Gỏi Cuốn Chay — Vegetarian Tofu Cold Rolls at Bà Năm, Adelaide Chinatown

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

Three cool, fresh rolls of pan-seared tofu, crisp vegetables, herbs and vermicelli, wrapped in translucent rice paper and served with peanut dipping sauce. This is vegetarian gỏi cuốn done the way Bà Năm Lời made it at home.

What is Gỏi Cuốn Chay?

Gỏi cuốn chay is the vegetarian version of Vietnam's most beloved fresh roll — "chay" simply means vegetarian. Where the classic roll carries prawn and pork, this one is built around golden pan-seared tofu, and everything else stays true to the original: cool rice paper, fresh vegetables, soft vermicelli, and a proper dipping sauce. It's a light, clean start to a meal — no fryer, no heaviness, just texture and freshness.

At Bà Năm, the rolls follow the same home-kitchen recipes Bà Năm Lời cooked in Trảng Bàng, Tây Ninh from the 1970s. Tây Ninh sits deep in Southern Việt Nam, where fresh rolls are an everyday food — made to order, wrapped by hand, eaten straight away. That's how they leave our kitchen at 65 Grote Street. Three rolls to a serve, $14, and they're rolled when you order them, not sitting in a fridge.

If you're comparing the whole rice paper family — fresh and fried, meat and vegetarian — our combined rice paper rolls guide covers the lot. This page is the deep dive on the vegetarian fresh rolls only.

What's Inside

The centrepiece is tofu, pan-seared until the outside turns golden and slightly chewy while the inside stays soft. It sits along the top of each roll — you can see it through the translucent rice paper before you take a bite. Around it: shredded carrot for sweetness and crunch, crisp lettuce and fresh greens, and a tangle of soft rice vermicelli that holds the whole roll together.

The rice paper itself matters more than people think. Dipped just long enough to soften, it should be supple and slightly stretchy — tight enough that the roll holds, loose enough that it doesn't turn gluey. Get it right and every bite gives you cool herbs, warm-ish tofu, crunchy veg and silky noodles at once. It's a simple dish that's very easy to do badly and quietly impressive when done well.

It's simple food done properly, which is very much the Bà Năm way. Recipes from Bà Năm Lời's home kitchen, brought to Adelaide in 2023 by her grandson Huynh Nguyen and owner Thi Gai Vo. Not a luxury venue, just very genuine — and fresh rolls are where shortcuts have nowhere to hide.

The Dipping Sauce

Gỏi cuốn chay comes with a peanut-style dipping sauce — thick, savoury-sweet, topped with crushed peanuts and a little shredded carrot and chilli. It clings to the rice paper in a way the lighter sauces don't, and it's the classic match for fresh rolls in the South.

Worth knowing: this is a different sauce to the nước chấm that comes with our fried rolls. Chả Giò Thịt and Chả Giò Chay (4 cuốn, $14) get that sharper fish-sauce-style dip to cut through the fry; the fresh rolls get the richer peanut sauce because there's no oil to cut — the sauce is doing the heavy lifting. One honest note: peanut sauces contain peanuts and may not be strictly vegan, so if you're vegan rather than vegetarian, ask our staff about the sauce when you order.

How It Compares — Prawn & Pork Gỏi Cuốn, and Chả Giò Chay

The Gỏi Cuốn Tôm Thịt is the traditional version — poached prawn and sliced pork, same $14 for three rolls. The chay version isn't a compromise; it's just a different roll. The seared tofu brings its own texture, a little golden crust against all that cool freshness, and plenty of regulars order the chay by preference rather than dietary need.

The other common mix-up is with Chả Giò Chay — the vegetarian fried spring rolls (4 cuốn, $14). Those are hot, crisp and golden from the fryer; gỏi cuốn chay is cool, soft and fresh. Same family, opposite moods. If your table can't decide, order both — one of each is a very good way to start. For the full vegetarian lineup, see our vegetarian Vietnamese guide.

How It Fits a Vegetarian Meal at Bà Năm

Here's the honest bit: our signature phở broth is meat-based — real bones, simmered 18 hours, with locally sourced beef Huynh still collects on his Sunday farm runs. We won't pretend otherwise, and we don't do a vegetarian phở. But the vegetarian side of the menu stands on its own.

Start with gỏi cuốn chay, then move to a vermicelli bowl: Bún Chả Giò Chay at $20 if you want crispy fried rolls over noodles, Bún Tàu Hủ Chay at $20 for more of that golden tofu, or the Bún Chay Đặc Biệt at $24 if you want the lot. Add a nước dừa ($8) or a trà đào cam sả ($10) and you've got a proper vegetarian spread.

And if half your table eats meat, no drama — they can chase their Phở Tái with its "red coin" of rare beef while you work through the chay menu. Everyone wins.

Grote Street, Chinatown

Bà Năm sits at 65 Grote Street in Adelaide Chinatown, a short walk from Central Market — which makes fresh rolls a natural fit for market-day lunches. Huynh Nguyen, Bà Năm Lời's grandson, opened the restaurant with owner Thi Gai Vo in 2023, cooking the family recipes as they were written, not as trends suggest.

Pair the rolls with a cà phê sữa đá ($8) and you've got a classic Vietnamese light lunch, meat-free, for well under $25. If you're mapping a broader crawl of vegetarian options across the CBD, start here then move into the bún bowls.

Ordering, Waits and Practical Bits

Open seven days, 11am–9pm (9:30pm in summer, October to March). 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 kitchen doesn't rush.

Takeaway gỏi cuốn chay travels well — the rolls hold their shape and the peanut sauce comes on the side — so order online at order.phobanam.com.au if you'd rather grab and go. Regulars might also spot the TÁI Club, a monthly lucky draw involving the stone-bowl tái dishes — worth a look next time you're in (meat-side of the menu, but the room's the same).

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.

Frequently asked questions

How much is gỏi cuốn chay at Bà Năm and how many rolls do you get?

A serve is $14 and comes with three fresh rolls (3 cuốn), each filled with golden pan-seared tofu, vegetables, herbs and vermicelli, served with peanut dipping sauce.

Is gỏi cuốn chay vegan?

The rolls themselves are vegetarian — tofu, vegetables, herbs and vermicelli in rice paper. The peanut dipping sauce contains peanuts and may not be strictly vegan, so if you're vegan, please ask our staff about the sauce when ordering.

What's the difference between gỏi cuốn chay and the regular gỏi cuốn?

The regular Gỏi Cuốn Tôm Thịt is filled with prawn and pork; the chay version swaps in pan-seared tofu. Everything else — rice paper, herbs, vermicelli, freshness — stays the same, and both are $14 for three rolls.

What vegetarian mains go well with gỏi cuốn chay?

Start with the rolls, then try a vermicelli bowl — Bún Chả Giò Chay ($20), Bún Tàu Hủ Chay ($20) or the Bún Chay Đặc Biệt ($24). Our phở broth is meat-based, so vegetarian diners are best served by the bún bowls and chay starters.

Can you cater for allergies or gluten-free diets?

We're honest about this: it's a shared kitchen, so we can't guarantee certified gluten-free or allergen-free food. Tell our staff about any allergy when you order and we'll give you straight answers about what's in each dish. Call (08) 8151 0106 if you need to check ahead.