Gà Da Giòn: The Crispy-Skin Chicken That Crackles on Grote Street
★ As featured in Glam Adelaide — 2025 SA Restaurant & Catering Awards finalist
There’s a sound that carries over the lunchtime hum at Bà Năm on Grote Street — the clean crack of a knife going through lacquered chicken skin. Gà Da Giòn, literally “crispy-skin chicken”, is one of those dishes that looks simple on the plate and isn’t: pale, tender meat under a shell of skin rendered deep golden-brown, sliced and stacked, ready for its plate of broken rice. In Adelaide Chinatown, where good chicken dishes are everywhere, this one has quietly built its own following.
A dish you hear before you taste
Walk into Bà Năm at 65 Grote Street around midday and the room is doing what a Chinatown eatery should — bowls of phở steaming past, the fryer working, families at shared tables. Amid all that, Gà Da Giòn arrives with a kind of visual confidence: slices of chicken with skin the colour of dark honey, shining like it’s been varnished, sitting over crisp green lettuce. The contrast is the whole point. Skin that shatters; meat that stays soft and juicy underneath.
It’s not a dish that needs dressing up, and Bà Năm doesn’t try. This is not a luxury venue, just very genuine — a family kitchen serving the food it knows, the way it’s been made at home for decades.
What is Gà Da Giòn, exactly?
Gà Da Giòn is Vietnamese crispy-skin chicken. The name tells you the priority: da giòn means “crispy skin”, and everything about the preparation serves that goal — skin dried and rendered until it turns glassy and golden, while the meat beneath is protected from drying out. Cut through it and you get that satisfying two-texture bite: crackle first, tenderness second.
It’s worth knowing how it differs from the other chicken dishes on the menu, because they’re genuinely different experiences. Gà Nướng is grilled chicken — smoky, char-kissed, marinade-forward — and it anchors the noodle bowl covered over at bún gà nướng. The wildly popular fish sauce wings, Cánh Gà Chiên Nước Mắm, go the other direction entirely: fried, then tossed in a sticky, savoury-sweet caramelised fish sauce glaze. Gà Da Giòn is the purist’s option. No glaze, no char masking anything. The chicken itself — skin, seasoning, juiciness — has to carry the plate. When it’s done well, it does.
The plate to order: Cơm Gà Da Giòn, $20
On Bà Năm’s menu, the way to eat this chicken is Cơm Gà Da Giòn — the crispy chicken broken rice plate, $20. It follows the classic Vietnamese rice-plate formula that regulars of cơm tấm will recognise: a generous protein, a mound of rice, fresh vegetables, and a sauce that pulls the whole thing together.
Here’s what lands on the table: half a crispy-skin chicken, golden and lacquered, beside white rice topped with sliced spring onion. Around it, the fresh counterpoints — tomato slices, cucumber, shredded carrot. A small ramekin of orange chilli sauce, strands of chilli visible through it, sits ready for dipping. And behind the plate, a small bowl of clear soup with green onion — the traditional companion to a Vietnamese rice plate, there to cleanse and refresh between rich bites.
The rhythm of eating it is half the pleasure. A slice of chicken through the chilli sauce. A forkful of rice. A sip of soup. Cucumber when you need coolness. It’s the same satisfying architecture as the full pork trio plate, Cơm Sườn Bì Chả ($20), plain Cơm Sườn ($20), or the grilled chicken version, Cơm Gà Nướng ($20) — Bà Năm’s rice plates are a reliable family of dishes, and the crispy-skin chicken is arguably the most texturally dramatic of the lot.
From Trảng Bàng to Grote Street
Bà Năm’s story starts a long way from Adelaide. The recipes come from Bà Năm Lời’s home kitchen in Trảng Bàng, Tây Ninh, where she’s been cooking since the 1970s. In 2023, her grandson Huynh Nguyen and owner Thi Gai Vo brought that cooking to Grote Street — same recipes, same standards, now made with local South Australian beef, with Huynh doing Sunday farm runs himself to source it.
That care shows most famously in the 18-hour bone broth behind the phở, but it runs through the whole menu, the crispy-skin chicken included. The recognition has followed: Bà Năm was named a finalist in the Vietnamese Restaurant category at the 2025 Hostplus SA Restaurant & Catering Awards, and Glam Adelaide has featured the restaurant’s family story — the Chinatown phở built on a grandmother’s recipe. Finalist, not winner, and the family would be the first to tell you that plainly. Genuine is the house style.
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.
What to order alongside
The crispy chicken rice plate is a complete meal, but it plays well with company. If your table is sharing, start with Hoành Thánh Chiên — crispy fried wontons, $14 — or the fresh rice paper rolls (Gỏi Cuốn Tôm Thịt, $14) for something cool against the fried skin. Chả Giò Thịt spring rolls ($14) are another easy call.
If someone at the table wants noodles instead, this is the place to try what many consider the best phở in Adelaide — the Phở Tái arrives with paper-thin rounds of rare beef that the boiling 18-hour broth cooks right in the bowl (Phở Bò Small $20, Large $22). For heat-seekers there’s Bún Bò Huế (Small $20, Large $22), the spicy central-Vietnamese noodle soup.
And to finish: Vietnamese iced coffee — Cà Phê Nâu Đá, $8 — or a Trà Đào Cam Sả peach, orange and lemongrass tea ($10) if you want something lighter after all that crispy skin.
Visiting Bà Năm
You’ll find Bà Năm at 65 Grote Street, in the heart of Adelaide Chinatown, open seven days from 11am to 9pm — until 9:30pm from October through March — public holidays included. Walk-ins are welcome, and you can book via OpenTable; for groups of eight or more, call (08) 8151 0106. At peak times, be honest with yourself about the wait — 15 to 30 minutes is normal when the room is full, and the family won’t pretend otherwise. If you’d rather order ahead, the app at order.phobanam.com.au has you covered.
Come hungry, order the Cơm Gà Da Giòn, and listen for the crack.
Sticky glaze vs crispy skin
Cơm Gà Da Giòn is all crackle; Cơm Cánh Gà Chiên Nước Mắm ($20) is the sticky fish-sauce wings rice plate for people who want lacquered fingers.
Frequently asked questions
What is Gà Da Giòn?
Gà Da Giòn is Vietnamese crispy-skin chicken — chicken prepared so the skin turns golden, lacquered and shatteringly crisp while the meat underneath stays tender and juicy. The name literally means “crispy skin chicken”.
How much is the crispy chicken rice plate at Bà Năm?
Cơm Gà Da Giòn, the crispy chicken broken rice plate, is $20 on Bà Năm’s menu. It comes with rice topped with spring onion, fresh vegetables, chilli dipping sauce and a small clear soup.
How is Gà Da Giòn different from the fish sauce wings?
Gà Da Giòn is all about clean, crisp skin and juicy meat with no glaze, while Cánh Gà Chiên Nước Mắm wings are fried then coated in a sticky caramelised fish sauce. Both are on the menu, so you can try each — see also our sticky wings guide.
Where is Bà Năm and when is it open?
Bà Năm is at 65 Grote Street in Adelaide Chinatown, open seven days from 11am to 9pm, and until 9:30pm from October to March, including public holidays.
Do I need to book to eat at Bà Năm?
Walk-ins are welcome and bookings are available via OpenTable. Groups of eight or more should call (08) 8151 0106. At peak times expect an honest 15 to 30 minute wait.