Vietnamese Food Near Frome Street: The Walk West to Bà Năm

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

Frome Street runs along the quieter eastern edge of the CBD — hospital and university traffic at the North Terrace end, office corridors through the middle, leafy residential fringe as it drops toward Wakefield. What it doesn’t have, right on the strip, is a bowl of phở built on real bones and eighteen hours of patience.

That bowl lives a little further west, at 65 Grote Street in Adelaide’s Chinatown. Bà Năm is a Southern Vietnamese kitchen — not a luxury venue, just very genuine — and if you’re anywhere along Frome, it’s an easy lunchtime walk. Here’s how to get there and what to order when you do.

The Walk from Frome Street

Frome sits one block east of Pulteney, so wherever you are along it, the route is simple: head west through the grid to Victoria Square, then follow Grote Street into Chinatown. Number 65 is on your left.

• From the North Terrace / RAH / uni end of Frome: about 15–20 minutes — track west along North Terrace, then cut down through the grid toward Victoria Square and onto Grote Street. Longer framing: North Terrace.
• From mid-Frome (around the Grenfell, Pirie or Flinders latitude): about 12–18 minutes west toward Victoria Square, then a short stretch along Grote. East–west neighbours: Grenfell, Pirie, Flinders.
• From southern Frome, near Wakefield or Carrington: about 12–18 minutes west-northwest — Wakefield Street runs you almost straight to Victoria Square. See also Wakefield Street.

If you’re closer to one of the parallel streets, we’ve mapped those walks too: Pulteney Street is one block west of you, and Hutt Street handles the eastern fringe beyond Frome. Whichever way you come, Victoria Square is the landmark — once you’re there, Chinatown is minutes away. More on the precinct: Southern Vietnamese in Chinatown.

It’s a genuine lunchtime walk — long enough to earn the bowl, short enough to do on a break if you keep a decent pace. If you’re on a tight window, order ahead through the app at order.phobanam.com.au so your food is underway before you leave. There’s a small credit on your first app order.

What to Order Once You Get There

Phở Thố Đá — the stone bowl. The signature. The stone bowl holds its heat, which means your broth is still properly hot when you’re halfway through — a genuine advantage if you’ve just walked fifteen minutes across town and want a bowl that keeps pace with you.

Phở Tái with “red coin” beef. Paper-thin slices of rare beef laid across the top, cooked right there in the bowl by the boiling broth. Watch the edges curl and blush as the 18-hour bone broth does the work. It’s the dish the TÁI CLUB is named for: order the stone-bowl tái and you’re in the monthly lucky draw.

Bún bò Huế. For those who like their broth with lemongrass heat — the spicier, bolder cousin of phở, from Central Vietnam.

Cơm tấm. Broken rice with charred pork — a drier, heartier lunch when noodles aren’t the mood.

Gỏi bò tái chanh. A bright lime-cured beef salad that makes sense on a warm Adelaide day.

Vietnamese iced coffee. Slow-dripped over condensed milk — the right finish before the walk back east.

If you want our honest, no-superlatives take on where our phở sits in the city, we’ve written it up here: best phở in Adelaide.

The Kitchen Behind It

Bà Năm is named for Bà Năm Lời, whose home kitchen in Trảng Bàng, Tây Ninh, fed family and neighbours through the 1970s. Founders Huynh Nguyen and Thi Gai Vo brought those recipes to Adelaide, opening on Grote Street in 2023.

The method hasn’t been modernised into shortcuts. The broth simmers for eighteen hours on real bones — no concentrates, no powders. The beef is local, collected on Sunday farm runs. In 2025, the restaurant was named a finalist in the Vietnamese category at the Hostplus SA Restaurant & Catering Awards — finalist, not winner — and Glam Adelaide has featured the kitchen. But the honest pitch remains what it’s always been: not a luxury venue, just very genuine. More on Southern Vietnamese cooking in Chinatown.

