Chow House

Ambiance: Outdoor, but protected seating. Cushions were covered in crumbs despite being the second customers in the restaurant. I suppose they could pay more attention to their cleaning, but nothing else was unsettling.
Service: Have to agree with previous reviewers that the waiter was not the friendliest and gave off an arrogant vibe. I apologize for not knowing «long black» from «flat white» and all the other coffee drinks, but there are a few terms that we do not use in the US. Otherwise, the wait for food was reasonable, not extreme in either direction.
Food: I actually really liked the food. The coffee was fairly good (one long black and one flat white, needed to get acquainted with those terms.). But the food was way better. Had the fritter with pumpkin and a side of sausage. The Thai sausage makes me want to go home and start making my own sausage — delicious. Haven’t had a sausage that good in… ever.
Overall, good breakfast food, what seems like standard prices, and slightly hostile servers. I would still be very happy to go back for another meal.

Everything about this restaurant is aesthetically pleasing. As each dish came out, I became jealous of my dining compatriots as they all looked like pieces of flavorful art.
While my grilled pork vermicelli salad was equally beautifully presented, the flavor combination lacked the right balance between savory, salty, sour and sweet. It was served with two sauces, one thin light brown sauce (but interestingly not fish sauced based) and one peanut sauce. Both tasted more like desserts than sauce, and did not pair well with the rest of the dish.
However, the pork was perfectly grilled and glazed in a beautiful Asian BBQ sauce. On its own, it was divine, but with the sauces and noodles its beauty was drowned out in an overly sweet mess of flavors. Everyone’s dishes looked so beautiful though that I have to wonder weather my dish was a fluke or if this restaurant is all about the form over substance.
The location is quite convenient, just under the Palace Cinema’s that I am sure to give it a second try.

I am shocked I haven’t reviewed this place yet, we end up eating here at least every couple of months for breakfast with our whole family. The fact that we keep coming back despite the busy James Street location indicates they’re pretty darn good at that side of things.
However I’m now thinking maybe it’s a good thing that I waited until now as it was on the weekend just gone that we first sampled their lunch menu. As a result I feel like I’m in a better position to review them.
Let’s start with our lunch. We were dining with a fellow glutard (it’s SO NICE when that happens, I don’t feel like the only demanding one at the table!) and we were disappointed to see they still don’t identify gf options on their standard menu.
I feel like everytime I go to this place I point it out and ask them to add it into their next printing. Honestly, it would save so much unnecessary drama and allow us to order and eat our meals with much less fuss, but alas they haven’t done it as yet.
The waiter bought over a well worn booklet of paper detailing each dish and notes on whether they are gluten free or dairy free and the presence of nuts etc. Not a great impression, and if anyone from Chow House reads this please take this as your (not so) gentle nudge to GET YOUR ACT TOGETHER. Food allergies are a big part of society these days and you WILL be looked over for other food outlets that make it easier to eat at. Just add a teeny little symbol where appropriate. I swear it won’t be that difficult!
Ahem. Now I have that out of my system.
Both of us gluten-​free folk ordered the crispy pressed rice battered mooloolaba prawns — I know right, I was AMAZED they were on the gf list! It’s now 24hours later and I can confirm I have not had any adverse reactions, so the staff know their stuff when it comes to allergies.
The prawns had a really interesting texture. Slightly doughy (not great) but still flavoursome and crispy (very great). They came on a bed of basic «Asian» salad (think bean shoots, red and green cabbage) and was so over seasoned with lime it was almost inedible. There was half a lime on the plate and I wish they had have let me decide on how much I wanted squeezed over the dish. The prawns made up for the salad thankfully, despite being a little smooshy. Quick tip — the chilli sauce is RIDICULOUSLY SPICY. But, this is coming from someone who doesn’t make friends with spice, so take that how you will.
My fiancé went with the New England lamb shanks in yellow curry, which was also on the gf list. I had massive food envy when his dish was bought out. It was served on a huge plate and contained two ginourmous shanks of dinosaur proportions. Covered with the most delicious, sweet yellow curry sauce and dotted with kipfler potatoes it was a heavenly mix. The shanks were beautifully cooked (they fell off the bone… so heavenly) and the flavours really sang. The rice and spring onions added a nice variety and matched the other ingredients very well.
Drink wise the boys went with beer and cider and I had a green smoothie. I’ve had it before, but this time it was a bit chunky for my liking, and didn’t have enough pineapple juice.
Moving along to all of those other times we’ve had breakfast there, I’ve had the savoury mince (substituted the sourdough with gluten free toast), eggs bennedict (again subbed the muffin for gf toast), thyme roasted mushrooms (gf toast again), asparagus, broccolini + poached egg and the blackbean, tomato + eschallot fricassee.
I definitely recommend EVERYTHING but a standout for me was the fricasee and the thyme roasted mushrooms. They were heavenly, but everything else was very good too.
I find service to be a bit hit and miss here. They are generally very quick to bring menus and seat you but I’ve had a few occasions where members of the table have been left waiting for meals (not ideal when you have kids eating on the table) or waiting at the counter to pay.
All in all we go here frequently choosing it over other options on the strip, and the food is usually top notch. The drink options are also great and the light, airy atmosphere really appeals.
Some advice if you’re thinking about checking it out is leave plenty of time to scope out parking! It can be so busy on James Street every hour of the day and night so my advice is to wear shoes you can walk a little way in if you have to park the car down a side street.

