Cà Ri Gà in Adelaide Chinatown — Southern Vietnamese Chicken Curry

★ As featured in Glam Adelaide — 2025 SA Restaurant & Catering Awards finalist

Walk past 65 Grote Street around lunchtime and you'll catch it — the lemongrass-and-coconut aroma of cà ri gà simmering away in the heart of Adelaide Chinatown. This is Southern Vietnamese chicken curry the home-cooking way: golden, gently spiced, soft chunks of potato, far milder than its Thai or Indian cousins. On the menu it's simply "Chicken Curry with Potato", and it arrives three ways — a crusty bánh mì for dunking, broken rice, or noodles.

What is cà ri gà?

Cà ri gà is Vietnamese chicken curry — and if your reference point for curry is Thai or Indian, it's worth knowing it sits in its own lane. Southern Vietnamese chicken curry is typically gentler and more aromatic than fiery: lemongrass-forward, softened with coconut, coloured golden with curry powder, and cooked with chunks of potato that soak up the sauce as they simmer. The chicken cooks down until it's tender and the potato goes soft and creamy at the edges, thickening the curry slightly as it goes.

It's a home-cooking dish through and through. In Southern Vietnam it's the kind of thing made for family gatherings, ladled out with fresh bread for dipping. Our menu lists it plainly as "Chicken Curry with Potato", because that's exactly what it is — no reinvention, no fusion twist. If you're exploring Vietnamese food in the Adelaide CBD beyond phở, cà ri gà is one of the most rewarding places to start.

How to order it: bread, broken rice or noodles

The curry itself stays the same across the menu — what you choose is the vehicle. There are three ways to have it at Bà Năm:

Cà Ri Gà Bánh Mì — $20. Chicken curry served with a bread roll. This is the classic Southern Vietnamese way to eat it: tear the bread, dunk it into the golden sauce, repeat until the bowl is clean. If you've never had Vietnamese curry before, start here.

Cà Ri Gà Cơm Tấm — $20. Chicken curry over broken rice. Broken rice — the fractured grains that were once the humble end of the harvest — has a softer, slightly clingy texture that holds curry beautifully. If you're curious about broken rice itself, we've written more about it in our cơm tấm guide.

Cà Ri Gà Mì Sợi — $22. Chicken curry with your choice of egg noodles, sticky rice noodles or vermicelli. Noodles in curry turn the dish into something closer to a rich noodle soup — slurpy, warming, very hard to share.

There's no wrong answer. Bread for dipping, rice for a proper meal, noodles for a rainy Adelaide evening. If it's the middle of winter, the curry also earns its place in our roundup of Vietnamese winter warmers in Adelaide.

Cà ri gà vs bò kho vs phở

Cà ri gà has a sibling on the menu: bò kho, the Vietnamese beef stew, served with the same three side choices at the same prices ($20 with bread or broken rice, $22 with noodles). The simplest way to split them: cà ri gà is golden, coconut-rich and lemongrass-aromatic; bò kho is deeper and darker, built on slow-braised beef, tomato and star anise. Curry mood versus stew mood. There's a third stew lane too: Gia Cay, Southern pork hock with galangal and turmeric — $22 with bread, broken rice or bún.

And then there's the phở — the dish Bà Năm is best known for, built on an 18-hour bone broth. Phở Bò runs $20 small and $22 large, the Phở Thố Đá stone bowl is $25, and Phở Tái arrives with the "red coin" — paper-thin rare beef that finishes cooking in the boiling broth at your table. Phở is clean, clear and delicate; cà ri gà is rich, golden and hearty. Plenty of tables order one of each and argue about who chose better. (First time trying phở? Our first-timer's guide has you covered.)

From Trảng Bàng to Grote Street

Bà Năm's story starts with Bà Năm Lời, who cooked in Trảng Bàng, Tây Ninh in the 1970s. Founders Huynh Nguyen and Thi Gai Vo brought that lineage to Adelaide in 2023, opening on Grote Street in Chinatown.

The kitchen's best-known tradition — the 18-hour bone broth and "red coin" rare beef — belongs to the phở side of the menu, not the curry pot. Cà ri gà stays in the home-cooking lane: golden sauce, soft potato, bread for dunking. We're not a luxury venue — just very genuine.

Where to find cà ri gà in Adelaide Chinatown and the CBD

Bà Năm serves cà ri gà at 65 Grote Street, right in the heart of Adelaide Chinatown — an easy walk from most of the Vietnamese food in the Adelaide CBD. Order it three ways: Cà Ri Gà Bánh Mì with a bread roll ($20), Cà Ri Gà Cơm Tấm over broken rice ($20), or Cà Ri Gà Mì Sợi with egg noodles, sticky rice noodles or vermicelli ($22). Its stew sibling bò kho uses the same three formats at the same prices, while Gia Cay pork hock stew is $22 across the board — all three sit on our winter warmers list, though regulars order them year-round.

Doors are open 11am–9pm daily, stretching to 9:30pm from October to March, including public holidays. It's a busy room — expect an honest 15–30 minute wait at peak — so groups of 8 or more are best off calling (08) 8151 0106 ahead, and anyone can book via OpenTable or order through order.phobanam.com.au. Come for the phở if that's what brought you; stay for the curry when you want something richer. A bowl with a Vietnamese iced coffee on the side is hard to beat.

Frequently asked questions

What is cà ri gà?

Cà ri gà is Vietnamese chicken curry — a golden, lemongrass-aromatic Southern Vietnamese curry cooked with chicken and potato. It's gentler and more fragrant than most Thai or Indian curries, and traditionally eaten with fresh bread for dipping, or over rice or noodles.

How much is cà ri gà at Bà Năm and what does it come with?

There are three options: Cà Ri Gà Bánh Mì with a bread roll ($20), Cà Ri Gà Cơm Tấm with broken rice ($20), or Cà Ri Gà Mì Sợi with your choice of egg noodles, sticky rice noodles or vermicelli ($22).

How is Vietnamese chicken curry different from bò kho?

Cà ri gà is a golden, coconut-rich chicken curry with potato; bò kho is a darker Vietnamese beef stew built on tomato and star anise. At Bà Năm, both come with the same side choices at the same prices — bread or broken rice for $20, noodles for $22.

Where is Bà Năm and what are the opening hours?

Bà Năm is at 65 Grote Street in Adelaide Chinatown, near the Central Market. We're open 7 days a week, 11:00 AM to 9:00 PM (extended to 9:30 PM during summer, October to March), including public holidays.

Do I need to book a table?

Walk-ins are welcome, though at peak times you might wait 15–30 minutes. You can book via OpenTable on our website, and groups of 8 or more should call (08) 8151 0106. You can also order through our app at order.phobanam.com.au.

Where can I get cà ri gà (Vietnamese chicken curry) in Adelaide CBD or Chinatown?

Bà Năm at 65 Grote Street, Adelaide Chinatown SA 5000 serves Southern Vietnamese cà ri gà (listed on the menu as Chicken Curry with Potato) three ways: with a bánh mì bread roll ($20), with cơm tấm broken rice ($20), or with mì sợi — egg noodles, sticky rice noodles or vermicelli ($22). It's open 11am–9pm daily, extending to 9:30pm October–March, public holidays included. Peak times can involve an honest 15–30 minute wait, so it's worth booking via OpenTable, calling (08) 8151 0106, or ordering ahead at order.phobanam.com.au.