Norah

Portland is already a basked full of great Thai and Thai-inspired Kitchen. But when a business partner said he is vegan and recommended Norah for a lunch meal I was a bit skeptical. Living with my vegetarian (well truthfully pescetarian since he eats fish - a lot) hubby for over 24 years I am well suited to be surprised I said yes. And I am so happy I did. When we walk to one of our favorite restaurants around the corner we often parked in front of Norah and even looked at the menu. For whatever reason it did not spoke to us. Mostly maybe based on "well another Thai? We know so many why try a vegan one?".So we never went. But I went to the business lunch. We had all appetizers and one after the other was so good. From fries with a special seasoning (not to much heat but a kick) with a garlic aioli. To samosas, lard balls on a cucumber elite with a fried basil leave, "nacho" with delicious sauce to little "dumplings" that have been more of a very delicious fried wantan. All have been so good. In fact it was so good - after having lunch with the business contact I had to go back on date night with hubby. Same reaction - another Thai? YES! Cause it's good cause it's different. He loved it! So either vegan or not - try it don't shy away - also make sure you use the yelp waitlist since they are busy!

I recently tried a few items here, and while I appreciated the effort put into each dish, some of the flavors didn't quite align with my taste. The nachos were a bit too salty, and the wontons had an aftertaste that wasn't to my preference. The fried rice also wasn't my favorite flavor-wise. The pad Thai had a ketchup taste. On the positive side, the virgin colada was tasty, although it had a lot of ice and foam, so it was finished in just a few sips.An aspect of the experience that I wasn't fond of was the ordering and payment process. Scanning a menu to order and paying through it at the end made me question the service component, especially since a tip was still part of the checkout. Additionally, a water bottle was brought to the table for self-service refills, which felt a bit hands-off. Overall, while the concept may appeal to some, it wasn't quite what I was hoping for in a dining out experience. Two stars were for the friendly waitress who was also the host and bartender. The pictures of the pad Thai and fried rice, that I included, show how much of the meal my party did not eat.

This is still my favorite Portland restaurant. The food was deliciously prepared. Fresh and Vegan. The atmosphere is inviting and comfortable. The service was friendly and quick.The menu has both SPICY and Mild options and they knew how to respect ones wishes for a mild dish. The Pad Thai Nachos are next level amazing!!!I've searched the city for Pad Thai that is mild yet still tasty, and finally Norah has provided it! The finger licking potatoes and the coconut mushroom linguine are worth writing letters about! And my dinner companions say the spicy dishes were flavorful and delicious too!The non-alcoholic drink options were great and plentiful!

10 stars if I could!!While on a Portland visit, Norah's was on the ever-long vegan restaurant list for us to try. I am so glad we chose Norah's for dinner on our short trip. It was so good that we came back for lunch the next day before flying back home.Between the two meals, we tried 4 appetizers and 3 entrees. I love the variety of flavors Norah has to offer. The only thing I wouldn't personally order again was the Pad Thai nachos. Although the execution of the dish was there for presentation and wonderful textures, the supposed to be sweet and sour tamarind sauce was really sweet. The sauce reminded me of bbq sauce and didn't fit in the dish quite right. It needed something spicy or tangy to balance the flavors better. With that said, I would 100% order everything else we got again and again. Finger licking potatoes, Papaya Salad, Larb Croquette, See Ew, Coconut Mushroom Linguine and Volcano Tempura Noodle Soup.My FAVS were the Papaya Salad and Volcano Tempura Noodle Soup. The salad was tangy and fresh, with great flavors and textures!! The soup was comforting, spicy, dynamic and beautifully presented with fried tempura veg on top. I took the tempura off and tore pieces to dip into the soup between slurps. The See Ew is also very notable as we ordered this both visits! The noodles are perfectly chewy, balance of flavor and includes tofu and tempeh. The tempeh is the best tempeh I have ever had!! It may be fried but the texture and flavors of it in every dish whether it came with it or we added to a noodle dish, was fantastic.I love spicy food and I found that only some dishes at Norah were naturally spicy. Lots of the entrees were finished with fresh pepper, which I enjoyed. If I get a chance to return, I may ask for dishes like the See Ew and Coconut Linguine to be spicier, if possible. I do want to note that the lack of spice was not a lack of flavor. We gobbled down every last bite!!!Unless you have a party of 6+, you order through your phone and dishes come out as ready. I personally love the hands off approach and anything additional you may need can still be requested via the server. Wonderful, friendly service was provided as well!

