel.  It has to be said that Marc and I are both very fond of meeting up for cocktails in the hotel, but on this occasion, we decided that lunch was the order of the day!

On arrival, we were shown to a select little table for 2 in the window.  Our timing couldn’t have been better as we were followed through the door by a group of 22 German tourists without a word of English between them.  I was tempted to offer my translation services but quickly realised that my Schoolgirl level German would not be much help unless they wanted to know my age and what my parents worked as!

Another stroke of luck was that we happened to get the loveliest waitress, Jeannette, who could not have been any more helpful.   She introduced us to the Chilli Scorpion sauce which apparently was recently tested by a group of Apple employees on their annual chicken wing chilli challenge! (who knew these things existed?)

I was mad keen to try the chilli sauce but it came served as part of the chicken wing starter and I really don’t like chicken wings!  Happily, Marc ordered the wings (£5.95) and if he objected to my stealing his celery to dip into the sauce, he didn’t say so!  I decided against a starter and ordered the main course of marinated chicken skewers served with satay sauce and pineapple salad (£9.95).  Thankfully, I ordered before sampling the scorpion chilli sauce which set my mouth on fire and gave me a rosy glow for the rest of the afternoon! Having denied myself a starter, I indulged myself with some chilli fries (£3.00) which came drizzled with sweet chilli sauce and chilli mayonnaise (are you seeing a theme here?)

Marc ordered the burger and a very nice bottle of Sigli Rioja for us to share.

Once my mouth recovered, I tucked into my chicken skewers which were delicious.  I could have done with a tad more satay sauce as I love it, but my waistline will thank me for not being a glutton!

All in all, a very enjoyable lunch and the Germans looked like they were having a ball too!