Rose VL

By Matthew Korfhage

For years, you could never get a bowl of Christina Luu and William Vuong's amazing Vietnamese soup at 82nd Avenue's Ha VL after noon—and if it wasn't gone by 11 am on a Saturday, you were lucky. But since this summer, everything has changed for the better. Now every day but Sunday at their rose-walled soup shop Rose VL—a sparse, bright-lit space with little 1980s cityscape paintings on the walls—$9.50 will get you a choice between two different bowls of plush heaven in liquid form. A subtle tom yum on Monday puts the usual amped-up galangal bomb to shame, while a light Wednesday chicken noodle with bamboo shoots is rich with marrow and undercut by the slightest hint of earthy herb and ginger. Nothing is oversweetened, overspiced or oversalted. The fishcake's a little wharfy for my taste, it's true. But that's the best thing about the VLs: The Western palate isn't even in consideration.

Photo: Emma Brown Photo: Emma Brown

Pro tip: Here's your soup schedule: shrimpcake (or tom yum) Monday, fish noodle Tuesday, bamboo shoots chicken noodle Wednesday, crab flakes noodle Thursday, peppery pork ball Friday, Vietnamese turmeric noodle Saturday, Maruchan ramen at home Sunday.

GO: Rose VL: 6424 SE Powell Blvd., 206-4344. 4-9 pm Monday-Saturday. Ha VL: 2738 SE 82nd Ave., Suite 102, 772-0103. 8 am-4 pm Wednesday-Monday. $.

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