How Explore Halal checks halal status

Certification types

Every listing is tagged with one of these so you can filter by how it was verified.

• Halal Monitoring Committee (HMC)

  Certified

  HMC operates a strict monitoring regime and only certifies premises that use hand-slaughtered, non-stunned meat with a continuous audit trail. Listings tagged HMC are drawn from HMC's own published register of certified outlets (shown on venue pages as "Source: HMC register").

• Halal Food Authority (HFA)

  Certified

  HFA is one of the UK's largest halal certifiers and permits certain approved stunning methods. Listings tagged HFA come from HFA-certified premises data.

• Community & self-certified

  Self-certified

  These venues describe themselves as halal but are not verified against an independent UK certifier. They come from open community datasets (see below). Always confirm the certification directly with the venue if this matters to you.

EHQA: Explore Halal quality pick: rated 4.5★ or higher from 1,000+ Google reviews Explore Halal quality picks

Venues rated 4.5★ or higher from at least 1,000 Google reviews get the EHQA mark, and the EHQA filter shows only them. It tells you lots of diners rate the place highly. It is not a halal certification, so check the certification type above too.

Listing & enrichment sources

The underlying feeds we pull venues and extra detail from.

• HalalAPI

  Community data

  A community-maintained directory of UK halal venues. We take its listings as halal on the strength of its own criteria and checks. Records are imported as self-certified unless they carry a recognised HMC or HFA certification.

• Zabihah

  Community data

  A long-running worldwide halal directory, with listings and reviews submitted by its community. We take its listings as halal on the strength of its own criteria and checks, and show its halal detail (such as fully or partly halal) where it gives one. Records are imported as self-certified.

• OpenStreetMap

  Community data

  OpenStreetMap is a free, open, crowd-sourced map of the world. We query venues tagged diet:halal=yes or diet:halal=only through the free Overpass API. These are contributor-submitted tags, not certifications, so they are stored as self-certified. We also use OpenStreetMap for the location of masjids, prayer rooms and multi-faith rooms. Data © OpenStreetMap contributors, available under the Open Database License (ODbL).

• MuslimsInBritain.org

  Masjids & prayer rooms

  Locations of UK masjids, student prayer rooms and multi-faith rooms, with capacity and whether there are facilities for women, come from the MuslimsInBritain.org masjid directory, which is in the public domain. With thanks to its contributors. Details can be out of date, so check with the masjid before you travel.

• Restaurant chains' halal lists

  Chain data

  Some chains publish which of their branches serve halal food: the KFC halal locator and the halal branch lists of Dixy Chicken, Perfect Fried Chicken, Chicken Cottage and Chunky Chicken. We list those branches as the chain describes them, and as HMC or HFA certified only when they match that body's register.

• Google Maps

  Listings, ratings & photos

  We find some listings by searching Google Maps (through the Google Places API) for halal venues, and enrich listings with star ratings, review counts, and a venue photo. Google doesn't verify halal status: a listing found there stays hidden unless there is evidence it is halal, and is shown as self-certified. Ratings and images are © Google.

• Added by Explore Halal

  Our own research

  A few listings were added by the Explore Halal team directly. They are self-certified unless they match the HMC or HFA register.

How we keep listings honest

Certified or self-certified

A listing is shown as HMC or HFA certified only when it matches that body's published register. Everything else is labelled self-certified, however it describes itself.

How listings are refreshed

Each listing records when it was last refreshed from its source, most recently in October 2026. Area and city pages show the date of their latest refresh.

How “Top rated” works

We rank by Google rating, weighted by the number of reviews: a rating is pulled towards a typical 4.3★ until the venue has enough reviews to speak for itself (about 25), so a 4.7 from 900 reviews beats a 5.0 from three. HMC or HFA certification adds a small nudge.

When we hide or flag a venue

Places found through search engines with no evidence they are halal, not even in their name, stay hidden until someone checks them. Listings are also flagged for a check when reviews say they aren't halal, when they look closed, or when a visitor reports a problem. A flagged place is never named in our area summaries, nor is a place known to serve alcohol, and every place a summary names says whether it is certified or self-certified.

Report a problem

Every restaurant page has a report button: tell us it isn't halal, serves alcohol, or does or doesn't have a prayer room, and we check it.