Halal Kerala Food on Arab Street: A Local's Guide

Arab Street sits at the edge of Kampong Glam, three minutes from the Sultan Mosque and five from Bugis MRT. It's one of the most naturally halal-friendly neighbourhoods in Singapore — the entire district was drawn up in the 1820s for the Sultan's community, and the food that grew here has always reflected that. What most first-time visitors don't realise is that a distinct Kerala Muslim (Mappila) food tradition also has a home on this street.

That tradition is what Café Malabar cooks. Malabar cuisine — the food of Kerala's north-west coast, from Kasaragod down through Kozhikode to Kochi — was shaped by centuries of trade with Arab merchants. Coconut, black pepper and curry leaf from Kerala met cardamom, rose water and slow-steamed rice from the Gulf, and the result is a cuisine that is at once South Indian and Arabian, and almost entirely halal by tradition.

So the dishes on our menu aren't 'halal versions' of Indian food — they're the original form. The Signature Malabar Dum Biryani is halal because Malabar biryani has always been cooked by Mappila families with halal meat. Beef Ularthiyathu, our dry-fried beef with coconut slivers, is a Sunday-morning classic in every Kerala Muslim household. Chicken 65, mutton curry, kizhi biryani, bamboo biryani — all halal, all cooked the way they'd be cooked in Kannur or Malappuram.

The Arab side of the menu is here for the same reason. Beef Hummus (a Levant-style hummus topped with spiced ground beef, pine nuts and a honey drizzle) and Mandi Rice (Yemeni-style saffron rice with slow-roasted meat) are staples of Arab family cooking that travelled to Malabar centuries ago and never left. If you're eating with an Arabic-speaking friend on Arab Street, this is where the two cuisines meet on one table.

Practical guide, if you're planning a visit: from Bugis MRT, walk north up Ophir Road, cross into Arab Street at Baghdad Street, and we're on your left at number 142. From the Sultan Mosque, walk one block south. Parking is at the Sultan Gate car park. We're halal-certified, alcohol-free, and prayer-friendly — the second floor is quiet if you need a space between salahs.

For a first meal, our house recommendation is simple. Order one Signature Dum Biryani (chicken or mutton) to share, one Kerala Parotta with Beef Ularthiyathu on the side, one glass of pulled meter chaya, and a Sulaimani to finish. That is roughly what a Malabar family of two would eat on a Friday evening after prayers — no ceremony, no rush, just the biryani, the bread, the beef and the tea. On Arab Street, it turns out, that's still what Friday tastes like.