Café 2nd Gen: Indulgent Coffee and Matcha in the Cité du Multimédia

Between rue William and rue Saint-Paul Ouest, a quiet courtyard shelters a café pouring some of the most creative drinks in town. Café 2nd Gen takes its name from the immigrant heritage of its three owners’ parents, and that blend of cultures shows up in the cup as much as on the plate.

From Ice Cream Pop-Up to Neighbourhood Café

Marwan Aboughris and Ben Mao grew up in Brossard and have known each other since childhood. Together, they launched an ice cream pop-up alongside their corporate jobs. Coffee came later: when an event in Brossard kept them from selling ice cream there, the duo improvised, and the formula stuck. Sara Sabry, who grew up in Montreal in an Egyptian family, joined the venture and is married to Marwan, who is of Syrian descent. The neighbourhood emerged as a natural middle ground between the island and the South Shore, and the space finally made it possible to add food to an offering that had until then been limited to drinks.

At Café 2nd Gen, Halal Plates Where Cultures Cross Paths

The bird-shaped logo, which hides a G and a 2, evokes peace and unity, and the kitchen draws on a range of cultures. “That’s the real Montreal,” says the co-owner. The recipes and menu are the work of Ben Mao, who is of Chinese and Vietnamese descent. All the food is halal, too. Our favourites are the grilled cheese with sun-dried tomato pesto, where melting cheese meets the concentrated tang of the tomatoes, and the breakfast sandwich, generous and comforting. The kafta chopped cheese, for its part, is the most convincing example of this cross-cultural blend at work.

Ube Foam and Salted Tiramisu Coffee

On the drinks side, the decadent DNA of ice cream runs through every creation. The matcha is crowned with a deep purple ube foam, a nod to the Filipino ice cream that popularized the flavour. The Vietnamese salted tiramisu coffee plays on the coffee’s bold roast and a lightly salty finish. These are the two crowd favourites. The menu changes with the seasons: a black sesame foam for fall, for example, can top a matcha, a coffee or a hojicha latte, hot or iced.

A Courtyard Built for Lingering at Café 2nd Gen

The space mixes tables, chairs and sofas, making it a good spot to study or work for a few hours, laptop open and a cup within reach. When the season allows, the courtyard terrace offers a pocket of calm that is rare in the middle of the city. What the team is proudest of, though, is the community that has formed around the counter.

Written by Jean-Philippe Tastet
Photography by Alison Slattery

Updated on September 29, 2026

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