With dining-in group size limit down to 2 and work-from-home the default for most Singaporeans again, one thing remains a certainty: ordering food via delivery apps.
At least for us anyway. So trust us when we say we can name by heart the F&B brands within delivery distance of our homes by now.
These include household names like Tenderfresh and Springleaf Prata, but increasingly we’ve also noticed many virtual brands emerge in our delivery apps as the pandemic progressed.
The best part, we recently discovered most of these brands — or at least, the cloud kitchens they operate in — are MUIS halal-certified!
Virtual brands certified halal by MUIS
If you’re unfamiliar with “virtual brands”, they are essentially food concepts that do not have brick-and-mortar shops but operate from “cloud/ghost kitchens” around the island.
With dine-in rules becoming unpredictable and people staying home more often, these brands exist virtually to save on overhead costs while still remaining close to their customer base.
They achieve this by setting up operations in the cloud kitchens mentioned above, usually professional food preparation and cooking facilities set up for the preparation of delivery-only meals.
But, how do we know these brands are halal-certified without ever seeing the MUIS halal certificate?
Fortunately, MUIS periodically updates their list of certified eating establishments online. To see the full list of halal-certified virtual brands, just search for “virtual brand” here.
Or just refer to the list below for a more comprehensive look.
Halal virtual brands on food delivery apps
Some of these brands such as TwoHana might be familiar to you as they used to have physical shops prior to the pandemic.
Newcomers like Wayang, for example, are deliberately created to be online-only brands from the start.
But, even if you’ve never ordered from them before, you might find new favourites after trying these options:
| Virtual Brand | Type of Cuisine |
|---|---|
| Antoheetos | Mexican |
| Audrey’s Sourdough Pizzeria | Italian |
| Banban Chicken | Korean |
| California Supreme Pizza | Italian |
| Ciao Bella | Italian |
| Gangnam Pho | Asian-Fusion |
| Guksu Culture | Korean |
| Health-Tea-Me | Korean |
| Juk Story | Korean |
| K Wings | Korean |
| K-Licious | Korean |
| Korean Laksa House | Asian-Fusion |
| Mama Don | Japanese |
| Moon Rabbit | Asian |
| Seoul In A Sandwich | Korean |
| SooGong Korean Pizza | Fusion |
| Staple | Fusion |
| The Grill Knife | Western |
| The Handburger | Western |
| The Salad Fork | Western |
| Tokusei Ramen | Japanese |
| TwoHana | Korean |
| WaPizza | Asian-Fusion |
| Wayang | Indonesian |
| Yeongyang Bowl | Korean |
Continue reading to know more about each virtual brand and their respective offerings.
Halal Korean virtual brands
By far, Korean cuisine is the most common offering by these virtual brands, possibly due to high demand for everything K-related.
Whether you’re craving for Korean chicken wings or pasta with a Korean flair, these brands are the ones to seek the next time you open your delivery apps.
Guksu Culture
Guksu is noodles in Korean, hence customers can expect a variety of warm and hearty bowls of noodle soup by Guksu Culture.
Popular items include the Signature Braised Beef Guksu Soup (S$12), and the Spicy Doenjang Seafood Mandu Guksu Soup (S$12). If you prefer dry noodles, try the Seafood Mandu Ganjang Guksu Dry (S$12).
Health-Tea-Me
If the erratic weather has made you more parched than usual, Health-Tea-Me’s lineup of fruity bottled teas might be a good idea.
Take your pick from Pink Sweetness (S$7), a strawberry purple tea or Secret Garden (S$6.50) featuring mixed berries in purple tea. Smoothies like the Zesty Punch (S$8), a peanut butter soy smoothie, are also available here.
Juk Story
Juk Story offers a halal dish that’s quite rare in Singapore: Korean congee/porridge.
Fill up your stomachs with a comforting bowl of Ginseng Dak Beoseot Jut (S$11) that comes with minced chicken, prawn and assorted mushrooms, or splurge on the Unagi Juk (S$14) if you’re feeling particularly generous.
K Wings
K Wings serves up wings, winglets and drumlets, as well as aglio olio pasta topped with the same chicken parts. The dressing makes all the difference in Korean chicken wings, and there are seven flavours to choose from here including Soy Garlic, Gochujang Ketchup and Honey Butter.
A combo meal starts from S$10.90 and comes with a side of fries and a beverage.
K-Licious
In Korean, the word dosirak translates into lunch box and is similar to a Japanese bento box.
Hence, every dosirak in K-Licious’ menu is a complete meal, including bap (rice), a main dish with fish or meat, and a selection of banchan (Korean side dishes).
Prices start from S$12 for Spicy Chicken Bulgogi Dosirak and goes all the way up to S$21 for the Premium US Kalbi Dosirak which comes with premium US beef short ribs.
TwoHana
If you find TwoHana very familiar, that’s because they used to have a physical cafe in Century Square.
Today, the brand under the Seoul Garden Group is operating virtually whilst still serving the Korean-Western fare that they’re known for.
Must-try items include the Creamy Duyu Salmon Pasta (S$12)—a plate of rich and creamy soymilk pasta with salmon—and the Yangnyeom Marinara Chicken Pasta (S$11), a spicy Korean tomato-based pasta paired with chicken chunks.
Yeongyang Bowl
Different types of healthy rice bowls are available from Yeongyang Bowl, yet another brand by the Seoul Garden Group.
Each bowl consists of baked beans, kimchi beansprouts, blanched broccoli, butter corn, some seaweed strips, a soy-marinated ramen egg, some white & black sesame seeds and brown rice.
