Namaste Spiceland Indian Grocery Store and Vegetarian Indian Cuisine relocated to its new, larger, standalone location this past February at 821 Thousand Oaks Boulevard, Thousand Oaks (cross street Houston Drive, a block west of the SR23). Take the Rancho offramp from the 101 and turn left on T.O. Blvd.

Namaste Spiceland is no longer a “hidden” gem as it is so clearly visible to the community now compared to its former location in the Palm Plaza. You cannot and should not miss Namaste Spiceland now as they offer such a delicious, nutritious and quite reasonably priced assortment of Indian specialties.

Namaste is an Indian grocery store specializing in vegetarian/vegan items. Quite an interesting assortment of things you would never find at an Albertson’s or Ralph’s!

But the big draw for many, like me, is their fast casual vegetarian Indian cuisine. While I haven’t mastered the names of the items or know what they mean when I attempt to pronounce them, I come prepared to point at the items that I want. Or just ask.

And on the “or just ask” note, on the moderately busy Saturday that I visited, I felt a casual, family-like vibe that was so relaxing. Very nice folks here, more than willing to answer questions with a smile. Adding to that feeling was the fact that after we ordered, we were told we could pay after we ate. Quite a trusting, relaxed feel. So nice to see.

So in any case, there are combo plates that are very much a bargain - ek, do and te3n - which I’m assuming mean 1, 2 and 3. For $7.49, ek includes two vegetable dishes, basmati rice, chapati or puri, pickle, onion and raita. For a dollar more, “do” includes a samosa.

“What’s a samosa?” I asked the girl in line in front of us. Kind of a baked pastry with potato, peas, onion, lentil and other items inside of it. We did try it and it was delicious, along with the other items squash and lentil dish, potatoes, chana and other items. Nice assortment of items. There was so much food on my plate I couldn’t finish it!

A CVG Instagram acquaintance, Nilofer, told me to try the Hot Chai. When I saw the prices, I thought, these must be tiny cups…$1.25 for a small, $2 for a large. How could that be? I pay $4 to $5 for Hot Chai at Starbucks and Coffee Bean. The $2 Hot Chai was basically the deal of the century! Tasted great and easy on the wallet!

Namaste Spiceland is open daily from 10am to 9pm. Visit www.namastespicelandthousandoaks.com or call 805.373.6761.