Who makes the best kota ekasi?
Soweto to showcase its fare
Soweto’s fast-food patrons are divided on where the best kota places are found.
Kota, a popular township fast food item, has an unknown number of preparation methods but the basic ingredients are a quarter loaf (mostly white) of bread and fried chips.
A variety of processed meats, eggs, archar and a selection of sauces can be added.
With the kota festival coming to Soweto Theatre at the weekend, Sowetan visited several kota places yesterday to see and taste their fare.
Speaking at Ntsintsi’s kota spot in Diepkloof, Nhlanhla Khubeka said: “I only buy Ntsintsi’s kotas. I can come all the way from where I work in Kibler Park to buy this kota.”
He said his favourites were the K11 and K13 on Ntsintsi’s menu list. The K11 is filled with chips and vienna, and the K13 has ham and cheese.
Diketso Lethoko, 40, said: “I switch between Leba’s and Ntsintsi’s. The first time I had a kota was at Leba’s, at Zakariyya Park. My favourite there is called ‘B’; it has vienna, russian, chips, lettuce and a burger patty. I love it.”
Passionate kota lover Philile Ntimbane, 31, said she was excited about the kota festival.
“I am from KwaZulu-Natal so the kota phenomenon is new [to me]. I keep asking my self why we do not have this back home. Even though we have the bunny chow, it is not the same. I want to be wowed,” Ntimbane said.
Percy Mtshali, 36, co-owner at e-Kasi Flava, which is going to participate in the festival, said: “I will be making creamy mash and beef ragu topped with creamed spinach.
“I will also make two more kotas; one with home baked bread, chips, russian, chakalaka and cheese, and another will be a dumpling filled with lamb casserole topped with salsa.”
Thozi Matomela, manager at Ntsintsi’s, said he would not be attending the festival because “it’s expensive” for him.
“It’s about R450 to rent a stall and there are transportation costs, too. We also cannot afford for the stove to leave the restaurant because weekends are our busiest [time for business],” he said.
Soweto Theatre manager Nomsa Mazwai said the 3 000 tickets they had available were sold out. “There will be no tickets sold at the door. People can expect good food, but there will be a lot more.”
However, Papi Matla, 33, said the best kotas were not in Soweto: “The best kotas are at Zone 14 Sebokeng. They are also reasonable priced.”