A First-Timer's Guide to Eating Phở (and Loving Every Bowl)
★ As featured in Glam Adelaide — 2025 SA Restaurant & Catering Awards finalist
If you've never eaten phở before, walking into a Vietnamese restaurant can feel a bit like arriving at someone's family dinner without knowing the customs. There's a plate of herbs you're not sure what to do with, a bowl of raw-looking beef, sauces in squeeze bottles, and everyone around you seems to know exactly what they're doing. Don't worry. Phở is one of the most welcoming dishes in the world, and this guide will get you from "what is that?" to slurping happily in about five minutes of reading. We'll use our own kitchen at Bà Năm on Grote Street as the example, because it's the one we know best — but most of this applies anywhere good phở is made.
What phở actually is
At its heart, phở (pronounced closer to "fuh" than "foe") is a Vietnamese noodle soup: a clear, aromatic beef broth poured over flat rice noodles, topped with beef and finished with fresh herbs. That's it. The magic is entirely in how well each part is done.
There are regional styles across Vietnam. At Bà Năm we cook in the Southern tradition — the style of Saigon and the surrounding provinces — which tends to come with a generous plate of fresh herbs, bean sprouts and lime on the side, so you build the bowl to your own taste. Our recipe comes from Trảng Bàng in Tây Ninh province, where Bà Năm Lời has been making phở from her home kitchen since the 1970s. Her grandson Huynh Nguyen and owner Thi Gai Vo brought that same recipe to Adelaide in 2023. We're not a luxury venue, just very genuine — and phở was never meant to be fancy anyway. It's comfort food done properly.
Ordering your first bowl at Bà Năm
If it's your first visit, we'd point you to the Phở Tái, our signature. Tái means rare beef: paper-thin round slices we call "red coin", served so the boiling broth cooks them right there in your bowl. It sounds unusual the first time, but it's the classic way — the beef stays impossibly tender because it never sees a pan.
Sizes are simple. Phở Bò comes in Small ($20) or Large ($22). Small is a proper meal; Large is for the genuinely hungry. Then there's the house signature: Phở Thố Đá, our stone bowl phở at $25. The stone bowl arrives roaring hot and keeps the broth at cooking temperature at the table, which makes the red-coin experience even better — you watch the beef turn from ruby to rose in front of you. Order a stone-bowl tái dish and you'll also pick up a monthly lucky draw ticket through our TÁI Club, a small thank-you we run for regulars and first-timers alike.
If you like a bit of heat and lemongrass, our Bún Bò Huế (Small $20, Large $22, stone bowl $25) is the spicier cousin from central Vietnam — worth a look on a second visit. Fans of rare beef who want something lighter might also enjoy Gỏi Bò Tái Chanh at $25, a lime-cured rare beef salad in the same tái family.
How to eat it (without ruining it)
Here's the friendly local advice: don't dump everything in at once.
- Taste the broth first. Before you add anything, take a spoonful plain. That's 18 hours of work in one sip, and it tells you what the bowl actually needs.
- Cook your beef. If you've ordered tái, push the red-coin slices down into the broth for a few moments. They'll cook through in the heat — in the stone bowl, this happens almost instantly.
- Add herbs and sprouts gradually. Tear the herbs (don't drop in whole stems), add a handful of bean sprouts for crunch, and squeeze in some lime.
- Sauces stay on the side. Hoisin and chilli sauce are best used as a dip for the beef in a little side dish, rather than stirred into the broth. Adding them straight in changes the flavour of the whole bowl — fine once you know you like it that way, but taste it honest first.
- Slurp. Chopsticks in one hand for noodles, spoon in the other for broth. Slurping is not rude here; it's a compliment.
What makes our broth different
Plenty of places make phở. The difference is time. Our broth simmers for 18 hours over real bones — the slow way, no shortcuts, no powders, no concentrates. That long simmer is what gives the broth its clarity and depth: sweet from the bones, warm from charred aromatics, clean enough that you could drink it on its own (and plenty of people do).
The beef matters too. We source it locally, and Huynh does the Sunday farm runs himself, which is about as short as a supply chain gets. That's the beef that becomes the paper-thin red coin slices in your bowl. Glam Adelaide featured us for this approach, and we were named a finalist in the Vietnamese Restaurant category at the 2025 Hostplus SA Restaurant & Catering Awards — but honestly, the recipe hasn't changed since the 1970s in Trảng Bàng, and it isn't going to.
As featured in Glam Adelaide. Bà Năm was named a finalist in the 2025 Hostplus SA Restaurant & Catering Awards for Excellence (Vietnamese Restaurant category) and featured by Glam Adelaide — recognition for the family recipes, the locally sourced beef, and Huynh's Sunday farm runs that keep the kitchen honest.
Your first visit: the practical bits
You'll find us at 65 Grote Street, Adelaide, in the heart of Chinatown — easy to reach if you're already exploring Vietnamese food in the Adelaide CBD. We're open seven days, 11am to 9pm (until 9:30pm in summer, October to March). Walk-ins are welcome, and you can book online via OpenTable.
One honest note: at peak times you might wait 15–30 minutes for a table or your bowl. We'd rather tell you that upfront than rush an 18-hour broth at the last step. Quality takes time, and we think the first spoonful proves it. If you'd prefer to skip the queue, you can order ahead through our app at order.phobanam.com.au, or ring us on (08) 8151 0106 if you have questions. Have a look at the menu before you come — then just drop in hungry. We'll take care of the rest.
Optional extra: giò quẩy
If you want one small upgrade, add a $4 giò quẩy — a crisp fried dough stick you tear and dunk in the hot broth. Don't drop the whole stick in or it goes soggy; short dunks keep the crunch.
Ready for the full combination?
Once you’ve had a few bowls of tái or brisket, many regulars graduate to Phở Đặc Biệt — the combination bowl with rare beef, brisket, meatballs, tendon and tripe together. Same $20 / $22 pricing; more of the cow in one serve.
Frequently asked questions
How do I eat phở for the first time?
Taste the broth plain first, then push the rare beef slices into the hot soup to cook them through. Add torn herbs, bean sprouts and a squeeze of lime gradually, to your taste. Keep hoisin and chilli sauce on the side as a dip for the beef rather than stirring them straight into the broth.
What should I order first at Bà Năm?
Start with the Phở Tái — our signature "red coin" rare beef, cooked in the bowl by the boiling 18-hour broth. It's $20 for a small or $22 for a large. If you want the full experience, the Phở Thố Đá stone bowl at $25 keeps the broth at cooking heat right at your table.
Is phở spicy?
No — classic phở is aromatic and savoury, not hot. You control any heat yourself with the fresh chilli and chilli sauce served on the side. If you do want a spicy bowl, our Bún Bò Huế is the lemongrass-chilli option from central Vietnam.
Do I need to book, and is there a wait?
Walk-ins are welcome, and you can book online via OpenTable. Open seven days, 11am to 9pm (until 9:30pm in summer, October to March). At peak times expect an honest 15–30 minute wait; an 18-hour broth doesn't get rushed at the finish line. You can also order ahead via order.phobanam.com.au.
Where is Bà Năm in Adelaide?
We're at 65 Grote Street in Adelaide's Chinatown, right in the CBD. It's an easy walk from the Central Market area, and you can reach us on (08) 8151 0106.