The Cloth Ear

Nice surprise in the middle of the Cathedral Quarters. Just walked in without reservation. At first they were somewhat reluctant to seat us even though the place was empty, but they put us in one of the top tables. Bar looks amazing. The service was OK but not spectacular, though. They food however was amazing. The Irish goat cheese salad to another level. The fish and chips are perhaps the best I have had with a curry sauce that was amazing. The cocktails were spectacular. The ambience is perfect, not too dark not too bright, just a nice spot to eat, talk and have good food.

This place was recommended on the off menu podcast so as I’d visited Belfast with work, I decided to take a visit here. I had the Raspberry and white chocolate crème brûlée and it was incredible. The restaurant is also very cosy and I’d definitely come back here for something other than dessert!

Excellent lunch! I had the curry, which was mild but very tasty. Beautiful surroundings and an outstandingly polite, humorous and gentle waiter. The icy lemon water on arriving was a particularly nice touch.

The food was great in both presentation and taste. We didn’t make a reservation but the staff were accommodating and friendly. Next to the level pub ambience. We had a lovely experience. Give it a go if you’re nearby and surely you will agree to me.

Great service, great vibe for social or family, comfortable seating, lighting set the mood but not too dark, good value and taste for mushroom soup Pork belly dish had everything done right, except the pork belly itself could be better (in crispness and tenderness), it overall top 20% of all pork belly I had in pubs) Overall top 10% of pub food I tried. Didn't have alcoholic drink there.

Have I found the best Chowder ever? It's a bold statement but I was blown away! The bread board for starters was insane too! Perfect Sunday brunch!

Everything was delicious... food, drinks, dessert!! The best fish & chips I have ever had! The staff was pleasant, and the waiter was great at his job!! We will be back tomorrow night!!

My fiancé took me here for my birthday dinner and what a lovely night we had. Great atmosphere and a great location, fantastic service and truly delicious food. We were served by an older gentleman with a beard and he was so lovely. I had the seafood chowder, and as a big chowder fan, this was easily one of the the tastiest and most distinctive chowders I’ve had. It’s served with chorizo and the cream sauce comes on the side in a little jug, so you can pour on as little or as much as you like, which I loved as I can find chowders to be so heavy sometimes. Brilliant experience all round and we will definitely be back to have the lovely chowder again!!

Very good quality cocktails. Staff are nice, good location too. I recommend it.

All other places that served food were fully booked or too noisy. Came here to this gastro pub and was told the back room was reserved but staff Christoper found us a table and was quick to serve us drinks. Clean washrooms. Richard was friendly, fun and polite. Food was amazing. Both chicken in creamy tarragon sauce and classic fish & chips were amazing. Lovely cosy relaxing place with excellent service and amazing foods.

First time here. Pretty busy. Service very good, thank you Richard. Good menu. Got roast chicken dinner and the plate was well filled and delicious.

We received the most elegant service from Richard, he was so attentive, sweet and polite I honestly don't think i've met such a nice person. We didn't have a booking but the staff were still able to fit us in, the place had such a good atmosphere with lovely coffee and soup. From the angle of the photo it's hard to see that it's a toastie with the soup and not just bread, would highly recommend. We were only in for a quick lunch with some coffees but it was the highlight of our day, we'll definitely be back!!

My wife and I visited The Cloth Ear after being intrigued by the artichoke fish and chips. We are both vegans and have had banana blossom fish and chips so this was something new to try and we were certainly not disappointed. From the moment we walked in we knew we were in for a good night. Upon hearing it was our honeymoon, bubbles were soon in our hand while we browsed the menu. All three courses were exceptional. My wife could not understand how they made the chips so tasty. The coating on the artichoke resembled southern-fried food rather than beer battered fish and we loved it! I would not normally go for a fried starter and main as I was full by the time the brownie was presented but we were on our honeymoon. Overall, an incredible experience and I would recommend anyone visiting Belfast to book a table at The Cloth Ear.

First time here. Had the Ceasar salad, carrot soup and fries. Our server was friendly and attentive.

They accommodated us last minute on a busy Saturday night, food was decent and service was prompt. Overall a nice experience

Luv this place great atmosphere and staff are lovely, we like the sml plates for a late lunch. The food is lovely we go often would recommend this place. 🍾🥂

Lovely restaurant for lunch. We had a table by the fire and ordered a toasty each to avoid the rain! Lovely staff, great food and nicely decorated place.

