May 19, 2017

When Work Is Travel- College Park, Md.


Last week I traveled to College Park, MD to complete a training class. I should mention, the word ‘travel’ is used lightly here although it was an hour and a half commute each way. On a good day, College Park is roughly 35-40 minutes away, so it isn’t the first place that I travel to for ‘good eats’. However, since this training was coming up, I mapped out almost every place I wanted to eat and an honorable mention that I wasn’t able to try. When I say I ate horrible out for lunch every day, it was every single day, no Bueno for my waistline. Take a look below and get into my foodie adventure.


Monday: Blaze Pizza
You may remember me mentioning Blaze last year when I was mystery shopper. It’s been almost a year since I had that delicious pizza. I was happy to be only 5 minutes away and I knew that it wouldn’t disappoint. I was a bit wrong, not totally disappointed but semi. On that particular day, they didn’t have any chicken… how sway. Usually I HATE chicken on a pizza because it tends to be overly dry, but not Blazes’ chicken. Although I wasn’t able to add chicken, I was able to get their tasty Blood Orange Lemonade. That lemonade definitely comes in second place to Chik Fil A’s which is usually hit or miss.

I LOVE Arugula


Tuesday: Unforgettable Flavors
It is very, very hard to find good Jamaica food in VA. Of course I had to put this on my list. At the time we ordered, we were the only people inside so we were able to meet the chef prior to eating. Usually my go to at almost any Jamaican restaurant is Ox Tails, and that day was no different. If you know me well you know my order: Ox Tails, Rice & Peas, and Plantains. The oxtails were good but it wasn’t as meaty as they could have been. I also tasted my friends Jerk Chicken and it tasted a bit too sweet and lacked that kick of spice that I’m use to. Since the restaurant makes their own ginger drink and I LOVE anything ginger I had to get that. This particular ginger drink tastes exactly like the drink I get at the African Restaurants.


Ye 'Mon


Wednesday: Milk & Honey


This spot has been on my radar for some time and I thought I’d make it over for brunch one weekend although I hear the wait time is ridic. Luckily for me, they were less than 5 minutes away from the hotel. My friend ordered the Strawberry Shortcake for us to share and it was pretty tasty. I opted for the $10 special in an attempt to save some coins. The special was Cajun Shrimp and Chicken Pasta, which I later found out was pick one or the other *eye roll*. This was very flavorful, but I needed it to have a bit more of a kick to it. Sidenote- when I think Cajun, I think of a spicy heavy cream based dish and this was lemon olive oil based. My friend got the Grilled Salmon BLT which came on a croissant, and of course I regretted my order. Everyone’s food around me looked really tasty but I’m not sure I could go on an empty stomach and have to wait #JustSayn. For those of you that plan on visiting because it is ‘the spot’ at the moment; they also have a ‘wait dish’ that you can order to curb your hunger. We asked what it was for the day but because there wasn’t a wait, nothing was prepared. As I was about to head out, I noticed cupcakes and of course I had to grab one. The employees recommended the snicker doodle cupcake and it was delish!!!





I wish I would have ordered this...


Thursday: Fishnet
I actually tried this spot back in 2013, because President Obama visited, literally, that was the only reason. I ordered the fried catfish sandwich and the slaw. My catfish was good, but needed a bit more seasoning. The slaw was horrible, it was vinegar based but had cilantro added and I HATE cilantro can you tell I’m a critic . Unfortunately, I was starving that day and forgot to take a picture. My friend ordered catfish as well so I quickly snapped hers before she bit into it. During this lunch is when I checked yelp and saw that there was a new and hot restaurant in the area so we decided to visit as our last hooray.

Sooo good



Friday: Gus’s Fried Chicken
As if I couldn’t get any unhealthier lol. I thought the chicken would have some type of wet spicy batter but it didn’t. I’m not a person that can take extreme heat but this wasn’t even spicy at all. I got the two piece with a wing and breast with a jalapeno on the side, and I had okra and baked beans. The baked beans were really good and the okra was bomb. I can eat fried okra anytime of the day if only there was a Church’s Chicken around yes I’m that type of country lol. The chicken was always served with white bread, my friend asked for wheat bread and I thought that was hilarious. I liked the Nashville decor with all of the blues memorabilia.  





My honorable mention goes to: Milkbar Arthouse
I thought for sure we’d end the training with Happy Hour here but unfortunately that didn’t happen. The vibe looks really cool not sure when I’ll be back in the ae to check it out though.



As you can see I gained about 20 pounds, just kidding. I thoroughly enjoyed my lunch adventures in College Park, Md. Are there any places that wasn’t on my list that I need to travel and try?