Practical Notes for the Frome Street Crowd

• Address: 65 Grote Street, Adelaide SA 5000 — in Chinatown, just west of Victoria Square.
• Walk time: about 15–20 minutes from the North Terrace / RAH end of Frome; 12–18 from mid-Frome and the southern end near Wakefield.
• Hours: open seven days, 11am–9pm (until 9:30pm October–March), public holidays included.
• Peak times: expect an honest 15–30 minute wait at the busiest lunch and dinner stretches. Turnover is quick, but we won’t pretend queues don’t happen.
• Ordering ahead: the app at order.phobanam.com.au lets you skip some of that, and there’s a small credit on your first app order.
• Bookings: walk-ins welcome; you can book via OpenTable at /book/. Groups of 8+ should call ahead on (08) 8151 0106.
• TÁI CLUB: ask about the monthly lucky draw connected to the stone-bowl tái while you’re there — staff will explain. Details: TÁI CLUB.

Coming from Somewhere Else in the CBD?

Frome Street isn’t the only route to Grote Street. If you’re starting elsewhere in the city, we’ve mapped the walk from other corners too:

• Vietnamese near Carrington Street — quiet southern CBD fringe, one block south of Wakefield
• Vietnamese near Pulteney Street
• Vietnamese near North Terrace
• Vietnamese near Hutt Street
• Vietnamese near Rundle Mall
• Vietnamese near Grenfell Street
• Vietnamese near Pirie Street
• Vietnamese near Flinders Street
• Vietnamese near Wakefield Street
• Vietnamese near Victoria Square
• Vietnamese in Adelaide Chinatown
• Vietnamese food across the Adelaide CBD
• Vietnamese near the Central Market

The Short Version

Frome Street to Bà Năm is a 12–20 minute walk west, depending on where along Frome you start — aim for Victoria Square, then follow Grote Street into Chinatown. Waiting at the end of it: an 18-hour bone broth, red-coin rare beef cooked in the bowl, and a stone bowl that stays hot long after most phở has gone lukewarm. Open seven days, order-ahead on the app if you’re on the clock.

Bà Năm — 65 Grote Street, Adelaide SA 5000. Open seven days, 11am–9pm (until 9:30pm October–March), public holidays included. Phone (08) 8151 0106. Order ahead at order.phobanam.com.au — there’s a small credit on your first app order. Bookings via OpenTable; groups of 8+ please call.

Frequently asked questions

How far is Bà Năm from Frome Street?

It depends where you are along Frome. From the North Terrace / RAH end, it’s about a 15–20 minute walk west. From mid-Frome around the Flinders, Pirie or Grenfell latitude, roughly 12–18 minutes, and about the same from the southern end near Wakefield. The simplest route from anywhere on Frome: head west to Victoria Square, then follow Grote Street into Chinatown to number 65.

What is “red coin” beef?

Red coin is our name for the paper-thin slices of rare beef in the Phở Tái. They go in raw and are cooked right in the bowl by the boiling 18-hour bone broth — you watch the edges curl and blush at the table. The beef is local, collected on our Sunday farm runs.

What is Phở Thố Đá?

Phở Thố Đá is our signature stone bowl phở. The stone bowl holds its heat, so the broth stays properly hot from first slurp to last — and it cooks the rare beef in the bowl in front of you. Order the stone-bowl tái and you’re also in the running for the TÁI CLUB’s monthly lucky draw.

What are Bà Năm’s opening hours?

We’re open 7 days a week, 11am to 9pm, extending to 9:30pm from October through March. That includes public holidays. At peak times, expect an honest 15–30 minute wait — or order ahead on the app at order.phobanam.com.au.

Why does an 18-hour broth matter?

Because there’s no shortcut to depth. Our broth simmers on real bones for eighteen hours — no concentrates, no powders — drawing out collagen, marrow and a natural sweetness that stock cubes simply can’t fake. It’s the same slow method from Bà Năm Lời’s home kitchen in Trảng Bàng, Tây Ninh, in the 1970s, and it’s why the broth can cook rare beef in the bowl and still taste clean.