pageview

News

South African street food: 5 great kotas in Gauteng

Friday, December 2nd, 2016 by Thando Ndabezitha

Given the basic structure of this popular township street food – a quarter loaf (kota) of bread hollowed out and filled again – it’s easy to see why many people liken it to another local treat, the bunny chow. However, its contents are what distinguishes the kota from its Durban cousin: the soft loaf is crammed with a combination of, among other ingredients, atchar, polony, slap chips, cheese, egg and Russian sausage.

To those who’ve grown up in the townships of South Africa, where the spazas sell popular street food unique to this socio-economic and geographic area, a kota is a kota – and like nothing else.

A photo posted by lameck bahle (@_ecklam) on

However, just like most legendary dishes, while the key ingredients may remain an unchanging foundation upon which to build, increasingly many chefs and cooks are throwing all caution to the wind and giving their kota a unique twist. While the jury is still out on whether you’ll find the best kota in Soweto, Tembisa, Atteridgeville or your own ’hood, here’s our round-up of five great places to try them.

African Hot Plate (North Riding)

Traditional food made and served fast is what this eatery is about. And if we’re talking about Joburg tradition, then this kota definitely fits the bill. But if you think it’ll be the usual spatlo, you’ve got another thing coming. African Hot Plate takes things to the next level by adding bacon. (R35 each)

Dollar’s Place (Atteridgeville)

It doesn’t get more classic than this. A kota made with fresh white bread and filled with slap chips, egg, ham, Russian sausage and cheese. It’s a winner. (±R16 each)

 

 

A photo posted by Moses Tau (@dro_directorofphotography) on

 

Kota Joe (Melville)

While this fast-growing franchise has positioned itself as a roadhouse, it is a proudly South African eatery, adding some pretty unique twists to the kota. These include a grilled chicken, shwarma and a boerie kota. While they’ve experimented with the original dish, the presentation stays true to kota tradition. (R27.90 to R54.90 each)

A photo posted by Kota Joe (@kotajoesa) on

Kota Republic (Braamfontein)

This is your classic kota – what you’ve grown up eating and would expect to buy at the spaza shop down the road. However, this does not take away from the fact that it’s a winning dish, proving that the tried and tested works. (R10 to R40 each)

 

 

A photo posted by Zanele Madiba (@ms_madiba) on

 

The spaza shop near you

If you ever want to get the original flavour of a thing, you have to find the source. While the current experimentation with the kota is growing in popularity, there’s a reason it’s been around so long and is the ultimate guilty street food in our South African food culture – the nostalgia it invokes is unique to each customer’s childhood. (±R1o to R22 each)

Related posts

5 Comments

  • Sipho Masilela
    December 8, 2016

    Hi,

    I am sipho from Midrand. I love the initiative you take to recognize the local kotas but not impressed with the selection.

    Please take sometime and visit Mubeens in Eersterust Pretoria for the best Kota liner.

    Regards,
    Sad Reader.

    Reply
    1. Sonto mathibela
      October 31, 2017

      Ohk tnx man

  • Motswaledi Monaiwa
    January 4, 2018

    Good Evening,

    My name is Mr Motswaledi Monaiwa from Botswana. I would to enquire about the possibility of franchising Kota restaurant here in Botswana. Kindly therefore share the requirements of acquiring such business.

    Looking forward to hearing from you soon

    Kind regards,

    M . Monaiwa

    Reply
    1. Debbie
      February 15, 2018

      Motswaledi… you will need the following: Some bread, atchaar, cheese slices, russians, eggs, chips…. basically all the ingredients you want to put in your ‘Kota’ and last but not least, a hot spot to sell them from. Start small in a busy corner and take it from there. Franchise… you kill me
      Don’t forget to practice good hygiene too 🙂

  • Tshiamo
    September 26, 2018

    Hello, a call out to every Kota/Spatlho Spaza owner, we have something for you, Here is the BIG NEWS:-

    Since the listoriosis outbreak was announced to be over by the Health Minister, we’ve developed a website to bring back our black owned businesses strong, with all different kinds of creativity in kotas/Spatlhos, all Spazas in one place to let anyone from anywhere at anytime locate your Spaza, let them know when are you open and what’s on your menu.



    Mzansi let’s join hands and take our Kota/Spatlho businesses online, Sign Up at http://www.spatlho.co.za and let Mzansi know about your Spaza no matter where it’s located. Many more features coming your way, we will keep you posted.

    Wait!! Best of all, it’s completely FREE of charge for you.

    So don’t wait, Sign Up now http://www.spatlho.co.za and open the doors to you Spaza online.

    Don’t forget to spread the word.

    Regards,

    Your spatlho.co.za team

    Reply

Leave a comment

Promoted Restaurants

Eatout

Already have an account? Login