First restaurant review in LA! - Noor's Indian Bistro

When in Los Angeles, one is in vegan paradise when it comes to food options. After several days of going to our favorite places for delish vegan food, Mike and I walked right by Noor's Indian Bistro, just blocks from our home in Monrovia.

Yes, Noor's is in Monrovia. Not central LA but not far. We are about 22 miles from downtown LA. Noor's is located in a small strip of four shops at the southeast corner of Foothills and Myrtle.

After just a few times dining there we already know Noor's is our favorite local spot. Raya, Nick and their team know about hospitality and although they are not exclusively vegan they know how to create incredible vegan dishes. As they have told us, because each dish is made from scratch, anything can be done vegan.

This includes Mike's favorite dish, Chana Saag, which they prepare with coconut milk instead of cream.

And one of my favorite things about Inian cuisine, the mango lassi, made with soy milk instead. Their version is so tasty.

Veggie Pakora

We have tried several dishes and one thing that is clear is that from their open kitchen anything that is created for you will drive your taste buds crazy. We have loved their veggie pakora (see above) and their samosas. Their roti bread is great. Being a big okra fan I love the Bhindi Masala and their Aloo Gobi is from Nick's grandmother's recipe! So delicious.

Chana Saag

We have also tried dishes that we have never had in our many times of being in Indian restaurants. The Mushroom Matar is a great example. So flavorful and we could both taste the freshness in every ingredient. Plus, we have been assured that there are so many other dishes to try and we are so looking forward to that!

If you are new to reading my restaurant reviews, please know that half of the review is about food and half about service. I firmly believe that hospitality is a huge part of the experience and Noor's does not disappoint. Our water glasses have never been empty and staff definitely check in to make sure everything is being enjoyed.

I hugely recommend Noor's Indian Bistro and hope you have an opportunity to dine there one day. They are open every day and will be one of those dining experiences you want to repeat. They are just north about a mile from the Myrtle exit off of the 210.

Here is their website: http://www.noorsindian.com/

Thank you for reading and please let me know if you have a meal at Noor's Indian Bistro!

Living in Los Angeles

Well, not exactly.

One week ago we made the move from Colorado to the Los Angeles area. Home is now the small town of Monrovia, about 20 miles northeast from downtown LA.

We have wanted to make the move to southern California for years. We are pretty ecstatic.

A few experiences so far:

I paid $4.59 a gallon for gas yesterday.

We have been blown away by the kindness of strangers.

Our new next door neighbors had us over for dinner last night for a vegan feast. It was amazing.

We love Donut Friend.

We have been to beaches at Newport Beach and Malibu and loved them both.

We had dinner at Gracias Madre which we fell in love with last summer. It is still amazing in so many ways.

We had deer in our neighborhood. Apparently there are also plenty of skunks, bears and raccoons too.

Our grocery bill is definitely higher.

I have taken the train into downtown LA three times now. Love it. As I interview I am trying to figure out the best way to get to potential jobs.

Downtown LA is incredible. And I haven't even begun to explore it.

More to come.

Thanks for reading!

Making a big move

If you have been connected with us for even a little while, you might know that for a long time we have been spending a lot of time in southern California. For me, my sweet spaces are the beaches in and north of San Diego. I have wanted to move there for several years.

Mike, not so much. Yet over the past couple of years he has gotten closer to wanting to move and last summer when we were there he said that he was ready.

Since last summer we have thought about a move a lot. I have applied for a couple of jobs but nothing in the San Diego area looked promising. I expanded my search to the Los Angeles area and had better luck getting calls for interviews from non-profits there. Mike joined me in the search and last week got the call.

We are moving.

To Los Angeles. The east side, like between downtown LA and the Inland Empire.

It looks like we'll move in July.

We still have to sell the house, find at least temporary housing there, and I need to find a job.

But we are doing it. My dream of living in southern California. And although we won't be as far south as we would like, we're still only 1 1/2 hours from one of our favorite beaches, Moonlight Beach in Encinitas, and Torrey Pines in San Diego.

It's been very emotional since starting to tell our co-workers, neighbors and friends. Seeing the For Sale sign in front of our house almost crushed me. We certainly have a lot to be grateful here and will totally miss our family of friends.

Life is truly so short. It's time to go for our dreams.

If you live in the southern California area please connect with us!

Thanks for reading.