Magic Idea (Concordia branch)

A second branch of the Chinese cafe Magic Idea opened in the heart of Montreal's Chinatown West. It is as trendy as the one in Chinatown, and goes by its acronym of "MI". Instead of the single telly that the original Magic Idea had, this one sported at least four, plus screens behind the bar. On both occasions I went, the staff didn't know about the wireless Internet code, although I was the only folk in the place to be accompanied with a laptop. The cafe was very empty at 8PM, but was rapidly filled with large bunches of young people (I give them not more than my cousin's age, who's turning 17) who seemed to be using MI as a meetup point before Friday night clubbing.

The food was your typical subpar Chinese eatery type. I had a fried pork chop; while the spark of sesame seed on the rice was eye-catching, the pork itself didn't have the fried crisp I expected, and the meat tasted like it stayed in the freezer for way too long. T's General Tao's (the ideologically evil Chinese food) was also a little soggy. Portions are small and basically ask you to order for another set of fried items if you wanted a full meal. I wanted an osmanthus tea (桂花茶), but they didn't have it, unlike the place right across, the classic Tapioca Cafe, and ordered the Oolong tea instead.

10$/person; the new Magic Idea is on de Maisonneuve, a few steps east from St-Mathieu, on the north side of the street (15 seconds from the St-Mathieu exit of Guy-Concordia metro).