Vietnamese Food Near Adelaide Oval: The Walk to Bà Năm Is Worth It

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

Let's be upfront: Bà Năm is not next door to Adelaide Oval. We're at 65 Grote Street in Chinatown, a good 20–25 minute walk south from the ground — down through North Terrace, across the CBD toward Victoria Square, then onto Grote Street. But on a footy or cricket day, that walk does something useful. It settles the crowd noise, works up an appetite, and delivers you to a bowl of phở built on 18 hours of real bones — the kind of finish (or start) to a match day that a stadium pie can't touch.

Hands serving a plate of cơm sườn broken rice over a shared table of stone-bowl phở, noodle salads and rice paper rolls at Bà Năm, Chinatown Adelaide — a post-match feast near Adelaide Oval — The match-day spread at Bà Năm — stone bowls, salads and broken rice, made for a table of mates fresh from the Oval.

Where is Bà Năm from Adelaide Oval?

Adelaide Oval sits on the northern edge of the city, just across the Torrens. Bà Năm sits on the southern side of the CBD, in the heart of Adelaide’s Chinatown at 65 Grote Street, right by the Central Market precinct. On foot, that’s roughly 20–25 minutes: over the footbridge or down King William Street, through the middle of town, past Victoria Square, and you’re there.

If the legs have had enough after four quarters or a day at the cricket, the tram runs down King William Street and a rideshare will get you to Grote Street quickly. But honestly, the walk is part of it — Adelaide is a city built for exactly this kind of post-match wander. If you’re coming from the river end of town on a non-match day, our Convention Centre and Riverbank guide covers that side of the city; this page is for the footy and cricket crowd.

Hanging BÀ NĂM sign outside the family-run Vietnamese restaurant at 65 Grote Street, Adelaide Chinatown, a 20–25 minute walk from Adelaide Oval — 65 Grote Street, Chinatown: the finish line of a very good walk south from Adelaide Oval.

Why Walk for a Bowl Before or After the Game?

Because the broth is the point. Bà Năm’s phở comes from a home kitchen that’s been simmering since the 1970s — Bà Năm Lời cooked it in Trảng Bàng, Tây Ninh, and her grandson Huynh Nguyen brought the recipe to Adelaide in 2023, opening the restaurant with owner Thi Gai Vo. The broth is built on real bones over 18 hours, no shortcuts, and the beef is locally sourced — Huynh still does Sunday farm runs to keep it that way.

The signature is the Phở Tái “red coin”: paper-thin rounds of rare beef that cook in the bowl the moment the boiling broth hits them. Watching that happen at the table after a long day at the Oval is a quietly great Adelaide moment. This is not a luxury venue, just very genuine — timber tables, steam, family working the floor. It’s the kind of place Glam Adelaide has written up, and a 2025 Hostplus SA Restaurant & Catering Awards finalist in the Vietnamese category. If you’re weighing up where the best phở in Adelaide lives, match day is a fine excuse to find out.

Paper-thin red coin rare beef cooking in boiling 18-hour bone broth in a stone bowl of Phở Tái at Bà Năm Adelaide — The red coin at work — rare beef cooked in the bowl by 18-hour broth, the recipe Bà Năm Lời has made since the 1970s.

What to Order on Match Day

Flying solo before the bounce. A small Phở Bò ($20) or the red coin Phở Tái is a proper pre-match lunch — filling but not the kind of heavy that ruins the walk back. Add a cà phê sữa đá ($8) and you’re set for the first quarter.

With your mates after the siren. Go the share route: Gỏi Cuốn or Chả Giò ($14) to start, a round of Bún Bò Huế for anyone who wants heat, and the Gỏi Bò Tái Chanh ($25) in the middle of the table. If someone’s earned it, the Stone Bowl Set at $39 is the full production — and stone-bowl tái dishes come with TÁI CLUB tickets for the monthly lucky draw, which is a decent consolation prize if your team lost.

Family day out. Bánh Xèo ($22) is a crowd-pleaser for kids who like tearing and wrapping, Cơm Sườn Bì Chả ($20) for the broken-rice loyalists, Nước Dừa ($8) or Trà Đào Cam Sả ($10) for the table, and chè ($10) to finish. Nobody argues on the walk home.

Timing Around Kick-Off and Stumps — An Honest Word

We’re open 7 days, 11:00am–9:00pm, stretching to 9:30pm from October through March — which lines up nicely with summer cricket evenings. On big match days, expect company: when a crowd spills out of the Oval and drifts south, Grote Street feels it. At peak times there’s an honest 15–30 minute wait, and we’d rather tell you that than pretend otherwise.

A few ways to play it: eat before the game rather than after, book a table through OpenTable on our site, or order ahead at order.phobanam.com.au. If you’re bringing a group of 8 or more — a whole club car-pool’s worth — please call ahead on (08) 8151 0106 so we can set you up properly. And if the wait is on, Chinatown and the Central Market surrounds are a pleasant place to stand around with a drink.

As featured in Glam Adelaide: Chinatown family phở spot serves up grandma’s authentic recipe · Named among Adelaide’s best restaurants of 2025 (finalist). Bà Năm was a 2025 Hostplus SA Restaurant & Catering Awards finalist in the Vietnamese Restaurant category — finalist, not winner, and we’re happy to say it straight. The broth still gets its 18 hours either way.

The Long Way Home Tastes Better

There’s a particular rhythm to an Adelaide match day: the river, the roar, the slow drain of the crowd across the footbridge and into the city. Most people peel off around Rundle Mall or Hindley Street. Keep walking. Ten more minutes south and the lanterns of Grote Street appear, the smell of star anise and charred onion drifting out of Chinatown, and a family kitchen that’s been perfecting one broth since the 1970s. Bà Năm isn’t the closest feed to Adelaide Oval — it’s the one worth the walk. For the full lay of the land, see our guide to Vietnamese food across the Adelaide CBD, the short hop from Gouger Street into Chinatown, or what’s fresh this spring in Adelaide.

So next time the siren goes and someone suggests the nearest pub counter meal, offer the alternative: about 20–25 minutes on foot, a bowl of red coin Phở Tái cooking in front of you, and a family recipe that’s been going since the 1970s. Bà Năm, 65 Grote Street. See you after the game.

View the menu Order online Book a table

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 Oval?

About a 20–25 minute walk. Head south from the Oval through North Terrace and the CBD toward Victoria Square, then onto Grote Street — we're at 65 Grote Street in Chinatown. The tram down King William Street or a rideshare works too if the legs are done.

Should I eat before or after the game on a big match day?

Either works, but be realistic about crowds. On peak match days there can be an honest 15–30 minute wait. Eating before the game is usually calmer; if you're coming after, booking via OpenTable on our site or ordering ahead at order.phobanam.com.au saves standing time.

Can Bà Năm handle a big group after the footy?

Yes — but for groups of 8 or more, please call ahead on (08) 8151 0106 so we can seat everyone together. Bookings for smaller tables run through OpenTable on our website.

What's the "red coin" everyone mentions?

It's our Phở Tái signature: paper-thin rounds of locally sourced rare beef, laid raw in the bowl and cooked on the spot by boiling 18-hour bone broth. It's the recipe Bà Năm Lời has made since the 1970s in Trảng Bàng, Tây Ninh, brought to Adelaide by her grandson Huynh Nguyen in 2023.

What are Bà Năm's opening hours around match days?

We're open 7 days, 11:00am–9:00pm, and until 9:30pm from October to March — handy for summer cricket evenings. We don't adjust for individual match schedules, so those hours hold year-round.