Mountain Cafe, K-Town Los Angeles California

Mountain Cafe is a tiny hole in the wall spot that is known for their abalone porridge/juk/congee. If you've never been, it would benefit you to memorize the giant white character in the above picture. If you are driving by expecting to see a sign with the word "mountain" on it you will easily miss this place. The restaurant is open 24 hours and has very limited seating inside. It seemed like most people got their food to go, which is a smart idea if you live in the area. Although the place is known for abalone jook, I would say the ginseng chicken soup and the banchan were the standouts.

Their menu is on the wall and the English translation can be vague and confusing. This is when a Korean friend comes in handy. I'm going to guess that boiled ravioli is supposed to be mandu? 

Banchan
Complimentary

Spicy beef stew upclose

The spicy beef stew made the meal. These tender pieces of flavored beef with jalapenos were addicting and went really well with the abalone "chowder." Watch out, some jalapenos are really spicy.

Ginseng chicken soup
10.65

The ginseng chicken soup is actually a Cornish game hen stuffed with glutinous rice in a clear broth. There is no salt added to the soup, but it is served with a side of seasoned salt. I recommend tasting the broth before adding anything. The clean flavor of the chicken ginseng broth is totally worth it.

Abalone chowder
7.85

There were bits and pieces of abalone scattered throughout the "chowder" but the flavor was hardly detectable. The egg yolk added a nice richness to the dish once it was mixed in, but the "chowder" was quite ordinary on its own. Adding beef, kimchi, and radish to each spoonful, really brought the dish to life. The abalone "chowder" is really a vessel used to consume the tasty banchan. More beef and radish please!

Mountain Cafe
3064 West 8th Street
Los Angeles, CA 90005

Smoke City Market, Sherman Oaks

Hey Texans, there's a Texas BBQ spot in the San Fernando Valley! The first time we heard about this place was from a car salesman who grew up in Texas. He claimed Smoke City Market was the best Texas style BBQ joint in Los Angeles. Needless to say, we jumped at the opportunity when we were invited to chow down at Smoke City Market in Sherman Oaks. 

The restaurant is located along the stretch of Van Nuys made famous by the huge selection of car dealerships. The inside definitely has the Texas flair with rifles and plenty of cowboy paraphernalia. The menu is simple: choose your meat, choose your sides, sit and wait for your food to arrive. 

Texas BBQ Platter for 2
(Not actually on the menu, just a made up name)

The Meat: Starting at the top (going clockwise) beef sausage, pulled pork, fatty brisket, regular brisket, pastrami.

The Sides: Baked beans, pickles, mac n cheese, salw, potato salad (not pictured)

The Sauces: BBQ or Vinegar 

Everything used to be made in-house, but to keep up with the high demand, the sausages are now made by a company to the exact specifications of the owner. All the meat was great with a nice smokiness, but the most amazing and crave worthy item was by far the fatty brisket. WOW! Had no idea fatty brisket even existed and it is now my favorite BBQ meat. The meat just melted in my mouth. I dare say I may even prefer the fatty brisket over pork belly now.

The sides were also really good. My favorite was the potato salad, which was made with whole grain mustard and had a nice tangy. I could order a gallon of that at a time it is so good. 

This giant platter of food was more than enough for 2 and could satisfy a party of 3.  

If you're into eating challenges, Smoke City Market has that covered as well with their "Are you Texas Enough" challenge. It's a LOT of meat to eat in 1 hour, but at least it's good tasting meat!

Dessert: banana pudding

We finished our meal with banana pudding topped with vanilla wafers. It was cool, creamy and had chunks of fresh banana. 

I'm certainly no BBQ expert, but I can say with out a doubt that the fatty brisket at Smoke City Market rocked my taste buds and I can't wait to go back.

Smoke City Market
5242 Van Nuys Blvd.
Sherman Oaks, CA 91401

Natas Portuguese Bakery and Cafe, Sherman Oaks

The minute I walk into Natas, I feel like I am in an European cafe. The dining room is tastefully decorated with beautiful tiles from Portugal that go perfectly with the dark ceiling giving off a cozy and relaxed atmosphere. It's easy to focus in on the mouth watering pastries and just get dessert and coffee as I have done many times, but this time I was determined to try the authentic Portuguese dishes. 

