Twelve Stones - FLOWER MOUND

This past weekend we visited Twelve Stones in Flower Mound, TX, which is located in the "Pines of Flower Mound" at 1221 Flower Mound Road (suite 100).  This is the Kroger on the Southeast end of town.

http://twelvestonesrestaurant.com/ 

We had eaten here once before (New Year's Eve) and had wanted to come back again when it wasn't a noted "special" occasion just to compare.

We got our reservations through Open Table, and ever received our "day of" call confirming our reservation.  That was nice.  We arrived about 5 minutes early to our 7pm reservation and were seated immediately.  At this point the place was moderately full, but there were plenty of seats.  We sat for a couple of minutes (which when at times can seem like an eternity) before a guy (who we assume was the manager) came by to take our drink orders, and let us know our server would be with us shortly.  It was nice to see this, since it was obvious our server was otherwise busy.  Shortly after our water was filled by (I think) our hostess - who also asked if we had been greeted yet.  Not very long after our server appeared, acknowledged our being greeted by the manager and our drink order already being put in.

Here is where I say one note....this COULD have been a huge turn off for me - I love great service, am fine with OK service, but HATE being ignored.  The team work shown here really was nice to see.  Obviously something was "going on" but the team pulled together to make sure we were taken care of.  Very VERY nice to see.

We ordered our appetizer (the Calamari) and shortly after our drinks were delivered.  It was at this time that we noticed the semi-full restaurant was now completely packed, with several parties waiting for a table.  NOTE - GET RESERVATIONS if you want to eat here!

The Calamari arrived quickly and was quite good - we made short order of it at least!  We then ordered our meal:  Crab Cakes, Garlic Mashed potatoes, the Smoked 10oz Filet (you HAVE to try it smoked) and the smoked Mac N Cheese.  I also got the garlic mushroom soup.

All I can say is - the food was outstanding.  My fillet was cooked to perfection, and the soup was my second favorite soup of all time.

We weren't going to get dessert, but at the recommendation of our server, we tried the Salted Caramel.  This is kind of a thicker than pudding (almost peanut butter) caramel explosion.  I bypassed my normal cheesecake for this - and was not disappointed.  All I can say is WOW!

Twelve Stones is THE best restaurant to eat at in Flower Mound, and one of the best in DFW.  Do not let the fact it is in the end of a strip mall fool you.  This is very high end food, with a little more casual atmosphere.  You will not be sorry if you try this place.

Carmel Restaurant and Lounge

http://www.carmelrestaurantlounge.com/

215 S DENTON TAP RD
SUITE #100 

Coppell, TX

Carmel is one of the newer restaurants in Coppell.  It opened to big hype, and great reviews.  For a while, it was hard to get a table, no matter when you wanted to visit.

Recently, however, I've noticed it not being as busy as when it first opened.  I thought, well I'll give it a shot with their Brunch menu.

I've eaten at this location before when it was another restaurant, and I was anxious to see what Carmel had done with the place.

Walking in, it looked very much like the same decoration - maybe changing a few things on the wall, but not much else looked like it changed.

The brunch menu looked GREAT.  Lots of choices, from both traditional brunch items to some Mediterranean fair.

Now I have a couple of hard rules that really take into account how much I like a place.  One of those is my drink (or anyone at the table for that matter) should be correct, and I should never have to have an empty glass, or have to ask for a refill.  In this particular visit, the Iced Tea was ordered with no lemon, and it came with a lemon.  It was also empty twice before someone coming to offer more.  In both cases - instead of either brining a new tea, or just a carafe to refill it, the empty glass was taken away, and brought back refilled.   This easily fixed detail would have really gone a long way for an enjoyable brunch.

Now the food - I ordered the "Surf & Turf" Benedict (which came with breakfast potatoes), while my wife had the Quiche Lorraine (minus the avocado / tomato, but adding the breakfast potatoes) that came with a cup of fruit.

The food came, and the Surf & Turf Benedict was very good.  I would probably skip the Surf next time, as its flavor just didn't mix well with the egg.  The Turf one, however was VERY good.   The egg itself was cooked just how I like it.  I'd say also to ask to keep the asparagus off the top - no flavor in the very small slivers, thus added nothing to the meal.   The breakfast potatoes were quite good too.  One small thing, I did have a piece of egg shell in on of my eggs.  Never something anyone wants to come across.

My wife liked her Quiche Lorraine - though she said the crust didn't taste like it was fresh made.  It looked good to me.  The fruit was a nice mixture of strawberries, blueberries, pineapple, and melon.  A very nice add to this dish.

I would say the food over all was good, and the service was just OK.  If you've not tried this place, check it out for yourself.  I'll want to return sometime on a Friday night myself, to see if they have an A team of servers, that maybe on a quiet Sunday we didn't get.  There are also several things on the dinner menu that look quite good.

If you've eaten here yourself - what do you recommend?