Good food with good service — thumbs up!
Chow House is literally across the road from where I work yet I only got around to trying it out properly the other day. I’ve had coffee from there before but never sat down to have a proper meal.
This was a mid-​week lunch visit so not overly busy but we were still greeted, sat and watered promptly by friendly staff.
I was pleasantly surprised to find that there were quite a few options in each section of their rather huge menu for us herbivores — not just in the entrée/​snacks section, so much so that I am eager to go back and try the options I didn’t get to this time around.
Ended up trying the kipfler potato and kale salad with homeade labne. Really good and really filling. I also tried the intriguing rose refresher — it’s kinda like drinking a turkish delight (the proper kind not the sort that comes in a gold & purple wrapper). I liked it, but if you find rose water overpowering it’s not for you.
Overall first experience of Chow House impresses enough to warrant a second go.

As a regular at the Chow House I have to say I feel that they have been off their game the past few months. It could be a change of owners, kitchen staff or management but what ever the change management needs to take a long hard look at what is going on.
Today I arrived for a late breakfast and ordered scrambled eggs and Thai sausages. After waiting 35 minutes the food arrived at the table It needs to be said I was more then disappointed. The scrambled eggs were undercooked and runny and the sausages over cooked to the point they had burst and make things worse the coffee had a burnt taste and the toast was cold.
In short I will think long and hard before I return to the chow house this old favorite.

So after two visits to the House of Chow I would like to think I know my way around their breakfast.
Step 1: Order an entrée. I know what you’re thinking. An entrée at breakfast? And to that I say hush! Because if you don’t split a plate of coconut crumpets with passionfruit curd with whoever it is you are dining with then you don’t deserve breakfast. And if that was not enough to convince you I will say this again. PASSIONFRUIT! CURD! Do it. Thank me. Live happily ever after.
Step 2: Order whichever actual breakfast you’d like. First time around I tried my hand at the roasted mushrooms with goats fetta on sourdough and hot damn! It was delightful. Perfectly cooked mushrooms, salty fetta, greens. It’s breakfast the way that this girl loves it! The second time around I stepped a little out of my comfort zone got the savoury mince with poached eggs. Tasty, hearty, flavoursome and rich. It doesn’t usually come with the eggs but I added these on the side and I was sure glad that I did. Two perfectly cooked, creamy yolky poached eggs with the mince and the toast and the happiness. In case it’s not been made clear I am loving on Chow House.
There is a lovely outdoor, covered seated area which almost reminds me of a little greenhouse oasis. Inside is equally as nice and for a café established on James Street, I very well could have been in Byron Bay for all I knew. Once you’re inside the atmosphere sure doesn’t feel like you’re on one of the busiest streets of Fortitude Valley.
My one criticism, is that the staff can leave a little to be desired. Usually I get a bad taste for the service when I’m settling up my bill. If you’re ringing me up, you shouldn’t be talking to the barista about whichever staff member has called in sick for their shift that day or the cleaning jobs you need to get done before lunch. Don’t gaze in to my eyes longingly while you swipe my card but acknowledge me as a paying customer worthy of more than a quick ‘savings?’ without you even looking up at me. But that passionfruit curd will keep me coming back despite this.

Been here a lot recently and it’s always a really good place for a bite and a drink, with the added bonus of watching the beautiful people strutting up and down James Street.
One of my favourite places for breakfast because of the relaxed vibes, decent coffee and good service.

It’s simple math: when you spend $ 73.50 on one starter and two mains you expect quality food, even if the Chow House looks more like a café than a fine dining establishment.
We went here at the recommendation of both a colleague and good friends (now vague acquaintances ;), but we walked away disappointed and $ 120 lighter (food + bottle of Shiraz). Apart from the so-​so food our server didn’t know the menu well and had no info on the wine other than «yes, that’s a popular one».
The confit duck spring rolls were unexpectedly large, but the duck was bland and the spring roll dough very dry. We cannot recommend this.
The first of our mains was the lamb curry. The meat was nice and tender, but the curry was entirely unmemorable. The salad was a very simple collection of green leaves.
Our other main was the pork belly, which had nice greens and sauce, albeit a bit on the sweet side. The meat was not tender and soft as it should be and the skin was really unreasonably hard.
All in all, poor value for money. We will not be back here any time soon as you can get much higher quality food for near identical prices in other restaurants.

