Meson Sabika: Naperville, IL

Foodie Sisters Carrie and Becky got together this week for lunch and at Becky's suggestion set out for Spanish tapas at Meson Sabika, which is housed in a stunning 1847 mansion in Naperville.

Starting out, they brought Spanish olives to the table and some crusty Italian bread that we enjoyed while we perused the lengthy menu.

The menu includes entree selections and paellas, but we opted to go for a few tapas. It's always nice to get a taste of a few different things. We started out with two cold tapas. There were nearly twenty to choose from just on the cold side on the lunch menu.

We settled on Salmon Curado con Queso, which Becky had tried before and highly recommended. It was house-cured salmon, rolled with dill cream cheese and served with toast points and traditional garnish. Fantastic!

Next was Rollito de Buey, thinly sliced beef tenderloin wrapping a mixture of dates, blue cheese and pine nuts layers with Portobello mushrooms and pimiento peppers, served with pomegranate reduction. The combination of tastes and textures was pleasant and the artful presentation was beautiful.

They carry the Republic of Tea products, a premium tea brand that we didn't realize came as a bottled iced tea product. It's rare that I enjoy tea without any sweetener, but this Ginger Peach Black Tea variety needed none.

Then we had another twenty to choose from on the list of hot tapas. We tried out the Gambas al Ajillo, grilled tiger shrimp in garlic lemon butter sauce. It was the simplest of the items we ordered, but cooked perfectly and presented nicely.

Our second of the hot tapas was Cazuela de Pollo, chicken casserole with red bell peppers, asparagus and a pimiento cream sauce. This was lighter than what you'd expect in an American casserole. The sauce was on the thin side, but had excellent flavor that infused into the tender chicken.

As if that wasn't enough food, we decided to share a dessert. We both love flan, so we asked the flan of the day flavor. Coconut. Wasn't sure how I'd like it, but the coconut flavor was so subtle that it was barely there. Really enjoyed it.

And here's a peek at the rest of the stunning property. The 1847 mansion transports you to another time of nostalgic luxury.

The restaurant also has a Tapas to go menu.