Gia Cay in Adelaide Chinatown — Vietnamese Pork Hock Stew with Galangal & Turmeric

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

Walk past 65 Grote Street on a cold Adelaide evening and you'll catch it before you see it — galangal, turmeric and slow-simmered pork hock drifting out of the Bà Năm kitchen into Chinatown. Gia Cay is the Southern Vietnamese stew locals come back for, served three ways and all at $22.

What is Gia Cay?

Gia Cay is a home-style Southern Vietnamese stew built around pork hock — the cut between trotter and leg, where slow cooking turns skin, connective tissue and meat soft and rich. It's not a dish that hides what it is. The hock pieces arrive whole and generous, skin on, tender enough to pull apart with chopsticks, with the kind of body that makes a stew coat each spoonful.

The broth is the other half of the story. Turmeric gives it that unmistakable orange-gold colour and an earthy base note, while galangal — ginger's sharper, more citrusy cousin — cuts through the richness of the pork. It's aromatic rather than fiery. If cà ri gà leans creamy and bò kho leans beefy and star-anise-dark, Gia Cay sits in its own lane: golden, gingery-warm and unapologetically porky. Fresh coriander and spring onion on top lift each spoonful.

This is the kind of dish that rarely makes it onto restaurant menus outside Vietnam because it's fundamentally home cooking — the sort of thing made on a cool day for family. Which is exactly why it's here. Bà Năm's whole menu is Bà Năm Lời's home kitchen transplanted to Adelaide, and Gia Cay is one of the clearest expressions of that. If you're exploring Vietnamese food in the Adelaide CBD beyond phở, this is a rewarding detour.

How to order it: three ways, all $22

Unlike some of our stews, every Gia Cay option is the same price, so choose purely on how you like to eat:

Gia Cay Bánh Mì — $22. Southern pork hock stew with galangal and turmeric, served with a crusty bread roll. Tear, dunk, repeat. The bread soaks up the golden broth beautifully, and this is the classic Southern way to finish the bowl.

Gia Cay Cơm Tấm — $22. The same stew over broken rice — the smaller, softer grains that Southern Vietnam loves. The rice catches the broth in a way whole-grain rice doesn't. If broken rice is new to you, our cơm tấm guide explains why it's worth the detour.

Gia Cay Bún — $22. With vermicelli noodles. Lighter in feel, and the noodles slip through the broth nicely if you'd rather slurp than scoop.

Worth noting honestly: with bò kho and cà ri gà, the bread and rice versions are $20 and the noodle version is $22. Gia Cay is $22 across the board — the pork hock is a more generous, labour-intensive cut, and the price reflects that.

Gia Cay vs bò kho vs cà ri gà vs phở

A quick map for anyone standing at the counter deciding:

Gia Cay — pork hock, turmeric and galangal, golden and gingery. The richest texture of the three stews thanks to the skin-on hock. $22 all three ways.

Bò kho — beef stew, darker and deeper, with star anise and lemongrass leading. $20 with bread or rice, $22 with noodles.

Cà ri gà — chicken curry, coconut-creamy and gentle. Also $20 bread/rice, $22 noodles.

Phở — a different animal entirely: a clear, clean 18-hour bone broth rather than a stew. Our Phở Tái finishes paper-thin rare beef — the "red coin" — in boiling broth at the table. If that's more your speed, start with our first-timer's guide to phở or the best phở in Adelaide guide.

All three stews earn a spot in our Vietnamese winter warmers guide — on a properly cold Adelaide day, Gia Cay is the porky, golden option that sits between beef stew and chicken curry.

From Trảng Bàng to Grote Street

Bà Năm was opened in Adelaide in 2023 by Huynh Nguyen and Thi Gai Vo, carrying recipes passed down from Bà Năm Lời, who cooked them in Trảng Bàng, Tây Ninh in the 1970s. The Gia Cay here follows that Southern tradition — pork hock braised with galangal and turmeric until it falls apart — while the sibling phở tradition keeps its own rituals, like the 18-hour broth and the "red coin" cut in the Phở Tái.

In 2025 Bà Năm was named a finalist in the Vietnamese category at the Hostplus SA Restaurant & Catering Awards. We'll say it plainly: this is not a luxury venue, just very genuine cooking in Adelaide Chinatown.

Where to find Gia Cay in Adelaide Chinatown and the CBD

Bà Năm sits at 65 Grote Street in the heart of Adelaide Chinatown, a short walk from Central Market and an easy stop for anyone hunting Vietnamese food in the Adelaide CBD. We're open 11:00 AM to 9:00 PM daily (until 9:30 PM October–March, public holidays included). Being honest: at peak lunch and dinner you may wait 15–30 minutes, so booking via OpenTable or calling (08) 8151 0106 is worth it — or order ahead for pickup at order.phobanam.com.au.

Gia Cay comes three ways, each $22 — with a bread roll (bánh mì), on cơm tấm broken rice, or over bún vermicelli. It sits alongside our other braises, bò kho and cà ri gà, in our Vietnamese winter warmers line-up. Prefer broth over stew? There's always the phở — and a Vietnamese iced coffee to finish either way.

Frequently asked questions

What is Gia Cay at Bà Năm?

Gia Cay is a Southern Vietnamese pork hock stew. Skin-on pork hock is slow-cooked until soft and sticky in a golden broth flavoured with galangal and turmeric, then topped with coriander and spring onion. It's made from Bà Năm Lời's home-kitchen recipes from Trảng Bàng, Tây Ninh, dating back to the 1970s.

How much is Gia Cay and what are the serving options?

All three Gia Cay options are $22: Gia Cay Bánh Mì with a bread roll, Gia Cay Cơm Tấm with broken rice, and Gia Cay Bún with vermicelli noodles.

How is Gia Cay different from bò kho and cà ri gà?

Gia Cay is a pork hock stew with turmeric and galangal, golden and gingery with a rich texture from the skin-on hock. Bò kho is a darker beef stew led by star anise and lemongrass, and cà ri gà is a creamy coconut chicken curry. Bò kho and cà ri gà are $20 with bread or rice and $22 with noodles, while Gia Cay is $22 for all three options.

Where is Bà Năm and what are the opening hours?

Bà Năm is at 65 Grote Street, Adelaide SA 5000, in Chinatown near the Central Market. It's open 7 days a week, 11:00 AM to 9:00 PM, extending to 9:30 PM in summer from October to March, including public holidays.

Do I need to book to try Gia Cay?

Walk-ins are welcome, though at peak times there's an honest 15 to 30 minute wait. You can book via OpenTable on the website, and groups of 8 or more should call (08) 8151 0106. Takeaway orders can be placed at order.phobanam.com.au.

Where can I get Gia Cay (Vietnamese pork hock stew) in Adelaide CBD or Chinatown?

Bà Năm at 65 Grote Street, Adelaide Chinatown (near Central Market) serves Gia Cay three ways, each $22: Gia Cay Bánh Mì (bread roll), Gia Cay Cơm Tấm (broken rice) and Gia Cay Bún (vermicelli). Open 11:00 AM–9:00 PM daily, until 9:30 PM October–March, public holidays included. Expect a 15–30 minute wait at peak times — book via OpenTable, call (08) 8151 0106, or order pickup at order.phobanam.com.au.