#ConventionalReview Kota Paleis Braamfontein
I have often pondered what makes something authentic.
Is it time? Must something be passed through generations and accepted by all in order to gain the status of authentic?
What about immutability? Must it remain static, unchanged, fixed in its form for all eternity; at the threat of losing authenticity with the slightest modernization?
Must it be unique? Can there only be one authentic thing of it’s kind? So much so that it can no longer be adopted nor adapted?
I ask because there is nothing special about this place. It’s kotas are stripped of pretense, there is not much quality in its ingredients, the facilities consist entirely of 5 small tables and 15 chairs scattered scarcely across the eating area.
Yet I found it authentic.
I found it authentic because Kota Paleis is exactly what it appears to be. A low cost, no-frills, clean budget food for students with no budget.
I found it authentic because in 20 years a group of friends will meet for a drink in an upmarket bar and trade stories of days gone by when they were students, and all they could afford was a kota at what to them would have become the legendary Kota Paleis.
That for me is authenticity.
I give the Kota Paleis a modernly authentic 3 stars.