Vietnamese Food Near Burnside: The Short Run West to Bà Năm

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

Burnside sits one ring further east than Norwood — here’s the honest drive down Greenhill Road to an 18-hour stone bowl of phở on Grote Street.

Burnside is the second ring of Adelaide’s eastern suburbs — one ring further east and southeast than Norwood, strung along Greenhill Road and Glynburn Road toward Burnside Village and the foothills. What it doesn’t have is a bowl of phở built on an 18-hour bone broth. For that, you point the car west. Bà Năm sits at 65 Grote Street in Adelaide Chinatown, cooking a family recipe that started in Bà Năm Lời’s home kitchen in Trảng Bàng, Tây Ninh, in 1970s Southern Vietnam. Founders Huynh Nguyen and Thi Gai Vo brought it to Adelaide in 2023, and the place has stayed true to itself since — not a luxury venue, just very genuine. Real bones, no concentrates or powders, local beef, and a granite stone bowl that keeps the broth boiling at your table.

How Far Is Bà Năm from Burnside?

First, a quick clarification, because the two get mixed up: Burnside is not Norwood. Norwood is the first eastern suburb along The Parade; Burnside sits a ring further east toward Burnside Village, the Greenhill Road strip and the foothills. If you’re actually Parade-side, our Norwood guide is the better fit. From Burnside proper, here’s the honest picture:

• Western Burnside edge (toward Toorak Gardens, Kensington and the Rose Park fringe) — roughly an 8–12 minute drive. Walking runs 30–45+ minutes, so a drive or rideshare is the sensible call.
• Central Burnside (Burnside Village and the Greenhill Road strip) — about a 12–18 minute drive; walking runs 45–70+ minutes, so don’t make that the default.
• Eastern Burnside toward Stonyfell / the foothills — about a 15–22 minute drive; walking is not recommended.

The natural route is straightforward: Greenhill Road west toward the city, or the Portrush / Fullarton / Magill Road corridor if you’re coming from the northern end of Burnside, then west on Grote Street into Chinatown. Chinatown and Central Market parking are nearby. And if you’d rather skip the counter queue when you arrive, ordering ahead through the app at order.phobanam.com.au is an easy move — there’s a small credit on your first app order.

What to Order After the Trip

Twelve to eighteen minutes down Greenhill Road earns a proper bowl. These are the ones people drive in for:

• Phở Thố Đá (stone bowl phở) — the signature. A granite bowl keeps the broth boiling at the table, so the rare beef cooks in front of you and the last spoonful is still hot. This is the one worth the short run for.
• Phở Tái “red coin” — paper-thin rounds of rare local beef, cooked in the bowl by the boiling 18-hour broth. Order it in the stone bowl dine-in and you’re automatically in the TÁI CLUB monthly lucky draw.
• Bún bò Huế — the spicier, lemongrass-forward noodle soup for when phở feels too gentle.
• Cơm tấm — broken rice with grilled pork, the Southern Vietnamese lunch standard.
• Gỏi bò tái chanh — lime-cured rare beef salad, sharp and fresh against all that broth.
• Vietnamese iced coffee — strong, sweet, and the right way to end before the drive home.

Still weighing up where phở sits in Adelaide generally? Our best phở in Adelaide rundown covers the honest picture.

An 18-Hour Broth from a Trảng Bàng Home Kitchen

The recipe behind every bowl at Bà Năm comes from one home kitchen in Trảng Bàng, Tây Ninh, in Southern Vietnam, where Bà Năm Lời cooked it in the 1970s. When Huynh Nguyen and Thi Gai Vo opened on Grote Street in 2023, they kept the method rather than modernising it away: real bones simmered for 18 hours, no concentrates and no powders, with local beef sourced on Sunday farm runs. The result is a broth that’s clear rather than heavy, deep rather than salty — the kind you notice most in the phở tái, where those paper-thin red-coin slices have nowhere to hide. It’s a big part of why the restaurant was named a finalist for Vietnamese Restaurant at the 2025 Hostplus SA Restaurant & Catering Awards, and why people making best-phở-in-Adelaide comparisons keep ending up on Grote Street.

