Castaway in Burbank

Thanks to a hectic work schedule this past week, I was not able to take presentable pictures of the mountains and hills around Sylmar, California. The end of each workday saw me exhausted and drained of energy that I was not able to drive around the area to do some "tourist" stuff. :-)

Our red eye flight was scheduled for 9 p.m. Thursday night but we didn't get to leave the office until close to 6 in the evening of that day. Since we had to be at Bob Hope Airport in Burbank at least an hour and a half before departure time, we were all in a rush for we still had to stop somewhere for dinner.

Thus, we decided to eat at a place a few miles from the airport. The restaurant we picked was called The Castaway and is located right in the city of Burbank. The restaurant is nestled in the Burbank Hills and Harvard Road, the road Castaway is on, winds up the hills past some nice homes and a golf course.

The following view of the Burbank Hills greeted us as we pulled into the restaurant's parking lot.


One can enjoy some spectacular views of the Los Angeles city skyline from this restaurant's windows and patio. While waiting for our food to arrive, a colleague and I decided to step outside to enjoy the views and take a few pictures.

The photo below shows the restaurant's patio.


From this patio, one can enjoy the breeze and views of both the skyline and the surrounding hills. However, this area is reserved only for customers who are out to enjoy a few drinks. Here's another shot of the patio this time taken facing the west. The sun was setting at this point.


I took the following picture from one end of the patio. It shows more of the surrounding hills and in the foreground, it provides one with a view of part of the neighboring De Bell Golf Course.


Another shot of the golf course but this time, with part of the Los Angeles skyline in the background. It was quite a hazy day and as a result of that, I was not able to take a much clearer picture of the skyline.


Here's one more shot of the golf course and the skyline taken from a different spot on the restaurant's patio.


And of course, no photo of the Los Angeles area would be complete without a shot of these palm trees on the patio.


I had to get back in for my dinner moments after the above shot was taken. There was a cool and pleasant breeze coming in from the west and a few people had started hanging around the patio.

I have an aunt who lives near Burbank and from the airport, I called her to say goodbye and also to let her know where I had stopped for dinner. She said Castaway is quite popular in the area. It is a popular place for wedding receptions, baptismal parties, and Mother's Day lunches. In fact, one of her husband's nieces had her wedding reception there. There was indeed a decent size crowd while we were there and we even saw a group of people who were engaged in discussions with the restaurant's manager regarding plans and arrangements for a coming wedding reception.

I also enjoyed my dinner which was shrimp scampi served on a bed of steamed rice and steamed vegetables. I like this place and will definitely come back to it the next time I find myself in the area.