Bún Chả Giò Chay: Adelaide's Vegetarian Spring Roll Vermicelli Bowl
★ As featured in Glam Adelaide — 2025 SA Restaurant & Catering Awards finalist
Somewhere between a salad and a proper feed sits Bún Chả Giò Chay — cool rice vermicelli piled with crackling-hot vegetarian spring rolls, a garden's worth of fresh herbs, and a sweet-sour dipping sauce you pour over the top and toss through. At Bà Năm on Grote Street in Adelaide Chinatown, it's $20 of texture and contrast: crisp against soft, warm against cool, rich against fresh. If you're a vegetarian diner searching Adelaide for Vietnamese food that isn't a single token option, this bowl — and the kitchen behind it — is worth knowing.
What Is Bún Chả Giò Chay?
Break the name down and you've got the whole dish: bún is rice vermicelli, chả giò are fried spring rolls, and chay means vegetarian. It's the meat-free take on one of Southern Vietnam's most-loved lunch bowls — a dry noodle salad rather than a soup, built for warm weather and eaten cool-and-hot at the same time.
At Bà Năm, the recipe lineage runs back to Bà Năm Lời, who's been cooking in Trảng Bàng, Tây Ninh since the 1970s. Her grandson Huynh Nguyen and owner Thi Gai Vo brought the family's cooking to Adelaide in 2023, and while the restaurant's reputation was built on the famous 18-hour phở and the Phở Tái "red coin", the bún section is where southern salad-bowl eating really shows itself — vegetarian versions included.
What's in the Bowl
The bowl arrives looking like the photo above, not a styled version of it. A nest of soft rice vermicelli sits underneath several whole golden spring rolls — you can see the dark vegetable filling at the cut ends — scattered with rings of spring onion. Shredded carrot runs down one side, julienned cucumber down the other, and at the front there's a fresh tangle of lettuce, mint and purple leaf. On the side: a small bowl of sweet-sour vegetarian dipping sauce, nước chấm style, flecked with chilli, garlic and crushed peanut.
The spring rolls are the event. They come out of the fryer shatteringly crisp, the wrapper blistered gold, the vegetable filling inside steaming and savoury. Against the cool, slippery noodles and cold crunchy vegetables, that first hot bite is the whole point of the dish. At Bà Năm, Bún Chả Giò Chay is $20 — the same price as the meat sibling.
How to Eat It
There's no wrong way, but there is a better way. Pour the dipping sauce over the entire bowl — don't ration it — then toss everything together with your chopsticks so the noodles, herbs and vegetables all get coated. Some people snip or break the spring rolls first so the crisp shards distribute through the bowl; others keep them whole on top and alternate bites. Either way, eat it promptly. The magic of Bún Chả Giò Chay is the temperature contrast, and the rolls are at their crackling best in the first ten minutes.
It's a genuinely good hot-day order. Adelaide summers and steaming soup don't always agree, and this bowl is the answer when you want something substantial but fresh — without the steam on your glasses.
Vegetarian vs the Meat Version
Bà Năm runs both bowls side by side at the same price. The classic Bún Chả Giò ($20) uses traditional pork-based spring rolls; the chay version swaps in vegetable-filled rolls and a vegetarian dipping sauce. Same format, same freshness, same $20 — which means a mixed table of vegetarians and meat-eaters can order matching bowls without anyone compromising. If your table leans carnivorous, the char-grilled Bún Thịt Nướng ($20) or the combination Bún Đặc Biệt ($24) sit in the same family.
Note the dish is listed as vegetarian, not vegan — if you have specific dietary requirements, have a chat with the team when you order. We don't invent allergen guarantees on a website; the kitchen is the honest source on the day.
More Vegetarian Options at Bà Năm
This isn't a one-token-dish situation. The vegetarian Vietnamese menu at Bà Năm runs properly deep: Bún Tàu Hủ Chay ($20) with tofu and crispy bean curd, the loaded Bún Chay Đặc Biệt ($24) for when you want the works, Gỏi Cuốn Chay (3 for $14) as a fresh starter, and Chả Giò Chay (4 for $14) if the table wants extra vegetarian spring rolls on the side — a smart move, because they disappear fast.
And to drink? A Vietnamese iced coffee — cà phê đen đá or nâu đá, $8 — is the classic pairing, though on a hot day the Trà Tắc ($10), Trà Đào Cam Sả ($10) or a fresh Nước Dừa coconut ($8) sit beautifully against the fried rolls and herbs. For the soup side of the house — the 18-hour broth and red coin — start with Phở Tái or our guide to the best phở in Adelaide.
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.
Bún Chả Giò Chay in Adelaide Chinatown
Grote Street has long been Adelaide's address for a proper Asian lunch, and Bà Năm has settled into the strip since opening in 2023. For vegetarian diners hunting Vietnamese food in the Adelaide CBD, Bún Chả Giò Chay fills a particular niche: it's the warm-weather order, the market-day lunch, the bowl for people who love spring rolls enough to make them the main event — without meat in the filling.
In a Chinatown full of steaming soup bowls, it's the crunchy, cool-headed alternative. Same kitchen philosophy as the phở: honest ingredients, done properly, the way Bà Năm Lời has cooked since the 1970s.
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 vegetarian crunchy bowl, and pour that dipping sauce with confidence.
Frequently asked questions
What is Bún Chả Giò Chay?
Bún Chả Giò Chay is a Southern Vietnamese vegetarian noodle salad bowl: cool rice vermicelli topped with hot, crispy vegetable-filled fried spring rolls, fresh lettuce, mint, carrot and cucumber, served with a sweet-sour vegetarian dipping sauce (nước chấm style) that you pour over and toss through. It is a dry bowl rather than a soup — a warm-weather favourite.
How much is Bún Chả Giò Chay at Bà Năm?
Bún Chả Giò Chay is $20 at Bà Năm, 65 Grote Street, Adelaide Chinatown. For extra vegetarian spring rolls on the side, Chả Giò Chay is 3 for $14. The tofu bowl Bún Tàu Hủ Chay is also $20, and Bún Chay Đặc Biệt is $24.
What is the difference between Bún Chả Giò Chay and Bún Chả Giò?
The chay version is vegetarian — vegetable-filled spring rolls and a vegetarian dipping sauce — while classic Bún Chả Giò uses traditional pork-based spring rolls. Both are $20, so mixed tables can order side by side. The dish is listed as vegetarian, not vegan; ask the team if you have specific dietary needs.
How do you eat Bún Chả Giò Chay?
Pour the dipping sauce over the whole bowl, then toss noodles, herbs and salad with your chopsticks. Eat it soon after it arrives — the dish is about hot, crispy spring rolls against cool noodles and vegetables, and the rolls are at their crunchiest in the first few minutes.
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).