Top Halal Venues for Your Event | Venuerific Singapore

Muslims follow strict rules about how food should be prepared and eaten. If you are a Muslim, the first thing you do when looking for a venue is to see if the place is Muslim-friendly or serves Halal food. This guide will help you learn how food is made to be Halal and tackle the different services that restaurants offer to make things easier for Muslim customers.

What are the characteristics of a halal venue?

An ideal halal venue should put the most weight on sanitation, integrity, composition, and traceability. Here are some questions you should think about as a starting point:  

• Sanitation
  Are any tools or equipment used to make halal products also used to make non-halal products? All traces of smell, taste, and colour must be taken out of the tools used for halal and non-halal foods. A standard operating procedure for sanitation should be used to write down and keep track of these efforts. Cross-contamination must be stopped in any way possible with these steps.

• Integrity
  Is there any risk of contamination within the facility where the ingredients are sourced? Even though not all of them are required for halal certification, the facility where the venue gets its ingredients should still follow government and industry standards like Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP), Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP), International Organization for Standardization (ISO), and Safe Quality Foods (SQF). 
  
  
• Composition
  Does the venue use any prohibited products or ingredients? Ingredients made from animals must come from halal-certified suppliers if they are to be used in halal products. They must be kept far from halal products if they don't. 
  
  
• Traceability
  Does the venue have a tracking or tracing system? To ensure that halal goods can be traced back to where they came from, halal production facilities must have product tracing procedures in place. The facilities may choose to use colour-coded tags or computer software to help this initiative and make it better. 
  
  Does the venue have a halal certification or any statement of halal compliance? Check for the venue's halal certification or any statement of compliance. The venue must be able to disclose everything they know about the ingredients they use and the ways they make their products. 

What is not allowed to come in contact with halal products?

To ensure the food is halal, these are some things that are prohibited from coming in contact with halal products: 

• Human-derived ingredients
• Pork
• Donkey
• Animals that eat meat using sharp teeth or claws
• Animals that are not slaughtered under Islam's religious rules
• Insects
• Animals that have been fed food with more than 50% of any of the above ingredients without first being fed a pure diet for a required number of days
• Any drug that gets you drunk
• Anything harmful or toxic to the body
• Anything that has been processed, made, produced, manufactured, or stored using tools, equipment, or machinery that has been in contact with any of the above items 
  

To get a halal certification, only clean things can touch the food. In the Halal system, contamination is a big no-no. Here are some examples of things that are not clean, which are often called contaminants or impure items:

• Pig
• Dog
• Urine
• Excrement
• Vomit
• Blood
• Pus
• Skin from animals (unprocessed leather)
• Land animals that have gotten more than 50% of their nutrition from any of the above foods
• A lost appendage that taken away while the animal is still alive, except for hair 

How to organise a halal-friendly event

When planning a halal event, it is normal to worry about many different things, especially food. If you do not know where or how to start, we will impart tips on planning halal-friendly events in Singapore. 

Find a venue with in-house catering
It would be best if you looked for halal venues that have in-house caterers. Ask the venue if they have a list of approved caterers or if you can hire an external catering service. Most venues have catering services. However, if your desired place has none, ensure the external catering service you hire will only prepare halal food. 

Take charge of the menu
You are in charge of choosing every dish that will be served at your event. Thus, you can give your guests a more customised experience by making a menu with new takes on traditional dishes. You can sit down and think of some ideas, then talk to your caterer about them to see if they are possible. You could also try out different ways to serve the food and give your guests a choice of how they want to eat dinner. 

Think about the dining experience
Talk to the caterer about the different options on the menu, especially if you have certain dishes in mind but are worried that they might be hard to make because the kitchen does not have enough space or the right tools. These are the typical dining setups during halal events: 

• Sit-down dinner
  If you want the food to be the highlight of the night, a formal sit-down dinner with several courses would probably be the best choice. This is the most common type of dinner for elegant and well-run halal events. With the exact number of guests in mind, you can set your budget and figure out how much food you need to make. As a result, you will waste less food. You will need to spend more time organising this type of dining setup since you have to pay close attention to how the tables are arranged. You will also need to come up with a good seating plan. 
  
  
• Buffet
  A less formal dining style and menu with appetisers and finger foods can be the best choice for guests if you are planning a halal-friendly party. Buffets offer enough food and variety because diners can mix and match dishes from different categories. In contrast to sit-down dinners where the menu is set, you have more freedom to choose each dish. This format also creates more space, so people can talk to each other, making the event more fun. 
  
  
• Ensure that dietary restrictions are met
  Even though it might seem obvious, you should ensure that the venue is licensed to provide halal catering in Singapore and has a wide range of dishes for your guests. The more experience the venue has in holding halal events, the more likely that everyone will be able to find at least one dish or drink they like. 
  
  
• Choose a theme
  If you pick a theme for the event, choosing dishes that go well with each other will be easier. It will also help you set the tone for the whole event. This is another way to make the event feel more like you. You can show respect for your roots by choosing dishes from other cultures, like traditional Malay or Peranakan food. You could talk to caterers about the possible themes you have in mind and choose a chef who specialises in the food you want for the event. 
  
  
• Entertain your guests
  How you serve your guests' meals can greatly affect how they feel about you. Thus, it is important to find a venue that can accommodate your needs and is willing to offer customised services so that you and your guests will have an event to remember. 

Halal Venue Singapore: Frequently Asked Questions

How can you tell if a venue is halal?
Making sure the food served is Halal is the most important thing for Muslims to consider when choosing a venue. Most venues or restaurants have three main ways to let customers know that their food is Halal: 

• The venue has a halal certificate
  For venues to be sure that the food they serve is Halal, they usually have a third party check out their business and give them a certification. Even if there is no Halal certification, that does not mean that the food is not okay for Muslims. On the other hand, a certificate gives a higher level of assurance that the food is halal. 
• The venue has Muslim owners
  Since the owners and managers of restaurants run by Muslims are also Muslims, you can be sure that the food they serve is Halal. 
• The venue claims to use halal ingredients or products
  You may guarantee that the food a venue serves is Halal in a few different ways: If the venue only serves seafood or vegetarian food, if the venue serves Arab food, if the venue claims that they only serve halal meat and if the venue claims they don't serve pork or lard 

Where can I find a halal wedding venue Singapore?
When it comes to a Muslim wedding venue halal food is a must. If you are looking for a halal wedding venue Singapore has a plethora of potential places for you. Here on Venuerific, you can find halal wedding venues across the Central Area and Eastern Region of the lion city. There are a number of Super Venues located around Katong, Jalan Besar, Farrer Park, and Paya Lebar. Here on Venuerific, a Super Venue is a venue that has excellent performance, fast response, and great reviews throughout the current year. 

How much does renting a halal birthday party venue Singapore cost?
If you are looking for a halal birthday party venue Singapore has plenty of potential venues you can choose from. Renting a halal venue for birthday parties costs $10 to $180 and above per person. But you can get deals and packages that range from $250 to $4,500 depending on the number of guests and venue type.

Book the best halal event venue Singapore has to offer via Venuerific

Using the guide above, you will better understand what a halal venue should have. Ensure your and your guests' safety and adherence to the Islam culture by booking the best halal event venue in Singapore via Venuerific.