Chow is a modern Asian restaurant on Level 1 at 45 Tory Street, Te Aro, a short walk from Courtenay Place and the Cuba Street quarter. The dining room is upstairs, reached by a staircase from the street, with a balcony overlooking Tory Street. The restaurant describes itself as a modern and casual brand serving fresh, balanced food that arrives quickly at the table, with dishes designed to be shared.
The menu draws on Cantonese, Thai, Vietnamese, Malaysian and wider Asian influences, and is grouped into sections — Fresh & Salads, Soul Food, Curry, Steam, Grill, Sides and Bao. Dishes named on the current menu include Vietnamese rice paper rolls, prawn summer rolls, Thai beef salad, crispy pork salad, salt and pepper squid, phoenix and dragon dumplings (chicken and prawn), Korean-style fried chicken, prawn laksa dumplings, Sichuan-style pork dumplings, smoky red duck curry, mussaman lamb curry, cross-cut beef rib marinated for 24 hours, chicken satay, crispy pork pancakes, and bao filled with jackfruit, karaage chicken or roast pork belly. Separate Feed Me, Express Lunch and drinks menus are published alongside the main list.
Dietary provision is a stated focus. Chow notes a large number of vegetarian and vegan dishes plus gluten- and dairy-free options, and says it uses free-range chicken, pork and eggs and sustainably line-caught fish. The menu carries a dietary key against each dish, which is genuinely useful when catering for a delegate group with mixed requirements.
Chow publishes set menus for groups. The current listing offers two courses for $49 or three courses for $69 per person, with a minimum of six people, available Tuesday to Sunday. A separate set-menu page notes a group set menu available only for parties of 10 or more, requiring a minimum of 48 hours' notice. Bookings are taken online through the restaurant's own reservation page, and takeaway and delivery ordering are also offered.
Chow has been operating on Tory Street since 2001 and has broadened its menu over that period, with a substantial share of the list now plant-based. The upstairs room seats around 170 across booths and tables, which gives it more absorptive capacity than most restaurants of its type in the immediate area — useful when a group size is not final. Booking ahead is still advised.
The combination of published per-head set menu pricing, a shared-plate format, clear dietary labelling and a large upstairs room makes Chow a workable option for business dinners, delegate dining and incentive-group meals in central Wellington. The Tory Street address puts it within walking distance of Courtenay Place accommodation and the main CBD conference precinct. Further Wellington restaurants suited to group dining are listed on this site.
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