The cafe is named after a popular Portuguese dessert called nata, which means cooked cream. This delicate, flaky pastry is filled with a smooth custard that's not overly sweet and goes really well with a cup of Americano. I can write a separate post just on all the delicious pastries this gem has to offer, but this visit was about the food.

The complimentary bread included a variety of olives.

Pasties de bacalhau
2 

The Portuguese cod cakes were crispy on the outside and soft and tender on the inside. It was surprising light tasting for the preparation. The sauce added a touch of heat and creaminess.

Gambia a Alho
15.95

Although I've never been to Portugal, I've always heard about their amazing piri piri dishes and especially the famous shrimp in piri piri sauce. There were so many dishes that sounded amazing I had a difficult time deciding. Luckily, Fatima, the owner of Natas made a few suggestions that helped narrow down the choices. I could not have been happier with the Gambia a Alho. The dish arrived with eight large shrimp tossed in the most delicious piri piri cream sauce. There were so many flavors happening in the sauce, it was like fireworks going off in my mouth. I soaked up every last drop of sauce with the bread before they took the plate away. I think this dish is best enjoyed using both hands, so don't be afraid to get messy if you order it. 

I will bring a large group next time so I can try more dishes on the menu. If everything else is as good as the Gambia a Alho, I might not need to go to Portugal. 

Natas Pastries
13317 Ventura Blvd. #D
Sherman Oaks, CA 91423

The Hatchery - Dare 2 Dream Farms

Where to buy chickens in Los Angeles? After calling numerous feed stores in Los Angeles, it turns out places that do sell chickens only sell chicks that are one to three weeks old. Since chicks have to be under a heat lamp until 6 weeks, we really wanted to get started pullets (15-22 weeks). 

We found many hatcheries online that have started pullets, but the expensive shipping fees and long travel time for these chickens put us off. Finally, I came across Dare 2 Dream Farms on a popular forum. I called them and the gentleman who answered was very friendly and happy to answer my laundry list of questions. The farm is located in Lompoc and they make deliveries to Los Angeles every Tuesday for a $20 flat fee. Luckily, they have plenty of 13-15 week old Buff Orpingtons and we put in an order for 3 at $20 each. 

Due to delays in the building of our coop I had to call Dare 2 Dream Farms to postpone our delivery and they were more than understanding and accommodating. I am very glad to have found them and look forward to getting more chickens from them in the future. 

This is a picture of Jeremy and Megan in front of our coop right after they delivered the Buff Orpingtons. 

And here are the new additions to our family.

Chicken Coop & Run

We decided to build our own chicken coop for several reasons. First, we love the sense of accomplishment that comes with finishing a project like this that we can't get from going down to the local feed store and picking up a pre-made coop. Second, we looked at the cost of coops and to get something we really like, it would have cost over $1,000. We figured we could make our own for a fraction of the cost. Third, we wanted to make a coop that worked for us and our chickens. So, we started our research on building a homemade chicken coop. Again, Backyard Chickens was a huge help with hundreds of coop plans and the forums filled with advice from chicken owners. We gathered everything we learned and drew out a basic plan to get us started. 

Building our chicken coop

Most agree that every chicken needs about 4 sq ft of living space inside the coop and this can change depending on size, but it seemed unanimous that the more space the better. With this information we decided to make a coop that was 4' X 3'. We also had to consider height of the coop and a few things came into play in figuring this out. We found that roosting poles have to be higher than the nesting box and 18'' away from the wall and at least 8'' of room for each chicken. The chickens also need enough head room once they are on the roosting poles. This lead us to build a coop that was 4' tall one one side and 5' tall on another to allow for a sloped roof. 

Below is a picture of the chicken coop frame.

We decided to make the coop and run two pieces to allow for ease of moving. This meant building two frames which turned out to be a lot more work than we expected. By the end of the first weekend we only had the frames finished and the walls cut. By the second weekend we were able to stain the frame, put up the walls, the roof, prime, paint and finish the project. 

This is the finished coop and run together. The total cost of materials was just under $250. The chickens arrive tomorrow and we hope that they love their new home!

Here is a collection of helpful links we gathered along the way:

Ventilation 

Deep Litter Method

Chicken Coop care Guide

Homemade Waterer and Feeder