Bún Chả Giò: Adelaide's Crispy Spring Roll Vermicelli Bowl
★ As featured in Glam Adelaide — 2025 SA Restaurant & Catering Awards finalist
Some dishes are all about the broth. This one is all about the crunch. Bún Chả Giò is the Southern Vietnamese answer to a warm Adelaide afternoon — a room-temperature bowl of soft rice vermicelli piled with golden fried spring rolls, cool cucumber, shredded carrot, lettuce and fresh herbs, all brought together the moment you pour over the nước chấm and toss. At Bà Năm on Grote Street in Adelaide Chinatown, it's made the same unfussy way Bà Năm Lời has cooked since the 1970s in her home kitchen in Trảng Bàng — nothing flash, just very genuine.
What Is Bún Chả Giò?
Bún Chả Giò translates simply enough: bún is rice vermicelli, chả giò are fried spring rolls. Put them together and you get one of Southern Vietnam's most loved everyday meals — a bowl built on contrast. The noodles are soft and served at room temperature. The spring rolls arrive hot and shatteringly crisp, their pork filling still steaming inside the golden wrapper. Underneath and around it all sits the fresh stuff: lettuce, mint and herbs, shredded carrot, batons of cucumber.
The whole thing is dressed at the table with nước chấm — the sweet, sour, salty, garlicky fish-sauce dressing that ties every element together. Pour, toss, eat. At Bà Năm, Bún Chả Giò is $20, and there's a vegetarian sibling, Bún Chả Giò Chay, also $20, for those who want the crunch without the meat.
From Trảng Bàng to Grote Street
Bà Năm Lời has been cooking from her home kitchen in Trảng Bàng, Tây Ninh, since the 1970s — the sort of cook the neighbourhood knows by name rather than by signage. In 2023, her grandson Huynh Nguyen and owner Thi Gai Vo brought that home cooking to Adelaide, opening Bà Năm at 65 Grote Street in the heart of Chinatown.
The restaurant is best known for its phở — an 18-hour broth and the Phở Tái "red coin", where paper-thin rounds of rare beef are cooked right in the bowl by the boiling broth itself. But the bún bowls come from the same kitchen philosophy: honest ingredients, done properly. Huynh still makes Sunday farm runs for locally sourced beef, and the spring rolls are rolled and fried the way they'd be at home in Trảng Bàng. It's not a luxury venue, just very genuine — and that's rather the point.
How Bún Chả Giò Differs from the Grilled Bún Bowls
Every bún bowl at Bà Năm shares the same foundation — vermicelli, herbs, salad, nước chấm — but the topping changes everything.
Bún Chả Giò is the crispy one. Where Bún Thịt Nướng ($20) tops the bowl with smoky char-grilled pork and Bún Gà Nướng ($20) does the same with grilled chicken, Bún Chả Giò swaps the grill for the fryer. If you can't decide, Bún Đặc Biệt ($24) is the combination bowl — the greatest-hits version. You can also add Extra Chả Giò to any bowl — two for $6.
The vegetarian lineup mirrors it: Bún Chả Giò Chay ($20) with vegetarian spring rolls, Bún Tàu Hủ Chay ($20) with tofu, and Bún Chay Đặc Biệt ($24) for the full spread — more on those in our guide to vegetarian Vietnamese food in Adelaide.
And of course, all of this sits in contrast to the hot soup side of the menu — the 18-hour broth, the red coin phở at Phở Tái, and the stone bowl Phở Thố Đá. Bún bowls are what you order when you want Vietnamese flavour without the steam on your glasses. More on the signature soup in our guides to the best phở in Adelaide and the 18-hour broth and red coin.
A little recognition: Bà Năm was a finalist in the Vietnamese Restaurant category at the 2025 Hostplus SA Restaurant & Catering Awards, and Glam Adelaide featured the story behind grandma's recipes — later covering us in their 2025 Adelaide restaurants roundup as a finalist, not a winner, and we're happy to say it straight. We're not a luxury venue, just very genuine — but it's nice when people notice.
