Neighbor cooking smell problem (San Jose: house, quality of life, live in)

[buenos]

I own a single family home in San Jose, on a 6000sqft lot. My neighbor has set up a full kitchen on their patio (without permit), under their patio cover/roof. Then every day they cook "rotten fish", that poisons the enjoyment of my patio and garden, the smell even goes inside my house and spreads everywhere. It is some kind of south east Asian ethnic food. The smell is so bad that it makes me sick, I can smell it at the other side of my house too.
What are my options for stopping them from producing the smell? Lawsuit, violence, code enforcement, revenge...? Talking to them is not an option, last year they refused to discuss the fallen over fence so I had to pay for the whole thing myself.

[Wintermomma]

Oh, bummer. Our neighbors use their fire pit part of the year for some outdoor roasting, which I am sure is fun for them, but we have to close our windows on that side of the house.

How about some well placed outdoor fans blowing it back? Not to be mean, just to be creative.

[buenos]

it's not just that it smells, but it does almost every day.

[jk88cal]

Originally Posted by buenos

What are my options for stopping them from producing the smell? Lawsuit, violence, code enforcement, revenge...? Talking to them is not an option

... ...

Only thing I can say is to close your windows.

When I smell smoke from neighbors' grill or bbq, I close my windows immediately. I don't smell anything inside my house.

When I grill salmon, grill steak, smoke pork ribs, my wife reminds me to close our windows prior to starting. I'm sure my cooking smell/smoke goes to neighbors' house. So I assume they will close their windows as needed.

[buenos]

Originally Posted by jk88cal

When I smell smoke from neighbors' grill or bbq, I close my windows immediately.

What if they are doing it all the time?
Occasional or sustained (every day) smell are a different matter. I may as well glue down my window as there are no days when I could open them anyway.
Also they are doing it right next to the fence, on the side close to my house wall and windows. They could go 10-20ft away from it, but that is not convenient for them. I think they are unreasonable.

[MediocreButArrogant]

A big a** fan and a big a** smoker come to mind. Normally you don't want heavy smoke when you BBQ, but pretend you don't know that.

[longislandicedteaforme]

Report them or move.

[NRaleigh Mom]

That is horrible!! On top of the horrible stench I would also be concerned about a possible fire since it is under their patio cover! I would have the City Code Enforcement office come inspect.

[ggcd951]

it is hard to deal with neighbours when the adverse behavior is sustained and neighbour is persistent. may identify the source agent that is producing the smell and found anti-"that" substance that suppresses those odor?

[Jane M]

many southeast asians cook outside. there's more room, heats up the house less, and when you fry fish it won't make the inside of the house greasy or smelly. The food item you speak of is most likely prahok (fermented fish) and yes, it is very strong in odor. The issue is, you live in the bay area. If it isn't prahok you smell, it would most likely be curry (which people also take offense to). Solution to your problem: go next door and politely ask if they can cook the dish inside or less often (my boyfriend's family usually makes a huge batch then stores it rather than cooking it everyday). I don't understand why people are so adverse to talking to their neighbors about issues that affect their quality of life. Talk to them and I bet you will get some kind of resolution.