Practical Notes from Burnside

• Address: 65 Grote Street, Adelaide SA 5000 — in Chinatown, near the Central Market.
• Hours: open 7 days, 11am–9pm, extending to 9:30pm from October to March — public holidays included.
• Peak waits: an honest 15–30 minutes at busy times. Weekday lunches and early dinners are calmer.
• Getting there: Greenhill Road west, or the Portrush / Fullarton / Magill Road corridor into the city, then west on Grote Street into Chinatown. Allow 8–22 minutes depending on which end of Burnside you start from. Chinatown and Central Market parking are nearby.
• Bookings: reserve via OpenTable at our bookings page. Groups of 8 or more should call ahead on (08) 8151 0106.
• Order ahead: the app at order.phobanam.com.au includes a small credit on your first app order.
• TÁI CLUB: order the stone-bowl tái dine-in and you’re in the monthly draw — details on the TÁI CLUB page
• Walk-ins: always welcome; honest 15–30 minute wait at peak

Coming From Somewhere Else?

Burnside is our first second-ring eastern suburb guide, sitting further out than Norwood. If you’re starting from another part of town, we’ve mapped those trips too:

• Vietnamese near Norwood — first eastern-suburb guide (closer than Burnside).
• Vietnamese near East Terrace
• Vietnamese near Hutt Street
• Vietnamese near Frome Street
• Vietnamese near Prospect — second-ring northern suburb.
• Vietnamese near Goodwood — second-ring southern suburb.
• Vietnamese near North Adelaide
• Vietnamese near Unley
• Vietnamese near Hindmarsh — first western-suburb guide.
• Vietnamese in Chinatown — our home turf on Grote Street.
• Vietnamese food in the Adelaide CBD — the full city picture.

The Short Version

Burnside to Bà Năm is an 8–22 minute drive depending on your end of the suburb — straight down Greenhill Road or the Portrush corridor, onto Grote Street — with easy parking near the Central Market. Waiting at the other end: an 18-hour bone broth from a 1970s Trảng Bàng home kitchen, paper-thin red-coin rare beef, and a granite stone bowl that keeps everything boiling at the table. Not a luxury venue, just very genuine — and open 7 days, so any night the Burnside Village strip doesn’t appeal, Chinatown does.

Bà Năm — 65 Grote Street, Adelaide SA 5000 (Chinatown). Phone (08) 8151 0106. Open 7 days, 11am–9pm (to 9:30pm October–March), public holidays included. Book via OpenTable or order ahead at order.phobanam.com.au.

Frequently asked questions

How far is Bà Năm from Burnside?

From western Burnside near the Toorak Gardens / Kensington fringe it’s roughly an 8–12 minute drive; from central Burnside around Burnside Village and the Greenhill Road strip, about 12–18 minutes; and from eastern Burnside toward Stonyfell and the foothills, about 15–22 minutes. Walking runs 30–70+ minutes depending on your start point, so driving or rideshare is the smarter option. Head west on Greenhill Road or the Portrush / Fullarton / Magill corridor, then west on Grote Street into Chinatown. Note that Burnside is one ring further out than Norwood.

What is the “red coin” Phở Tái?

The “red coin” is paper-thin round slices of rare local beef served alongside the bowl, then cooked in it by the boiling 18-hour bone broth. The coins turn from red to tender in seconds — it’s the house signature, and ordering the stone-bowl tái dine-in enters you in the TÁI CLUB monthly lucky draw.

What is Phở Thố Đá?

Phở Thố Đá is stone bowl phở — served in a heated granite bowl that keeps the broth at boiling point at your table. It’s hot enough to cook the red-coin rare beef in front of you and keeps the whole bowl steaming to the last spoonful. See the stone bowl set for details.

What are Bà Năm’s opening hours?

Open 7 days a week, 11am–9pm, extending to 9:30pm from October to March. Public holidays included. Peak waits run an honest 15–30 minutes; you can book via OpenTable, and groups of 8+ should call (08) 8151 0106.

Is the broth really simmered for 18 hours?

Yes — real bones simmered for 18 hours, with no concentrates or powders. The recipe comes from Bà Năm Lời’s home kitchen in 1970s Trảng Bàng, Tây Ninh, and the beef is local, kept supplied by Sunday farm runs.