How to Eat It
There's a small ritual to it, and it matters. The bowl arrives assembled but undressed, with a small side bowl of nước chấm flecked with chilli and garlic. Pour the nước chấm over the whole bowl — all of it, don't be shy — then toss everything together with your chopsticks so the noodles, herbs and salad get evenly coated.
Some people like to eat the spring rolls whole between mouthfuls of noodles; others snip or break them into bite-sized pieces before tossing so every chopstick-load gets a bit of crunch. Both approaches are correct. The only real mistake is letting the rolls sit too long — eat them while they're hot and crisp against the cool noodles. That temperature contrast is the whole dish.
What to Order Alongside
If one serve of spring rolls isn't enough — and it often isn't — you can add Extra Chả Giò (2 for $6) straight onto your bowl. For the table, Chả Giò Thịt (4 cuốn, $14) keeps the crispy theme going, while Gỏi Cuốn Tôm Thịt (3 for $14) offers the fresh, un-fried counterpoint: soft rice-paper rolls with prawn and pork.
Feeling snacky? Hoành Thánh Chiên (6 fried wontons, $14) or Bánh Mì Tôm Chiên (3 prawn toasts, $14) round things out nicely. And to finish, a cà phê đen đá or nâu đá ($8) — strong Vietnamese iced coffee, black or with condensed milk — is the classic ending to a bún lunch.
Bún Chả Giò in Adelaide Chinatown
Grote Street has long been Adelaide's address for a proper Asian lunch, and Bà Năm has settled into the strip quickly since opening in 2023. Glam Adelaide has featured the restaurant, and in 2025 Bà Năm was named a finalist in the Vietnamese Restaurant category at the Hostplus SA Restaurant & Catering Awards — welcome recognition for a kitchen that mostly just wants to cook the way Bà Năm Lời always has.
For Adelaide diners, Bún Chả Giò fills a particular niche: it's the warm-weather Vietnamese order, the market-day lunch, the bowl for people who love spring rolls enough to make them the main event. In a Chinatown full of steaming soup bowls, it's the crunchy, cool-headed alternative — and one of the best everyday bowls in the Adelaide CBD for Vietnamese food.
Visiting Bà Năm
You'll find Bà Năm at 65 Grote Street, Adelaide Chinatown, open seven days from 11am to 9pm (stretching to 9:30pm over summer, October to March), public holidays included. Walk-ins are welcome, and you can book via OpenTable — though fair warning, peak times can mean an honest 15–30 minute wait. Groups of 8 or more should call (08) 8151 0106 ahead. Prefer to order ahead? Our app is at order.phobanam.com.au.
Come hungry, order the crunchy bowl, and pour that nước chấm with confidence.
Want the rolls fresh instead of fried-over-noodles? Start with Gỏi Cuốn Tôm Thịt — three cold prawn-and-pork rolls for $14 — then come back to bún when you want the full bowl.
Frequently asked questions
What is Bún Chả Giò?
It's a Southern Vietnamese rice vermicelli bowl served at room temperature, topped with hot, crispy fried spring rolls, fresh herbs, lettuce, shredded carrot and cucumber. It's dressed with nước chấm, which you pour over and toss through before eating.
How much is Bún Chả Giò at Bà Năm?
Bún Chả Giò is $20. The vegetarian version, Bún Chả Giò Chay, is also $20, and the combination bowl, Bún Đặc Biệt, is $24. Extra Chả Giò are two for $6.50.
Is Bún Chả Giò served hot or cold?
Both, in a sense — the noodles, herbs and salad are at room temperature, while the fried spring rolls arrive hot and crisp. That contrast is central to the dish.
Is there a vegetarian version?
Yes — Bún Chả Giò Chay ($20) uses vegetarian spring rolls, and there's also Bún Tàu Hủ Chay with tofu ($20) and the combination Bún Chay Đặc Biệt ($24).
Do I need to book at Bà Năm?
Walk-ins are welcome and we take bookings via OpenTable. At peak times expect an honest 15–30 minute wait. Groups of 8+ should call (08) 8151 0106. Open seven days, 11am–9pm (9:30pm in summer, Oct–Mar).