Chả Giò Chay: Vegetarian Fried Spring Rolls, Southern Vietnamese Style

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

Chả giò chay are the fried ones — hot, golden, vegetable-filled spring rolls in a blistered rice-paper wrapper, served four to a plate for $14 at Bà Năm on Grote Street. Here's what they are, how they differ from the fresh rolls, and how to eat them properly.

What is chả giò chay?

Chả giò is the Southern Vietnamese fried spring roll. Add chay — vegetarian — and you've got a vegetable filling rolled tight, deep-fried until the wrapper goes golden and crackles when you bite it. Up north the same dish is called nem rán; Bà Năm cooks Southern food, so here it's chả giò, the name Bà Năm Lời would have used cooking in Trảng Bàng, Tây Ninh from the 1970s.

One thing worth knowing: this is not a Chinese egg roll. The wrapper is rice paper, not wheat pastry, and it fries differently — thinner, more brittle, with a bubbled, shattery surface rather than a chewy flaky one. If you've only ever had spring rolls from a suburban Chinese takeaway, chả giò will feel lighter and crisper.

Fried vs fresh — don't order the wrong roll

Vietnamese menus usually list two kinds of rolls and they're completely different dishes:

• Chả giò chay — fried, hot, crisp, vegetable filling. This article.
• Gỏi cuốn chay — fresh, cold, soft rice paper around tofu and herbs. See our Gỏi Cuốn Chay guide.

Both are $14 at Bà Năm. If you want crunch, order chả giò. If you want something cool and light, order gỏi cuốn. Plenty of tables order both — no one's ever regretted it. There's a fuller breakdown in our Rice Paper Rolls guide.

How Bà Năm serves it

Four rolls (4 cuốn) on a white oval plate for $14, with lettuce leaves, shredded carrot and pickled daikon on the side, and a small bowl of red chilli dipping sauce — the kind with visible chilli flakes, a bit sweet, a bit sharp, with real heat behind it.

The rolls come out hot from the fryer, so the wrapper is at its crispest in the first few minutes. Eat them while they're hot. That's not a marketing line — fried rice paper genuinely softens as it cools, and the whole point of chả giò is the contrast between the crackly outside and the soft vegetable filling.

Still hungry after four? An extra serve of chả giò (2 cuốn) is $6.50.

Vegetarian, meat, or the full meal bowl

Bà Năm runs three ways to eat chả giò, depending on how hungry you are and what you eat:

• Chả Giò Chay (4 cuốn) — vegetarian fried rolls, as above — $14
• Chả Giò Thịt (4 cuốn) — the pork and chicken version — $14
• Bún Chả Giò Chay — vegetarian rolls over a full vermicelli noodle bowl — $20

The bún bowl is the natural next step: the same fried rolls, sliced over cold rice vermicelli with salad and herbs. It turns a starter into a proper meal for $20. If you're eating with someone who wants meat, Bún Chả Giò with the pork-and-chicken rolls is also $20, so nobody's compromising.

How to eat chả giò chay

There's no wrong way, but the traditional way is worth trying:

1. Take a lettuce leaf from the plate.
2. Lay a hot roll (or half of one) on it, add a pinch of the pickled carrot and daikon.
3. Wrap the lettuce around it like a small parcel.
4. Dip in the chilli sauce and eat in one or two bites.

The cold, crisp lettuce against the hot fried roll is the whole trick — temperature contrast, crunch on crunch, with the pickles cutting through the fried richness. Dipping straight from plate to sauce is also completely fine. Nobody at Bà Năm is judging.

What to order alongside

An honest note first: Bà Năm's phở broth is meat-based — real bones, an 18-hour simmer — so there is no vegetarian phở here. We'd rather say that plainly than let you find out at the table.

The good news is the vegetarian side of the menu holds its own:

• Gỏi Cuốn Chay (3 cuốn, $14) — the fresh tofu rolls, for a hot-and-cold pairing
• Bún Tàu Hủ Chay ($20) — tofu vermicelli bowl
• Bún Chay Đặc Biệt ($24) — the special vegetarian noodle bowl
• Nước dừa ($8) or trà đào cam sả ($10) to drink — coconut water or peach, orange and lemongrass tea, both good against fried food and chilli

More on the full meat-free lineup in our vegetarian Vietnamese guide. Meat eaters at the same table can go straight for the Phở Tái with its paper-thin "red coin" rare beef cooked in the bowl by the boiling broth, or the Gỏi Cuốn Tôm Thịt.

From Trảng Bàng to Grote Street

Bà Năm Lời cooked in Trảng Bàng, Tây Ninh, in Southern Việt Nam from the 1970s. Her grandson Huynh Nguyen and owner Thi Gai Vo opened Bà Năm at 65 Grote Street in Adelaide's Chinatown in 2023, cooking the food the way she did. Huynh still does Sunday farm runs for the beef that goes into the broth — that same seriousness carries over to the smaller dishes, including the fried rolls.

It's not a luxury venue, just very genuine. If you're exploring the neighbourhood, our Chinatown guide covers what's around — the restaurant sits a short walk from the Central Market, which makes chả giò chay a solid lunch stop on a market day.

Practical bits

Open seven days, 11am–9pm (9:30pm in summer, October to March), including public holidays. Walk-ins are welcome, bookings run through OpenTable, and groups of eight or more should call ahead on (08) 8151 0106. Fair warning: at peak times there's an honest 15–30 minute wait — the fryer and the kitchen don't cut corners.

Takeaway chả giò chay travels well if you eat them soon — the crunch is best hot — so order online at order.phobanam.com.au if you'd rather grab and go.

One transparency note: ours is a shared kitchen, so while the rolls are vegetarian, we can't call anything certified gluten-free or guarantee zero cross-contact. If you have an allergy, tell our staff when you order and we'll talk you through it honestly. Vegan diners should ask about the frying oil and dipping sauce on the day.

Frequently asked questions

What is chả giò chay?

Chả giò chay are Southern Vietnamese vegetarian fried spring rolls — a vegetable filling wrapped in rice paper and deep-fried until golden and crisp. At Bà Năm they're served four to a plate for $14 with lettuce, pickled carrot and daikon, and red chilli dipping sauce.

What's the difference between chả giò chay and gỏi cuốn chay?

Chả giò chay are fried and served hot with a crisp wrapper; gỏi cuốn chay are fresh, cold rolls with soft rice paper around tofu and herbs. Both are $14 at Bà Năm and they're different enough that many tables order both.

Are the vegetarian spring rolls at Bà Năm vegan or gluten-free?

They're vegetarian. If you're vegan, ask staff about the frying oil and dipping sauce on the day. They're not certified gluten-free — Bà Năm has a shared kitchen, so cross-contact can't be ruled out.

Does Bà Năm have vegetarian phở?

No. The phở broth is simmered for 18 hours on real bones, so it's meat-based. Vegetarian options include chả giò chay ($14), gỏi cuốn chay ($14), bún chả giò chay ($20), bún tàu hủ chay ($20) and bún chay đặc biệt ($24).

Where can I get chả giò chay in Adelaide?

At Bà Năm, 65 Grote St in Adelaide Chinatown, a short walk from the Central Market. Open 7 days, 11:00 AM–9:00 PM (9:30 PM in summer, Oct–Mar), including public holidays. Walk-ins welcome; groups of 8+ should call (08) 8151 0106.