Vietnamese Near Wright Street, Adelaide: Bà Năm Is One Block North on Grote

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

Let’s be upfront: Bà Năm is not on Wright Street. We’re at 65 Grote Street, in Adelaide Chinatown — one block north of Wright. If you’re near the Chinatown end of Wright, that’s a 2–5 minute walk. From the King William end, call it 5–8 minutes. From the eastern stretch toward Hutt Street, allow 10–15. Either way, at the end of that short walk there’s an 18-hour bone broth, deep-red coins of rare beef cooking in a stone bowl at your table, and a plate of cơm tấm built the way Bà Năm Lời made it in Trảng Bàng, Tây Ninh in the 1970s. Not a luxury venue, just very genuine.

Here’s the thing, though: for a bowl of phở built on broth that’s been simmering for 18 hours over real bones, that walk is not a compromise. Wright Street has offices, apartments and the quiet stretch south of Grote. What it doesn’t have is a stone bowl arriving still roaring hot, with raw rare beef waiting on the side.

The Walk from Wright Street to Grote Street Chinatown

Wright Street runs east–west through Adelaide’s south-west CBD, one block south of Grote Street. That makes us close, but not on-street — and we’d rather tell you exactly how close than pretend otherwise.

• From the Chinatown / Grote end of Wright: about 2–5 minutes. Head north one block onto Grote — the Chinatown gates come into view and we’re at number 65.
• From the King William / western end of Wright: about 5–8 minutes. Walk toward Chinatown, then one block north onto Grote.
• From the eastern end toward Hutt Street and the East End fringe: allow 10–15 minutes — west along Wright, then north into Chinatown. If you’re properly East End–based, our Vietnamese near Hutt Street guide is written for you.

If you live or work around Wright Street, we’re arguably the nearest proper Vietnamese kitchen — part of the same Chinatown food pocket you probably already wander through on weekends. One block further south is the Gouger Street dining strip; the civic hinge sits at Victoria Square.

If you’re on a tight lunch break, ordering ahead through the app at order.phobanam.com.au means your bowl is nearly ready as you walk in. There’s a small credit on your first app order, too.

What to Order When You Get Here

Start with the reason most people make the walk: Phở Tái, our “red coin” phở. The rare beef doesn’t arrive already cooked into the soup — it comes raw on the side, sliced into deep-red coins, and you drop it into the hot broth yourself. The signature Phở Thố Đá is served in a stone bowl that holds ferocious heat, so the broth is still close to bubbling when the beef hits it. You watch the coins blush from red to rose to just-done in seconds. Theatre, yes — and also the correct way to cook rare beef: at the table, in broth that’s spent 18 hours becoming what it is. The full story of the simmer lives on our 18-hour broth & red coin page.

Prefer a plate over a bowl? Cơm tấm is the broken-rice plate in the photo above — grilled pork, sunny-side egg, chả, pickles, chilli nước chấm and a clear canh on the side. If you run hotter, bún bò Huế is the order — a spicier, lemongrass-forward beef noodle soup. Sharing with colleagues? Start with gỏi bò tái chanh, then a stone bowl or two in the middle. For the broader city picture, see our best phở in Adelaide guide.

Family Cooking, Not a Concept Restaurant

Bà Năm isn’t a concept. The recipes come from Bà Năm Lời’s home kitchen in Trảng Bàng, Tây Ninh, in southern Vietnam in the 1970s — long-cooked broths, generous herbs, food made for family. In 2023, Huynh Nguyen and Thi Gai Vo brought that kitchen to Adelaide, and they’ve kept it stubbornly the same: bones simmered for 18 hours, nothing shortcut, nothing styled for the sake of it.

In 2025 we were a finalist in the Vietnamese category at the 2025 Hostplus SA Restaurant & Catering Awards. Finalist, not winner — we’re not going to dress that up. But for a small family restaurant two years into its Adelaide life, it meant a lot. This is not a luxury venue. It’s a genuine one, and around here that’s the rarer thing. More on Southern Vietnamese cooking in Chinatown.

Practical Notes for the Wright Street Crowd

• Real walk, honest times: 2–5 minutes from the Chinatown end of Wright; 5–8 from King William; 10–15 from the eastern end toward Hutt. One block north onto Grote.
• Peak waits run 15–30 minutes. Lunch rush and Friday evenings are real. The 18-hour broth doesn’t hurry and neither does the queue.
• Open seven days, 11am–9pm (until 9:30pm October–March), public holidays included — early lunch still works.
• Not a luxury venue. Family restaurant, timber tables, herbs on the side. That’s the point.
• Ordering ahead helps. The app at order.phobanam.com.au takes pickup orders, with a small credit on your first order through it.
• Bookings: walk-ins welcome; OpenTable via /book/; groups of 8+ call (08) 8151 0106.

Coming from Somewhere Else in the CBD?

Wright Street is the quiet strip one block south of Grote. If your desk is elsewhere:

• Vietnamese near Carrington Street — quiet southern CBD fringe, one block south of Wakefield
• Vietnamese near Sturt Street — southern CBD fringe, one block south of Carrington
• Vietnamese near Wakefield Street — three blocks south of Grote; southern CBD office strip.
• Dining strip further south: Gouger Street.
• Vietnamese near Angas Street — two blocks south of Grote; honest 5–15 minute walk north to Chinatown.
• City spine and hinge: King William Street, Victoria Square.
• Eastern office strips: Flinders, Pirie, Grenfell.
• Western office strip north of Grote: Franklin, Currie, Waymouth, Morphett.
• East End fringe: Hutt Street. Already near the Central Market or in Chinatown? You’re practically here.
• Full picture: Vietnamese food across the Adelaide CBD.

The Short Version

Wright Street to Bà Năm: 2–5 minutes from the Chinatown end (5–8 from King William; 10–15 from the east), one block north onto Grote Street. What’s waiting: an 18-hour broth, red-coin rare beef, a stone bowl that simmers at your table, cơm tấm, and a family recipe that started in Trảng Bàng in the 1970s. Open seven days. Expect a wait at peak, or order ahead on the app. Not a luxury venue — just very genuine.

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 Wright Street, Adelaide?

Bà Năm is at 65 Grote Street in Chinatown, one block north of Wright Street. From the Chinatown end of Wright it’s about a 2–5 minute walk; from the King William end, 5–8 minutes; from the eastern end near Hutt Street, allow 10–15 minutes. We’re not on Wright Street itself — but we’re very close.

Is Bà Năm good for a work lunch if I’m based near Wright Street?

Yes — most of Wright Street is within a 2–8 minute walk. At peak times waits can honestly run 15–30 minutes, so if you’re on a tight lunch break, order ahead on the app at order.phobanam.com.au (there’s a small credit on your first app order) and it’ll be ready when you arrive.

What is the “red coin” beef?

In our Phở Tái, the rare beef arrives raw on the side as deep-red coins. You drop them into the near-bubbling 18-hour broth — especially dramatic in the Phở Thố Đá stone bowl — and they cook right at your table. The broth is simmered for 18 hours over real bones, with locally sourced beef. Huynh Nguyen does the Sunday farm runs himself.

What are Bà Năm’s opening hours?

Open seven days a week, 11am–9pm, extending to 9:30pm from October to March. We’re open on public holidays too — that covers early lunches through to after-work dinner from the Wright Street strip.

Do I need to book, or can I just walk in from Wright Street?

Walk-ins are always welcome. If you’d rather lock in a table, book via OpenTable. For groups of 8 or more, please call ahead on (08) 8151 0106.