castaway

sunday brunch was a serious disapointment. after seeing the castawayrestaurantfeatured on the show food paradise as one of the best sunday brunch restaurants, we decided to go there for our anniversary. i called to make reservations so that i could inquire if they had the split king crab legs that was shown for the burbank castaway location and was assured that they did indeed have them. when we went there yesterday there was no king crab and was told that they have never had them. the rest of the food was very disappointing as well. the peel and eat shrimp had not been cleaned and still had the intestinal tract in them. the carving station had small overcooked and dried out roast beef that was very over done, dried out turkey and ham. there was no gravy or mashed potatoes or dressing to go with it. i was afraid to try the salmon as it looked as though it had been sitting there as long as the carved meats. the whole buffet was odd and had very few choices. the cheese enchiladas looked pretty but were completely cold. the dessert table consisted of small squares of dry cake and a chocolate fountain to which you could dip very unripe fruit. the cost was $31.95 per person and the food was the quality of a hometown buffet meal. however our waiter was very attentive and he gave us very good service. i'm assuming he knows that is the only way he can make good tips on such a disappointing fare. the pictures of the castaway food on their website our very enticing but after trying their sunday brunch i would not even consider trying their dinners. i guess this is a case of buyer beware.

"the lees". we are the lees and we love this restaurant. it is our home away from home..."where everybody knows your name" great food at great prices and best of all the most wonderful staff in the whole world. we are not drinkers but we love coffee and caesar always makes it just right. he is sure to delight all that frequent the bar at castaway restaurant. they also have a good selection of wines on hand. not only is this a greatrestaurantbut they also do weddings and events here, elegantly and economically.
the man who wrote the review about the waiter forgetting his soup...well, these things happen, no one is perfect, but to expect to eat at a finerestaurantin less than one hour and 15 minutes is ridiculous. castaway is a realrestaurantwhich means they cook real food, not just heat it up like most of the fake restaurants around these days. also their food quality is above average. if you come here expect to dine, not chow down and run. if you are in a hurry let the staff know so they can accommodate you as best as possible, otherwise they will serve you at a relaxing pace allowing you to enjoy your food, conversation, candle light and the magnificent view. you can even stay after finishing your meal. they have fire pits outside where many guests like to order after dinner drinks.
cheers :)

our favorite brunch!!. our family has been coming to the castaway sunday brunch for several years now and it is absolutely our favorite brunch anywhere.

the atmosphere is gorgeous, food selection is outstanding but one of our favorite things about therestaurantis the staff.

it wasn’t until somewhat recently we had brunch at the orange hillrestaurantthat they informed us about the loyalty card. after that- on our next visit to castaway we told the manager, ignacio, that we were bummed we didn’t know about this sooner because we had been coming to the castaway for so long we could’ve accrued several points and he immediately gave us extra loyalty points on that visit which was awesome! since then we always hear the staff and management informing guests of they loyalty and e-club programs. (we most likely had heard about it before but couldnt remember after the neverending flow of brunch champange...lol)

on that same visit we were telling our favorite waiter (bobby) about the orange hillrestaurant& we were telling him that our favorite thing there was the ahi which castaway didn’t have... then a few minutes later he brought us a special ahi appetizer dish!!! we were blown away that the chef would go out of his way to do this for us. it was amazing.

on the last visit, we were visiting with the bartender, jimmy, and just mentioned that we like to drink bloody mary martinis at home and the next time we came in he had one perfected! on that same visit, brian personally introduced us to chef francisco and mentioned to him how much we loved ahi. he told us if we came back the following week he would have a special ahi dish and we did come back the following week and he did have an amazing ahi dish on the buffet! we were so impressed that he would go out of his way to do this for us- and that he even remember us the next week. we also had our son with us on this visit and my son loved francisco’s chef hat and the next thing we knew the chef came back with a chef hat for my son who absolutely loved it! he also cut up an apple to look like a swan for my little one!

anything we’ve ever mentioned to brian that we’d like to see or try he does his best to make happen and it usually does. jimmy is such a talented and friendly bartender! ignacio has always gone out of his way to come up and say hi to us and see how things are going. chef francisco went way above and beyond what anyone has ever done for us at any restaurant. bobby is our absolute favorite waiter..we always request his section. the girls up front always remember us and are very friendly.

i could go on and on about the service and food at castaway but we have never been to arestaurantso friendly and so accommodating before.

only thing that could possibly make it better is live music during the sunday brunch!!!

we’ll be @ castaway next monday for our first happy hour there! so looking forward to trying the happy hour menu and hope our favorite bartender is working!! j

the staff at the castawayrestaurantare friendly and attentive. the food is excellent and cooked to perfection.