Trà Tắc at Bà Năm: Vietnamese Kumquat Iced Tea on Grote Street

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

On a warm Adelaide afternoon, there are fancier drinks in town — but few do the job better than a tall glass of Trà Tắc. It's Vietnamese kumquat iced tea: brewed tea, the sharp-sweet tang of kumquat, and a serious amount of ice, served for $10 at Bà Năm, our home-kitchen phở restaurant at 65 Grote Street in Adelaide Chinatown. It's the kind of drink you order without thinking twice in Vietnam, and once you've had one next to a steaming bowl of phở, you'll understand why it belongs here too.

What is Trà Tắc?

Trà Tắc translates simply enough: trà is tea, tắc is kumquat. Across Vietnam it's one of the everyday street drinks — poured from big jugs at roadside stalls, drunk by students, office workers, and anyone waiting out the heat. The formula is honest: tea, kumquat, sweetness, ice. Nothing performative about it.

At Bà Năm, ours arrives in a tall clear glass — amber-brown tea packed with ice, a dried citrus wheel drifting in the liquid, and a straw. That's the whole show. It looks like what it is: a properly cold, properly refreshing kumquat iced tea, and at $10 it's built to be drunk alongside a meal, not sipped delicately and photographed for an hour. (Though it does photograph rather nicely against our dark wooden tables.)

Kumquat — the sharp citrus of Vietnamese street tea

If you've never cooked with kumquat, think of it as citrus with the volume turned up. It's smaller and punchier than a lime, with a fragrant bitterness from the peel and a bright acidity that cuts through sweetness rather than sitting under it. In Vietnam, tắc goes into everything from dipping sauces to drinks — and that sharpness is the whole point of this glass.

The tea gives the drink its backbone and its gentle tannic edge; the kumquat gives it lift. Sweetened just enough to round things out, it lands somewhere between a lemon iced tea and something far more interesting — tangier, more aromatic, and much better suited to sitting next to a rich bowl of noodle soup.

Why it sits next to phở and rich dishes

There's a reason citrusy iced tea and Vietnamese food travel together. An 18-hour bone broth is a beautiful, deep, beefy thing — and our Phở Tái, with its paper-thin "red coin" rounds of rare beef cooked in the bowl by the boiling broth, is as rich as they come. After a few spoonfuls, your palate wants something cold and sharp to reset it. Trà Tắc does exactly that.

It's just as good against a fiery bowl of bún bò Huế, where the citrus and the ice take the edge off the chilli without dulling it. If you've been ordering soft drinks with your phở out of habit, this is your nudge to try the drink Vietnam actually pairs with it — and if you're still mapping bowls, our guide to the best phở in Adelaide is a good next read.

On the drinks board at Bà Năm

Trà Tắc sits in small but honest company on our drinks list. Its closest sibling is Trà Đào Cam Sả ($10) — peach, orange and lemongrass iced tea, softer and more fragrant where the Trà Tắc is sharp and direct. If you need caffeine that means business, there's Vietnamese iced coffee — Cà Phê Đen Đá or Nâu Đá, both $8. And for something gentler, Nước Dừa (coconut water) is $8.

Finish the meal properly with a Vietnamese dessert — Chè Thái, Chè Khúc Bạch or Sâm Bổ Lượng, each $10. The full lineup lives on our menu.

From Trảng Bàng to Grote Street

Everything at Bà Năm traces back to Bà Năm Lời, who's been cooking her home-kitchen phở since the 1970s in Trảng Bàng, Tây Ninh. In 2023, her grandson Huynh Nguyen and owner Thi Gai Vo brought that recipe to Adelaide. The beef is locally sourced — Huynh still does his Sunday farm runs — and the broth still takes 18 hours, because that's how long it takes. We're not a luxury venue. We're just very genuine about the food, and the drinks list follows the same logic: things Vietnamese people actually drink, made the way they're actually made. If you're exploring Vietnamese food in the Adelaide CBD, Grote Street is a good place to start.

Finalist, not winner — we'll be honest about that too — but for a small family kitchen two years into Adelaide, it means a great deal. The glass in front of you doesn't know any of that. It's just cold tea, kumquat and ice, made the way it's made back home.

Visiting Bà Năm

We're at 65 Grote St, Adelaide SA 5000, open seven days from 11am to 9pm (until 9:30pm from October to March), public holidays included. You can book through OpenTable, and walk-ins are always welcome — though fair warning, at peak times there's an honest 15–30 minute wait. Groups of 8 or more, please call us on (08) 8151 0106 so we can set you up properly.

Prefer to skip the queue for takeaway? Order through our app at order.phobanam.com.au. And if you'd like more stories from our kitchen, our articles hub has the lot.

Frequently asked questions

Trà tắc cuts rich food cleanly — pair it with chè thái ($10) when you want fruit and coconut after the kumquat lift, chè khúc bạch when you want silky cream cubes and toasted almonds, or sâm bổ lượng when you want the traditional longan herbal iced drink.

What is Trà Tắc?

Trà Tắc is Vietnamese kumquat iced tea — brewed tea sharpened with kumquat citrus, lightly sweetened and served over plenty of ice. It's a classic everyday street drink across Vietnam.

How much is Trà Tắc at Bà Năm?

Trà Tắc is $10 at Bà Năm, 65 Grote Street in Adelaide Chinatown.

What does Trà Tắc pair well with?

It's made for rich, savoury bowls. The sharp citrus cuts beautifully through our 18-hour broth Phở Tái, and it cools things down nicely alongside a spicy bún bò Huế.

What other drinks are on the menu?

Alongside Trà Tắc ($10), we serve Trà Đào Cam Sả ($10), Vietnamese iced coffee — Cà Phê Đen Đá or Nâu Đá ($8) — and Nước Dừa, coconut water ($8).

What are Bà Năm's hours, and do I need to book?

We're open seven days, 11am–9pm (9:30pm October to March), public holidays included. Book via OpenTable or walk in — expect a 15–30 minute wait at peak. Groups of 8+ should call (08) 8151 0106. You can also order via the app at order.phobanam.com.au.