It’s been a long wait, but it has finally ended. Crunchy Square opened it doors in early July and were all hands on deck when we dropped by early one afternoon. We entered the singles area of the restaurant to be met by a team of smiling staff. At first we weren’t quite sure what to expect of Crunchy Square, the website was not yet active, and we had yet to see any marketing material about the place, so we went in ‘blind’ so to speak. It was, however, clear on arrival that square shapes featured prominently throughout. Chairs, tables and even the coasters fit the part.

The interior color scheme is a mix of chocolate and yellowing banana; appropriate, as we later found since both are featured heavily on the menu. A menu that soon answered the question we all had on the tips of our tongues: “What is Crunchy Square?” The answer was spelled out on the cover: Simply New Motabag. Apart from one other diner picking up an order, the place was pretty much deserted. Not wanting to dine in, we also opted for takeout. The waiter passed us menus, and suggested we sit down while we decided what to eat. Before we had time to think we were surprised by complimentary welcome drinks. Small frail glasses of red ‘Karkaday’ were served, aka ‘Hibiscus’. The drink was cool and refreshing, no complaints there.

As for the main fare, Crunchy Square serves up square upon square of baked motabag. To the unaware, motabag is a local traditional meal made of folded squares of pan-fried pastry dough filled with various sweet (banana) or savory (meat and vegetable) ingredients. However at Crunchy Square, the motabag is baked — the place’s name lending itself to the satisfying crunch you have when biting into it. The menu includes over 20 varieties of this modern motabag, with imaginative names like Chunky Apple, Tangy Shrimp and Naughty Banana; hardly names you would stumble across elsewhere in town. A handful of salads are also on the menu, along with three soups and over six varieties of Masoob. Masoob is a traditional Hijazi dish and is basically bananas — sometimes dates — and ground bread, all mashed up together with some kind of sweetener. Crunchy Square has added its own creative touch here too and offer flavors such as caramel, chocolate and honey and even a sizzling platter of masoob. Masoob is usually a squishy mix given the nature of its ingredients; however at Crunchy Square, the masoob is different — in place of the ground bread is what appears to be croutons. Served up with this is a large scoop of vanilla ice cream, which balances the masoob. However it was the motabag that really stood out at Crunchy Square.

These crispy (or perhaps crunchy) puff pastry squares are filled with all sorts of ingredients. On appearance they look more like a baked pie, square pasty or sambousa than motabag, but names aside, these Crunchy Squares are incredibly addictive. We tried four — the Spina-Cheese (Spinach and Cheese), Old Timers Meat and Vegetables, Cheese Meets Dates (date blended with cheese) and Naughty Banana (banana and hazelnuts enhanced with cardamom). Of these the Spina-Cheese and Old Timers stood out as the clear winners. The Spina-Cheese was smooth and creamy, crispy on the outside, with soft layers of pastry beneath. The Old Timers was probably the closest thing on the menu to traditional savory motabag. As such, it had the instantly recognizable flavor, one that had little trouble enticing us to eat more. As for the Cheesey Date mix this was not as outstanding; the banana was also a bit plain. The Caramalized Banana might have been a better option.

With such an extensive menu, it is luck of the draw if you happen to find a favorite first time; with time and appetite, we have no doubt people would eventually be able to pick out their favorites.

Unfortunately drinks were not available for takeout; instead we decided to order a drink while we waited. We chose the Paradise Cocktail, which was a drink, infused with dates, milk and vanilla ice cream. This was rich, creamy and was a great way to cool off in Jeddah’s heat. All in all Crunchy Square offers a great selection of sweet and savory dishes that should appeal to most people. There really is something for everyone.

Location: Rawdah Star Complex, off Rawdah St. (see maps on Jeddahfood.com

Telephone: 02 6672977

Opening hours: 5 p.m. to Midnight

(Rashed Islam is a food critic who hosts Jeddahfood.com)