Best Vietnamese Restaurants in Adelaide

Sit Lo is the Anglicized version of the Vietnamese word for rickshaw, which is why the CBD restaurant's funky dining room is peppered with little rickshaws and bicycle wheels. The restaurant offers a contemporary take on Vietnamese goodies. Don’t expect fine china, dishes are served take-away style in eco friendly cups and trays. Don’t leave without trying a bao stuffed with slow cooked pork belly, soft shell crab or panko fried chicken.

Saigon Gates is a casual Asian-style eatery in the restaurant metropolis of North Adelaide. Its sizeable menu offers a variety of well-priced options and you can choose the cuisine that fits your mood; the kitchen offers everything from Malaysian to Chinese and specialty Vietnamese dishes. Early dinners can be grabbed from 4.30pm, perfect for those catching a movie at the iconic Piccadilly Cinema nearby.

The menu at Nghi Ngan Quan (or NNQ, as it’s affectionately know) is 15 pages long; if you can’t find your favourite Viet dish on this menu, it doesn’t exist. All the dishes are reliably tasty; no surprises, just good, hearty grub that does the job when you’re hungry. There’s a decent, reasonably priced wine list and a friendly generosity running through the cuisine and the staff. Regulars love to cook their beef at the table, then whack the the protein between two lettuce leaves with veggies, noodles and sauces.

Nestled among the Vietnamese grocers, restaurants and hole in the wall cold roll places in Woodville Gardens is Pho Ba Ria 2. We’re not sure where Pho Ba Ria 1 is, but who cares? You won’t after you’ve tried the pho here. The beef stock is cooked for 48 hours with plenty of star anise and cinnamon and you get pocket change from 10 bucks after a bowl.

The Phans introduced Vietnam and its cuisine to Adelaide. In their western suburbs restaurant home of Pennington for three decades, life long customers are considered family. The humble wood panelled dining room still fills today with the buzz of those anticipating mouth filling flavours of crispy soft shell crabs and peppered pork spare ribs hot pots. Now a hot spot for Vietnamese eateries, this unassuming part of town has the Phans to thank.

Across the road from Adelaide Central Markets, foodies in the know brave a deserted alleyway with the promise of smashing pho just past a few shuttered windows. Thanh Thanh rewards its diners with a bright and cheery dining room and gigantic servings of whatever your pho heart desires. Also try the combination broken rice plate and bring an empty stomach.

Photography: Sia Duff

The retail hub on Gouger Street in Adelaide CBD is home to a fun, funky and seriously authentic Vietnamese restaurant, Little NNQ. There is a simple lunch menu of soups, noodles and rice dishes, and at dinnertime you can crack out the full menu with the likes of slow-cooked caramelised pork belly and duck and banana blossom salad. While you wait, order a round of roll-your-own rice paper rolls for a bit of fun.