Absolutely incredible all-vegan Thai fusion. My highest recommendation.Having seen the high rating, I know we had to check this place out. We got one of the last tables on a Tuesday evening at 6pm. Ordering is done by app. We got the Papaya Salad ($12) to start, and See Ew ($18) and Masala Linguine ($18) to share.The food came out very quickly and in generous portions:-The Papaya Salad was the most traditional of the dishes, balanced well between sweet, spicy and salty -- really nice stuff. -The See Ew was not a typical pad see ew, coming with fried tofu, absolutely divine candied tempeh, and bok choy, along with the usual flat wide rice noodles - phenomenal. -The Masala Linguine was also incredible, coming with all sorts of mixed wild mushrooms, onions, and linguine pasta, spiced beautifully by a masala curry paste. Also phenomenal.I can't say enough good things about the food. One of the best finds in PDX in recent years.

We went here after seeing the place several times. We're not vegan, but I love seeing a vegan place with focused Asian food. Overall, we enjoyed our experience and mostly enjoyed the food.We enjoyed the larb bite and the mushroom linguine. However, I would recommend skipping the pad thai nachos. It was overly sauced and thus, very salty. We also didn't really like the sauce. It was very intense, and not at all pad thai like. It was more of just a tamarind sauce-- there wasn't any peanuts or anything that made me think it was even reminiscent of a pad thai. We didn't enjoy that dish. However, the other dishes were fairly good. And the cocktail was pretty good as well.I think the dishes all sound amazing, and I really like the inventiveness of the menu, but I don't think it was all executed great. However, I still appreciate the restaurant as a whole, and I hope they continue to be successful. And I was very excited to try it. It isn't something we would come back to, but that's just us. I still recommend giving this place a try!

Five giant stars!! Norah is a vegan Thai dream come true! We were warmly greeted when we arrived and found a carafe of water waiting on the table. The space is clean and comfortable with open beamed ceilings and beautiful hanging plants through. My husband has been vegan for six short months and he loved it so much we had to go back two weeks later! The second time we took Omni friends and they said how crazy they found it that the best Drunken noodles they had ever had were vegan!We ordered Drunken noodles, See Ew, Bibimbap and Pad Thai. All the dishes were raved over. Fresh and piping hot, perfectly seasoned delicious!!The only thing we didn't care for was that the ordering is a Q code and done on your phone. We found it clunky. Norah is amazing and sure to become one of our favorites!

We went for the first time and heard a lot about this place so we had to try out as many options as we can.My first advice is to definitely make a reservation ahead of time, as it gets PACKED. With that being said, you order through the QR code and they'll deliver to your table as it's ready.The papaya salad was refreshing, and the masala fries were a hit. The finger licking potatoes were a miss though, a bit too soggy and didn't go with the curry for meThe pad see ew and the basil dish were great, both flavorful, full of veggies with different plant based proteins mixed together. The spice for everything was pretty mild, and they didn't give an option to make it spicier although they gave chili oil on the side Everything is vegan, and the service is fast paced since there was a lot of people but we were taken care of. On and the mango margarita was on point, very refreshing Only feedback for them would be to add spice levels to the foods, otherwise definitely worth checking out!

I have been to Norah a few times now, and am always greatly impressed by how delicious everything I've ordered has been. The atmosphere here is smaller and more intimate. I would highly recommend booking a reservation in advance, as they do seem to be consistently busy. My favorite appetizers here are the rainy rangoon and the samosa. For the entree my absolute favorite is the coconut mushroom linguine which is made with seasonal mushrooms. The masala linguine is a close second favorite too with the delicious spices they use.

So much yummy deliciousness! This is such a cute little vegan place and I honestly can't believe I haven't been here before now. Well anyways we visited the place and oh my goodness am I floored. We got the masala fries, rangoons, finger licking potatoes, drunken noodles and the NA norah punch. First off the punch was so amazing - the chili on the rim had this smoky feel that you just don't get elsewhere. The drunken noodles were on another level altogether. This is best drunken noodles I've ever had and am sure will never get a tastier drunken noodles dish elsewhere. It's spicy for sure so do not get it if spice isn't your thing. I'm a big fan of spice and was tearing up a little while licking my plate clean! The masala fries are so aptly named. This is what masala fries everywhere wants to be but fails. The lime aioli on it was just so on point! Compared to that, the finger licking potatoes were not as amazing (they were still good, just paled a little in comparison). Friends in our party ordered the linguine and holy basil dishes and both were really good as well. Seriously, go here if you've not been there already.