Would you like to break a tooth? Have a hot dentist you never see? Then order the avocado & labne on sourdough at chow house. You’ll crack all your teeth & get to see that hot dentist sooner than you thought.
It’s December 30 as I’m writing this review. It’s avocado season. So I’m wondering why the avocado I’ve been served is rock hard? I can’t squish it, and if I want to eat it, I have to slice off apple-​crunch-​texture slices.
Don’t even get me started on the sourdough toast. It’s so hard that my bread knife can’t cut it. Not even a dent. Also, two tiny TEENSY slices of bread for $ 13.50?
And it took AN HOUR to come out? FFS — you don’t even have to cook it! Just toast the bread!
Poor form, chow house. Poor form.

We ordered the Pork Belly and all I can say is «Wow!» The meat was succulent and tender, a total melt in your mouth experience with the right amount of crackle in the crackling. The bed of vegies and spicy green tea noodles was the perfect compliment, not too heavy, not too light… just right!
I had a glass of Baby Doll sav blanc which actually tasted like it was about to turn, but as we were in a rush to get to the movies I didn’t make a fuss.
The customer service was good, one girl in particular was über friendly and didn’t flinch when we asked about the progress of our meals. We were watching the clock slightly due to impending movie start time.
I can’t wait to go back and experience this venue again when I have an opportunity to relax and not scoff a meal down in a rush.

When you are in the restaurant business for a long time, having a major overhaul and revamp is a smart thing in my opinion, and thats what James St Bistro have done in its new life as Chowhouse.
I am always skeptical of restaurants that are «asian fusion», or «modern asian» and unfortunately, we did have some hits and misses when we visited for dinner which means we will likely stick to Sunnybank for Asian food in future.
We had a couple of «street chow» dishes to start; lemongrass chicken satay skewers were delicious, with a great chunky spicy satay sauce. The chilli coriander bread on the side was a bit odd (this is where the «fusion» comes in I suppose) but at least it made it more filling. On the other hand, sichuan pepper deboned quail was not actually deboned at all… which our waitress did explain to us before ordering, but why have that written on the menu? absolutely no spice nor pepper flavour to the quail at all, but cute fried quail eggs atop crusty bottomed rice was a nice side touch. This dish wasn’t really worth $ 15 though… whereas if it was as described I would have no problem paying that.
Mains: green tea smoked duck breast was well overcooked unfortunately, and served with a steamed bun that was less authentic asian steamed bun and more turkish bread in appearance and taste. Most disappointing.
Caramelised pork belly with crispy pigs ear, watercress, lychee and orange salad was a generous serve. Immensely sweet, there was a nice crust of crackling on top and the fruit was helpful in cutting through both the fat and the sweetness. Crispy pigs ear on top was weird… very chewy… but we liked this dish.
Dessert was a winner; shared banana fritters with caramel icecream and molasses, definitely share this rather than ordering on your own as it is extremely filling and sweet.

Two words: Passionfruit Curd. That’s all it took this morning at Chow House to perk me up and turn me into a happy camper. The accompanying coconut crumpets were okay (a little tough and chewy) but the passionfruit curd. Oh my. It made the dish. Thankfully the dish of curd did the three crumpets and then some. Yes, yes I did ask if I could bring the rest of the curd home with me. Hello breakfast spread tomorrow morning…

We had a selection of «street chow» entrees/​tapas on a Tuesday night. It was really busy and there was a little bit of a wait, nothing terrible.
We had the chicken satay skewers, sugarcane prawn and porkbelly rice paper rolls. The first two were quite good, there was a really interesting dipping sauce with the prawn. But the stand-​out was the pork roll. I’ve had these at Market Square in Sunnybank and forayed into making them at home… But these were something else. Could be the porkbelly rather than standard Chinese BBQ pork, but definitely also the use of great tasting ingredients… But for that and the James st location they’re at a higher price point than their Sunnybank cousins.
Well worth it and I’m keen to go back soon!

Very happy to see that James St bistro has had an overhaul. and a new chef! Dropped in here before a flick and my friend and I chose from the street food menu. I had the pork balls and green papaya salad, and my friend had the Vietnamese pork and prawn cold rolls. Absolutely spectacular! The green papaya salad was amazing… so fresh and delicious and my pork balls were exquisite. Will definitely be back.