The food here was amazing, atmosphere was quite nice and charming, the service was even better. Server named Richard (Rupert) exceptional service!! Highly recommend this place.

Every business needs an Olivia! The Cloth Ear always delivers on all fronts but when I was having an issue with my booking Olivia went above and beyond to help me get the issue sorted! I can’t thank her enough, any venue is lucky to have someone like her flying their flag! Ten stars for her!

Lovely bar/restaurant attached to the Merchant Hotel next door. We popped in because we saw they had lots of Gluten Free options (I'm Coeliac). They really didn't disappoint. Separate fryers means I could have everything marked GA on the menu. This makes such a difference to Coeliacs as it avoids cross contamination - it's much appreciated. The food was excellent, and the service was just as good. They also have GF Peroni in bottles. It was so nice here, we had lunch twice during our overnight stay in The Merchant. Highly recommended.

Had a table of 7 for late lunch/early dinner and drinks.Atmosphere was lovely. Lively around you but able to talk and hear everyone around the table.The bar itself has a victorian charm with modern comfort and great toilets. Food and drinks were excellent and most of all the service was professional, knowledgeable about the food and drinks and friendly. Also came to let us know we could have table for an extra hour as moved booking.Couldn't recommend any higher. We are already planning a return visit.

Daniel was so welcoming. Sat us at a lovely table near the fire. Food was gorgeous. Burger & Chicken Supreme. Would highly recommend.

Lovely place, very good atmosphere and nice service. I was expecting a piece of meat for the lamb, it was good, very soft and tender but nothing really special. The chicken was very good though, nice crisp outside and good sweet aftertaste. We also got the soup of the day, even though it was nice, the bread was slightly burnt.

Nice looking venue serving really tasty pub classics with a modern twist (like the deconstructed chorizo chowder). Service very polite, but wait times a bit too long (for both food and drinks). On top of that lack of communication somewhat spoiled the evening. Waited for 45 minutes for the main course and then no time for dessert etc. All in all the experience was fine but we’re probably not coming back any time soon.

We enjoyed our meal, and desert. But had higher expectations given its association with the Merchant Hotel. Additionally, we were served a warm bottle of water without any ice. My wife's gin had no attention to detail.

good food, good size portions. slightly expensive. usual rubbish beers and Guinness. no craft beer on tap

Food is delicious and the atmosphere is nice and chilled. However service was not good, with our waiter not taking our next course order for over an hour, and then ended his shift before taking our order. Had to ask for another waiter to take our order, was very annoying. But would go back as the Sunday roast was lovely

The food was good, but nothing special. Good location, nice atmosphere

I recently had a meal here when celebrating my friend's birthday. Really very good, if a little pricey. I enjoyed the fish and chips and sorbet and my friends enjoyed their food also. The fish and chips was £19 or so, a little pricey but it was lovely. The menu said peas but didn't specify mushy. There was also a service charge that we weren't aware of. I actually forgot to ask if it's optional and just paid it. Very attentive staff. Highly recommended!

Nice looking place and we got a good table. Good service. The chicken curry was nice, it wasn't labelled as a Korma, but that's what it was. But the steak and Ale pie was very dry and quite disappointing. I just think this place serves fairly average but expensive pub food. But in a upmarket setting.

Caught up with some former work colleagues for dinner and drinks. Had a very pleasant waiter called Richard. I chose the Wagyu Beef Burger. This was quite charred on the outside. I ate it as I was hungry but 21 pounds is a lot for a burger. Wine is pricey. Place was busy and they were understaffed but managing service well. Moved to another table in the bar area when our time was up which was much appreciated.

