A few years ago, my wife and I took a trip to Europe and made a stop in Belgium to visit a friend. That visit alone sealed my love for that country, it's food and beer. So when I heard over a year ago that a Belgium inspired restaurant was coming to Greenville, I got excited. The Trappe Door opened about two months ago to much fanfare and I wanted to wait for the right time to visit.
This evening, I took my brother to dinner there for us to enjoy Moules Frites, a favorite of ours and definitely one of the most popular dishes in Belgium and the surrounding countries (Neatherlands, France). For those of you that don't know, Moules Frites are mussels and fries.
This evening, I started with a bottle of Moinette Brune, dark Belgium beer that I've enjoyed before. The Trappe Door has by far the largest Belgium beer selection that I've ever seen. I've already tried many of them, but now I have plenty more to try on future visits. Food wise, we started with an appetizer of blackened crab and bleu cheese fondue. Very good and was highly recommended by our server. Of course we both ordered Moules Frites and made sure that we both didn't get the same selection. There are currently, six different styles of Moules Frites which you can choose from. I got the Thai red curry, which were steamed in a rich, delicious coconut curry broth with diced apples. Michael (my brother) ordered the Mariniere, mussels in a traditional sauce of white wine, garlic and shallots.
I am definitely returning to try the other moules styles in future visits. The other moules styles include: Spanish (supposedly spicy), White and Bleau (belgian white ale, bleu cheese, bacon and dijon mustard), Provencale (tomato-based sauce with peppers, fresh herbs, garlic and black olives) and Fennel and Pesto (fennel and white wine broth with a sweet basil pesto).
With your order of frites, you get to choose from 3 mayonaise dipping sauces. There are about 7-8 different sauces that you can choose from. I chose, Belgium style mayo, truffle mayo and curry mayo. All three were excellent. Michael chose Belgium style, in addition to chipotle and a mayo/ketchup combo.
Having been to Belgium and enjoyed moules frites there, Trappe Door did a phenomenal job in creating an atmosphere that's exactly what you will find in Belgium. The night ended with an order of Belgium waffles, which were topped with vanilla ice cream, powdered sugar, and fresh fruit. An excellent dessert to end the night. Next time though, I am ordering the Trio of Mousses, which I noticed being served at another table.
I can honestly say that The Trappe Door has jumped to near the top of my favorite restaurants to enjoy. I now don't have to wait a few more years to enjoy Belgium again. I can now get my fix often, and judging by the crowd tonight, many of us will continue to do the same.
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