Vietnamese Lunch Near Adelaide Central Market: The Grote Street Walk Worth Taking
★ As featured in Glam Adelaide — 2025 SA Restaurant & Catering Awards finalist
There's a rhythm to a Central Market morning — coffee first, then the cheese room, the fruit stalls, maybe a debate at the smallgoods counter. And then, somewhere around midday, the question: where's lunch? If you keep walking along Grote Street past the Chinatown gates, you'll find Bà Năm at number 65 — a family-run Southern Vietnamese kitchen where the phở broth has been simmering since before the market opened, and where a bowl of something hot and honest is only a couple of minutes from your shopping bags.
After the Market: Why It's Worth Walking to Grote Street
Adelaide Central Market and Chinatown sit shoulder to shoulder, and most visitors never make it past the paifang gates on Moonta Street. Fair enough — there's plenty inside. But some of the best eating in this pocket of the CBD happens just beyond them, and Bà Năm at 65 Grote Street is a case in point. From the market's Grote Street side it's a short, flat walk — a couple of minutes with shopping bags, less without. From Victoria Square and the tram stop, you're looking at roughly the same.
What you'll find isn't a polished city venue. It's not a luxury spot, just a very genuine one — the kind of place where the smell of star anise and charred onion hits you at the door, where the broth pot has been going for 18 hours, and where the family behind the counter is the same family whose recipe this has been since the 1970s. If you're mapping the wider neighbourhood, our Vietnamese food in Adelaide CBD guide covers the full CBD picture, and our Chinatown Adelaide Vietnamese guide covers the precinct itself — this page is for the market-day lunch specifically. Coming down from the shops instead? See Vietnamese near Rundle Mall. Coming from the Convention Centre or Riverbank? See Vietnamese near Adelaide Convention Centre. Coming from Hindley Street or the West End? See Vietnamese near Hindley Street. Our Vietnamese near Adelaide Oval guide covers the match-day walk from the ground.
What to Order for a Central Market Lunch
The right order depends on what kind of market day you've had.
If you've been grazing all morning — a cheese sample here, a pastry there — go lighter. Fresh rice paper rolls or crispy wontons ($14) with a Trà Tắc kumquat iced tea ($10) makes a proper light lunch without weighing down the walk back.
If you skipped breakfast to beat the crowds, this is bowl territory. A small Phở Bò ($20) is the classic move — noodles and rare beef in that 18-hour bone broth, real bones, no shortcuts. If you like heat and lemongrass, the bún bò Huế (small $20, large $22) is the spicier, funkier cousin, and one of the kitchen's proudest dishes. See best phở in Adelaide for the full story on how the broth is made.
If you want a plate, not a bowl, the cơm tấm plates ($20) are the sleeper hit for market lunches — broken rice with grilled pork chop, or crispy-skin chicken, or fish-sauce-glazed wings, with pickled vegetables, a fried egg and a small clear soup on the side. It eats like a complete meal. Deep dives: Cơm Sườn, Cơm Sườn Bì Chả, Gà Da Giòn.
On a weekend with time to spare, the bánh xèo ($22) — a crackling turmeric crêpe you tear, wrap in lettuce and herbs, and dunk in nước chấm — is a table-sharing dish that suits a lazy Saturday. And whatever you order, a cà phê đá ($8) — Vietnamese iced coffee, strong and sweet — is the correct way to finish.
Got Time? The Stone Bowl and the Red Coin
If your market run is done and the afternoon is yours, order the Phở Thố Đá ($25) — phở served in a heated stone bowl that keeps the broth at a rolling temperature at your table. This is where the Phở Tái "red coin" comes in: paper-thin rounds of rare beef, cut like coins, that cook in the bowl in front of you as the boiling 18-hour broth does its work. Watch the red turn rosy, then eat. It's the dish that turned a home kitchen in Tây Ninh into a Grote Street habit. More on the ritual: 18-hour broth & the red coin.
The full Stone Bowl Set ($39) builds a longer lunch around it. Not a quick-dash option — but on a Sunday after the market, exactly the pace you want.
The Family Behind the Broth
The recipe belongs to Bà Năm Lời, who has been making phở from her home kitchen in Trảng Bàng, Tây Ninh, since the 1970s. In 2023, her grandson Huynh Nguyen and owner Thi Gai Vo brought that recipe to Adelaide — same method, same patience, with locally sourced beef that Huynh selects on his Sunday farm runs. Glam Adelaide has told the family's phở story, and in 2025 the restaurant was named a finalist in the Vietnamese Restaurant category at the Hostplus SA Restaurant & Catering Awards — finalist, not winner, and we're happy to say it straight. Not bad for a kitchen that still measures success one bowl at a time.
As featured in Glam Adelaide: Chinatown family phở spot serves up grandma's authentic recipe · Named among Adelaide's best restaurants of 2025 (finalist)
The Practical Bit: Walk, Wait, Hours
Getting there: 65 Grote Street, Adelaide SA 5000 — a couple of minutes on foot from Adelaide Central Market's Grote Street side, on the Chinatown fringe. Easy from Victoria Square and the tram.
Timing your visit: Weekday lunches move faster; Friday and weekend market crowds mean a busier room. At peak, expect an honest 15–30 minute wait — arrive before noon or after 1:30pm to skip most of it.
Hours: Open 7 days, 11:00am–9:00pm (9:30pm close from October through March), public holidays included.
Bookings: Walk-ins welcome. Book via OpenTable if you like certainty; groups of 8+ should call ahead on (08) 8151 0106.
In a hurry? Order ahead at order.phobanam.com.au and collect on your way past.
Next market day, keep walking a little further along Grote Street. The broth will be ready before you are.
Coming from the Gouger Street dining strip rather than the Market halls? It’s the same short walk into Chinatown — see Vietnamese near Gouger Street.
Working the civic end of town? See also our Vietnamese near Victoria Square guide — about a five-minute flat walk north to 65 Grote Street.
Frequently asked questions
How far is Bà Năm from Adelaide Central Market?
A couple of minutes on foot. From the market's Grote Street side, walk along to 65 Grote Street — flat footpath the whole way, easy with shopping bags.
Is Bà Năm inside Chinatown?
It sits on the Chinatown fringe — on Grote Street, near the Moonta Street paifang gates. Close enough to feel part of the precinct, far enough to be a genuine local find.
How long does lunch take on a market day?
A phở or cơm tấm lunch fits comfortably into 30–45 minutes. At peak times there's an honest 15–30 minute wait for a table, so arriving before noon or after 1:30pm is the smart move. The stone bowl set is best when you're not rushing.
Do I need to book, or can I just walk in after the market?
Walk-ins are welcome seven days. Bookings are available via OpenTable, and groups of 8 or more should call ahead on (08) 8151 0106.
What's the signature dish worth trying near the market?
The Phở Thố Đá — phở in a heated stone bowl, where paper-thin "red coin" rounds of rare beef cook at your table in boiling 18-hour bone broth. It's the family recipe Bà Năm Lời has made since the 1970s in Trảng Bàng, Tây Ninh.