But its the protein that differs in every bowl; get the Huchu-power Sogogi (S$12) for black pepper beef, Red-hot Saewoo Gusto (S$14) for mala shrimps or Yeongyang Deli-chicken (S$12) for good ol’ teriyaki chicken.
Halal Japanese virtual brands
If your allegiance is leaning more towards the Land of the Rising Sun, then consider these F&B brands instead when you’re ordering food delivery next.
Mama Don
As its name suggests, Mama Don specialises in Japanese donburi bowls and salads.
Popular items include the Grilled Salmon Don (S$17) served with onsen egg, corn, broccoli and Japanese steamed rice. Mama’s Wagyu Don (S$35) is understandably quite expensive, but you are getting sliced wagyu after all.
If you’re on a low carb diet, salad versions of the donburi are also available.
Tokusei Ramen
At Tokusei Ramen, affordable restaurant-quality ramen is the specialty of the house.
Go minimalistic with the Tokusei Classic Ramen (S$10.90) — simple meal of fresh ramen noodles in simmered collagen chicken stock, spring onions and a ramen egg.
Spice lovers would appreciate the Beef Brisket SPICY Ramen (S$15.90) featuring chunky beef brisket pieces that come in a heartwarming spicy chicken stock with springy noodles.
Halal Italian virtual brands
What kind of pizza do you want?
It’s a simple, common question that most pizza-loving Singaporeans don’t give nearly enough thought, usually tossing off a half-hearted “pepperoni, I guess,” or worse, “Hawaiian.”
The next time you’re ordering Italian for that friend, just tell them to pick something from these halal-certified virtual brands.
Audrey’s Sourdough Pizzeria
We don’t know who Audrey is but her pizzeria commonly features hand-stretched sourdough pizza base that forms a cracked, charred crust when fully baked.
The pizza selection is quite lean, but when in doubt, opt for the classic Margherita (S$25) with freshly sliced soft mozzarella, cherry tomatoes, basil leaves and cheese. We’ve also never met anyone who dislikes salami pizza, so the Salami Mamma Mia (S$26) could be a crowdpleaser too.
California Supreme Pizza
California Supreme Pizza specialises in creating unique flavours on hand-tossed pizzas, and boasts a range of global favourites on the menu.
So eat your way around the world via any of these pizzas: Mexicana Pizza (S$18.99), Ohayo Teriyaki Pizza (S$18.99) or the Korean Bulgogi Beef Pizza (S$19.99).
Otherwise, stick to a familiar local flavour with the Singapore Chilli Crab Shrimp Pizza (S$21.99), but if you really want to, there’s also the classic Hawaiian Pizza (S$18.99).
Ciao Bella
It’s unlikely that this brand is related to Netflix’s Money Heist in any way, but we do know Bella Ciao serves a variety of classic Italian dishes ranging from sourdough pizzas (from S$25) and pastas (from S$16.90), to pan-sized pies and lasagnas (from S$18.90).
Interestingly, there’s also al cartoccio dishes in the menu. ‘Al cartoccio’ is simply the Italian way of saying ‘cooked in a bag’.
These dishes look super delicious, especially the Lemon Butter Salmon Al Cartoccio (S$28.90), a salmon dish topped with homemade garlic butter, fresh dill and lemon slices.
Asian-fusion virtual brands
Craving for something unexpected? Then check out the offerings from these brands that know how to blend influences in their menu.
Gangnam Pho
Gangnam Pho pairs culinary influences from South Korea and Vietnam to form a wide selection of pho with a Korean twist.
For example, the Galbi Jjim Pho (S$13) comes with braised beef pieces on a bed of noodles, while the Haemul Pho (S$15) features a mix of seafood like prawns and clams.
Korean Laksa House
Laksa is one of those dishes that is interpreted differently depending on where you come from. But for the most part, it has been a dish that has undisputed origins in South East Asia.
However, it seems like Korean Laksa House is putting a K-reative spin on the popular spicy noodle dish with offerings such as the chicken Dak Green Laksa (S$11) and Haemul Green Laksa (S$15) that comes with a bounty of ocean delights like prawns, clams and squid tentacles.
SooGong Korean Pizza
SooGong Korean Pizza serves up a curious assortment of Korean-Italian hybrids to hungry (and adventurous) Singaporeans.
Korean toppings like Gochujang Chicken and Kimchi Bulgogi rub elbows with hand-stretched pizza dough, creating fusion pizzas (from S$25) that are as interesting as they are unexpected.
Other halal virtual brands to try
If you’ve reached this far down in the article, thank you.
But here are some more virtual brands that are also MUIS halal-certified we found on the major delivery platforms:
- Antoheetos for Mexican staples like burritos, tacos and more
- Seoul In A Sandwich for Korean-inspired sandwiches
- Moon Rabbit, specialising in wholesome bowls inspired by tastes of modern cities we live in
- WaPizza, yet another brand with a focus on Korean-inspired pizza
- Wayang, specialising in Indonesian rice-based dishes
- and these virtual brands by The Soup Spoon specialising in Western dishes: The Grill Knife, The Handburger, and The Salad Fork
All of the brands mentioned in this list can be found on some, if not all, major delivery platforms including Deliveroo, Foodpanda and GrabFood.
Note: We notice that some of the brands may not be tagged as Halal in the delivery apps. When in doubt, please do your own due diligence and check the list in MUIS database here.
Top photos by Foodpanda and Deliveroo.
