Nur Syafina Binte Imran
Celebrating its 30th anniversary, Singapore Food Festival (SFF) showcases local food culture and its culinary journey to mark the occasion. This year’s Festival Village is located at the Bayfront Event Space from 19 – 30 July 2023.
Now, you might wonder if there are any halal food options available at the festival? I’m glad to say, the answer’s a resounding “YES!”
SFF has five main zones in the Festival Village – SG Food Walk, Tiger Food Street, Cafe Boulevard, Sweets Alley, and Food Cartel. In each zone, there are sub-zones with different food vendors.
Here is a map of SFF’s layout to guide you along your visit and know the locations of the food stalls we’ve mentioned:
Upon entering the festival with your ticket, you’ll first be greeted with an upscaled version of Singapore’s classic ‘Mama Shop’.
Walk a little further in and spot the vibrant Oatside Combi Van at Cafe Boulevard.
Look out! As they will be giving out their yet to be launched Oatside ice-cream. There are three flavours to try – Peanut Butter, Chocolate, and Coffee. Be sure to snag them before they run out of stock!
If you’re craving a savoury meal after your ice cream treat, here are our top three picks from the wide range of halal food vendors:
1. The Black Hole Group
As you might have seen from our sneak peek video, The Black Hole Group is at SFF 2023! Housing popular halal restaurants like Tipo and Afterwit. The Black Hole Group is well-known in the halal culinary scene in Singapore. Located at SG Food Walk’s Bespoke, they’ve created an SFF Special called the “Double Cheezeburga”.
It features Angus Beef, a special sauce (which we thought resembled sour cream), pickled onion, cucumber, cheese sauce, and cheddar. For just SGD $14, you’ll get two of these scrumptious burgers!
2. Tanamera
Also located at SG Food Walk’s Bespoke lies Tanamera, a brand specialising in Indonesian coffee. Their coffees are brewed overnight at their brewery, with each batch taking approximately six to eight hours to infuse. We tried two of their signature cold brew flavours, “Cold White Original” and “Cold White Coconut”.
The “Cold White Original” flavour tasted like a latte but with more fragrant notes, whereas their “Cold White Coconut” flavour is reminiscent of the popular Malay dessert, Ondeh Ondeh. They even had a ginger-flavoured cold brew that apparently tastes similar to Teh Halia, a Malaysian drink.
Aside from coffee, they also offer food options such as Iga Penyet, a Javanese beef ribs dish with sambal – a sauce which originated in Indonesia, which includes their sourdough bread with marinated beef. The beef was incredibly tender and juicy, and it tasted even better when paired with the bread!
3. Mr Popiah
Mr Popiah, which started out as a coffee shop tenant, has now become a visionary brand. You’ll also find their stall in the SG Food Walk Heritage section. They’re known for their eccentric popiah flavours which are one of a kind.
We tried their “Salted Egg Mash Fried Popiah” and “Curry Chicken Fried Popiah”, both of which complement their own respective sauces, salted egg and curry, well. They even had an exclusive SFF popiah flavour, “Tempura Fish Maki Popiah”. All the flavours were so delicious and addictive that they left us craving for more!
Are you feeling hungry yet? Don’t worry as we’ve got your back!
Together with the stalls mentioned above, we’ve collated a list of the Halal and Muslim-friendly food vendors to look out for.
SFF food list
| SG Food Walk | Sweets Valley | |
| Bespoke | 1. The Black Hole Group | Jammy's |
| 2. Tanamera | Whiskdom | |
| 3. Rumah Makan Minang | ||
| 4. Durian Bb | ||
| 5. Biryani by Remi | ||
| 6. Kulon | ||
| Contemporary | Elemen | |
| Heritage | Mr Popiah | |
Do note that the list is unconsolidated as you may find more Muslim-friendly options from the wide variety of food vendors at SFF. So don’t be afraid to ask the vendors if they are Halal!
Be sure to check the festival out before it ends!
The opening hours are as follows:
- Mon to Fri: 5.00 pm – 10.30 pm
- Sat to Sun: 10.30 am – 10.30 pm
You can get the tickets by purchasing it online or straight from the ticket counter, located at the entrance of SFF. The ticket pricing starts from SGD $8 which allows visitors to access all zones except for Food Cartel, the only air-conditioned zone in SFF.
We recommend getting the Premium Pass which is SGD $18+. You’ll get a gift from SG Mama Shop, and redeem FREE 2 non-alcoholic drinks and a limited 2.5GB of data sim on-site.
Have a great time at SFF 2023!