Eating in the Same Place as the Locals: A Reassuring Thought
Adeline loves eating, a lot and often, both at home and out. Usually, things go well, but sometimes they don’t. In the Sunday Roast series, she shares her observations. This time: how wonderfully validating it is when locals sit down in the same place as you.
I always find it incredibly reassuring to know that people from a particular country eat somewhere themselves too. And now you may be thinking, ‘Well, of course—people have to eat, you weirdo,’ but I mean locals who choose a restaurant serving the cuisine of their own country.
Authentic locals
So I found myself at Bar Kosta, just around the corner from the Overtoom. At Bar Kosta, you’re given a bottle of table water first of all, which I already find extremely likeable. I didn’t actually check whether it appeared on the bill later, so it may well have been simply on me. Bar Kosta is the kind of place where you can’t make a reservation. I normally find this new development in the hospitality industry very stressful; more on that later. This time, I happened to be early too, so I volunteered to occupy a table for our cheerful party of four. Next to my cozy corner table was a bar table, and within a minute it filled up with Spaniards. You couldn’t make me happier.
Tapas in Amsterdam
‘My Spaniards’ happily chattered away to each other in Spanish and were (I’m guessing) quite firmly resident in Amsterdam. If I were a tourist in Amsterdam, I wouldn’t eat tapas if I could eat them at home too, although I do wonder what you do eat in Amsterdam when you’re on holiday. But that’s beside the point. Here were genuine locals sitting in a sort of Spanish place, because tapas. I was instantly in my element. Ever since I started watching Spanish series, I’ve thought that I understand Spanish too, but ‘my Spaniards’ once again confirmed that this is not the case.
Bocados
Kosta’s menu features cold tapas, hot tapas and bocados. Everything is also written out in Spanish, which I still don’t really (really don’t) speak and can read even less. Although I managed perfectly well with ‘pan con tomate’ and ‘los quesos’. But that says more about my eating habits than my vocabulary. The clever thing about locals choosing their own cuisine is that you can copy them.
Herman’s chicken
For a moment, I considered waiting to place my order until I knew what Spaniard 1 and Spaniard 2 were going to put on the table. Because if a tapa in Amsterdam is good enough for a Spaniard, it’s certainly good enough for me. But that would have been a little too obvious, so I ordered some bread with tomatoes first, allowing me to discreetly observe them while eating. After that, I roughly ordered what ‘my Spaniards’ had chosen, and it tasted exceptionally good. Some pimientos de padrón, patatas bravas and, of course, the los pollos Hermanos. Although they did look a little puzzled at Herman’s chicken.
It’s simply a reassuring thought when the originals sit down beside you. Whenever I’m at a destination, I always look around to see whether there are locals. Not a local in sight? Then I’ll happily keep walking for hours. I’d rather be ravenously hungry than sit in a tourist trap with all of Holland.
And honestly, that dish tasted just a little more authentic at Bar Kosta with the Spanish murmuring in the background. Call me loco.
Read also:
- Why Some People Shouldn’t Be Allowed to Use a Self-Checkout
- The Grossest Restaurant Dining Scene Ever
- Confession: I’m Buying My House Based on thuisbezorgd.nl