Went on a Friday evening for dinner - two courses of mains and dessert There were no reservations bookable online but thankfully were able to get a table for two. The bar was busy enough but well staffed and they do have a good choice of drinks on the menu. We waited at the bar for the table to be prepped which wasn’t long at all. Table was comfortable, at a good height in relation to the seating level which were comfortable. The music was great, however, at one point the volume was significantly increased, which did mean shouting for conversation. Food review I had the fish and chips which were nicely presented. I think the chips were slightly undercooked and didn’t get a beef dripping taste from them and were unsalted. The fish was really, really nice. Perfectly cooked and batter was lovely. The sides were also nice. Mushy peas had a nice tang to them. The tartare sauce(?) I think was very buttery in taste which I wasn’t a fan of and not very tangy if it was tartare sauce. The curry sauce was lovely though. Burger was nice but slightly plain. Skinny fries were nice too. The homemade ketchup relish was really nice, had a beautiful sweetness which went nicely with the fish. For dessert, I got the ‘tiramisu’ profiteroles, which are in quotations are these did not taste of tiramisu at all. No coffee taste or mascarpone. there was some sort of buttercream between the profiteroles to aid the stacking but the flavour was lacking. Very disappointing as I was quite excited for these: Sticky toffee pudding: sponge was tasty as was the sauce. Think the presentation needs improved however. The vanilla ice cream clearly does not have real vanilla in it as there is no black seeds throughout. Unfortunately, uncontrolled by the restaurant, the couple, especially the man, beside us stared at us for long periods and listened to our conversation throughout the entire time and was extremely uncomfortable for both myself and friend. Staff were attentive enough. Total price was almost £60 odd, which I don’t think was reflected in the quality of the food so I’m not sure I would recommend or return personally.

Alfredo pasta decribed on menu as linguine,it was spaghetti,chicken was just sliced on top and was cold.Pleasant staff but good not worth the price,drinks are also expensive.

The Cloth Ear is a perfectly serviceable pub/restaurant in central Belfast. They seated us without a reservation, no waiting. Service was casual & relaxed. We ate the cauliflower wings, mushroom gnocchi & the chicken curry. We enjoyed the dishes. The noise level was low. Servers at times seemed a bit distracted. Lighting level is moderate. Prices were on par for the area. I think you will be satisfied but not with a wow moment.

Only 2* for the service because although the serving staff were welcoming and friendly, the food service was very slow. Given the two hour table occupancy rule, this meant we had to vacate our table as soon as we finished eating. The food was reasonably tasty. We had a variety of dishes, burgers, soup, braised beef, cheese and fig tart and desserts and all were ok Cosy, warm atmosphere, but not a place I would choose again.

Disappointed. The beef doube was bland and needed a lot of salt to try and get some flavour out of it. Apparently the chicken was really good. A shame staff didn't ask how the meal was otherwise we would have given feedback. We left hungry Staff were really lovely and there are gluten free options available REALLY overpriced for what it was.

Was sat at a stool having a drink but decided we wanted food so Sat down at a table amd went to the bar to order food. Was told table service only so sat back down at the table. As soon as I did they put a sign on saying reserved 30 minutes later.

A few staff members were very unpleasant, inattentive except when it came to pushing our group of four out the door 20 minutes before the next booking, even though we had to wait 15 minutes for our table to be ready despite it having been booked. When we arrived on time for our dinner booking we were asked to wait at the bar and order drinks while the table was getting ready (which was fine) but although there were plenty of staff it took 10 minutes or more for anyone at the bar to come near us - we ordered and waited. Then someone came to tell us our table was ready and she said they would bring the drinks over. We were about to sit at the table when the barman came running over to us with a card machine telling us that our drinks were sitting on the bar. It was sorted but we found him pretty rude. Food was grand though not the best potential versions of the dishes stated on the menu. Eg. Crispy Chicken main was not a complete plate and the chicken was not ‘crispy’, Birria dish was lukewarm and the sweet potato fries looked pretty bad though they tasted okay.

On a special day out for mother and daughters we decided to have lunch. The food was good but the event was marred when a waitress dropped chicken wings on to a coat. We understand this was a mistake and mistakes happen but there was no apology, a poor attempt to clean the coat and indeed we were accused of having the coat on the floor when it was on the back of the chair. We were very disappointed that we were treated with an accusation rather than an apology and no attempt was made to compensate for the inconvenience. Unfortunately we feel we could not return to the cloth ear.

Went today with family for my daughter's birthday. The wait for food was extremely slow yet the place wasnt overly busy. I ordered the turkey roulade it was missing roast potatoes and cranberry sauce and the brussel sprouts were raw not al dente. Also my mum ordered salmon wellington the spinach was missing -.no chorizo breadcrumb either. I complained when the server called Anna Maria came over after our meal - she had a rude attitude and was smirking. The rest of the table also commented on her attitude problem. She then asked if everything else was OK. I told her no as she told us we had to leave as another reservation was due so we didn't have time for coffee. I said that was due to their slow service. She then sarcastically said enjoy the rest of ur evening. £170 wasted in my view. I will never be back nor will I recommend this place. U would get better customer service at McDonald's!!