Shorty's Eatery — Restaurant in California

Wifey and I made it back to Shorty's Eatery today. We treated mom to something new. Since we had such an excellent experience last weekend, we decided to try some more delectable items.

Of course we had to get what we really enjoyed before. It's good to know they're able to keep their excellent quality consistent.

Lumpia, tender juicy, meat filled treats with a perfect crispy exterior. The homemade sweet chili sauce is outstanding. The perfect pairing.

Pancit, those light little noodles combined with cabbage, carrot, onion, scallion and chicken; drizzled with a wedge or two of lemon. I can't get over how much I enjoy this dish, especially on a warm summer day. Light, bright and filling. This should be a meal in itself (no we didn't finish it).

The meat buns...bao (?) I wonder if these things freeze well...for the weekends I won't be able to make it up there. Soft and delicate exterior, savory, sweet, tender interior. Dang these things are delicious.

Chicken Adobo: I'm waiting for the weekend when it's cold and raining outside. I'll gladly drive up to sit on the patio and watch the rain fall from the sky and enjoy this delectable treat in the cool evening air.

A rich, deep, flavorful plate of bone in chicken, that's so tender it literally falls off the bone. Hints of garlic and soy linger in what I can only guess as filipino comfort food.

I should add the white rice, which is usually wierd for me since white rice is usually just a cheap filler to accompany a meal.... Not this rice though. It wasn't steamed beyond recognition, like it usually is when picking up rice at, let's say a chinese take out restaurant chain. This rice was lighter, a hint of sweetness, and a little "tooth" left in the grain, think al dente pasta. The texture between the rice and the chicken adobo pairing was nice. This will definitely be my cool weather treat...if it ever rains here again.

If it doesn't rain...Halo Halo! What the heck was this compilation of interesting and different ingredients? A light, refreshing summer time treat that (thankfully) isn't as sweet as it looks like it should be. Let's see if I can recall EVERYTHING that's in there. Yes, it's a lot; yet that's what definitely made it fun. Ube ice cream (purple yam), Avocado ice cream (that was more flavorful than I thought) doesn't really taste like Avocado, yet an interesting citrus note. Shredded young coconut, this DOES NOT taste like the sweetened shreds you get out of a bag. Lighter, cleaner; why haven't I had this before? Kaong...yeah, I had to look it up...sweet palm fruit...light, juicy, slightly sweet. We thought they were odd shaped jelly beans. I'm glad we were wrong. Sweet red bean paste? Yeah, that was a different twist, the texture and umami did it for me. Very interesting. White beans? What in the heck? I never would have thought this would work in a dessert. Just goes to show we can always learn something different. The shaved ice in this concoction helped balance and clear the palate between bites. What an intriguing and fun guessing game to play with friends.

Finally, I didn't get to try, yet Rollie was busy with a special order. The pork belly lechon was being prepared for someone that afternoon. That will definitely be on the list to pick up. They smelled so good.

I'll slowly try to work my way through the menu..I think I'll be stuck on filipino Saturdays for a little while though.

Bang for the Buck note...we ordered (2) Pancit (my wife says it's excellent cold, will be trying for dinner). (2) Bao buns (2) dozen lumpia (extras for brother who couldn't go with us) (1) chicken adobo (1) Coca-Cola (1) water (3) Halo Halo (2) each, brownie, shortbread, lemon bar, magic bar...because I can for later.....

We pulled up right at 5pm, closing time. I wasn’t even going to go in once I saw they were closed but my mom insisted because all I had to eat all day was an apple for breakfast. I thought this was just a little convenience store and I’d get a beef jerky stick or something to hold me over until our dinner reservation at 7:15pm. When we walked in, I saw they had some brownie (type)/lemon bars. I was just going to get that so we could be in and out, I didn’t want to keep the nice man working from closing up and going home. It wasn’t until he was bagging them up did I really look at the menu to see what they offered for a later time.

First thing I read, chicken adobo…. I’m looking at the picture and I see pancit, then lumpia. My heart stops. I can’t believe it. I just moved to the area from Hawaii where I spent my entire adult life. Filipino food was a staple in my weekly diet. I just about cried when I saw it. I thought I’d have to go to a bigger city like Sacramento to find what is now my comfort food. Right away that nice man working (I didn’t catch his name but I assume he is the owner) offered to make it for me. At first I said no, it was already a few minutes past 5, I couldn’t keep him any longer. He told me it would just take a few minutes and he doesn’t mind, so I budge and say yes.

As soon as he brings it out, I’m so excited. I already know this is going to be delicious. I thank him profusely and he says “you didn’t even look at it” and opens the to-go box to show me this absolute feast.

When I tell you I danced all the way back to the car with my prize! I couldn’t resist and tried a bite as soon as I sat down in the car. ABSOLUTE HEAVEN! My taste buds exploded and this tasted homemade! You could taste that it was made with love. I was blown away!

I ran back into the store to tell him how good it was, with the biggest smile on my face! I couldn’t help it, I needed to tell him how happy I was, even though he didn’t know why/how much this meant to me.

Please, please, please stop by and try it for yourself, even if you’ve never had Filipino food. You’ll be blown away. I can’t wait to go back and try the pork belly (another favorite of mine) and manapua (meat bun) I have a feeling I won’t be disappointed.

P.s. I only feel comfortable writing this because my friends and their family back home will never see this review but I think this is the best I’ve...

Just tried the food here for the first time today, and man oooooh man, as a mixed Filipino kid originally from SoCal, I could cry for joy at how great (and nostalgic) their food is. There's SO much food too! We really underestimated the serving size. We got the chicken adobo platter, pork belly platter, a dozen lumpia and a lemon bar. The meats were well seasoned and tender, the pancit was quite literally perfection, and the lumpia was flavorful and had a perfect crunch. The lemon bar had a nice soft shortbread with a well balanced lemon curd on top (truly one of the best lemon bars I've had in years), and the extra goodie we were given was also such a nice treat! I haven't bought food from somewhere that made me THAT happy in years. The owner was also incredibly kind and personal as well. If you have the means, please support...