Halal catering in London covers everything from a 20-person office lunch to a 400-guest wedding, and the word "halal" alone tells you very little about how a caterer actually works. This guide sets out the questions worth asking, the numbers worth planning around, and how we do it at Jaflong Tandoori Catering in Richmond.
What "halal" means in practice — and what to check
Ask any caterer three specific things rather than accepting a badge. First, where does the meat and poultry come from? Ours is sourced from trusted suppliers providing halal-certified products. Second, is the business itself independently certified? Jaflong is not independently HMC-certified, and we say so plainly — if your family or venue requires a particular certification standard, tell us before you book so we can confirm what we can and cannot evidence. Third, is pork handled in the kitchen and is alcohol used as an ingredient? In ours, neither.
The fourth check has nothing to do with faith and everything to do with safety: the Food Standards Agency hygiene rating. Ours is 5, inspected at 16 Ashburnham Road on 25 March 2025, and you can look it up yourself on the FSA website rather than taking our word for it.
How much halal catering costs per head in London
Our packages are flat per-head tiers, so the price does not change with how the guest list breaks down:
| Package | Per head | Starters / mains / sides included |
|---|---|---|
| Bronze | £25 | 1 / 2 / 1 |
| Silver | £35 | 2 / 3 / 2 |
| Gold | £45 | 3 / 4 / 3 |
| Platinum | £60 | 4 / 5 / 4 |
Choose more dishes than your tier includes and the event becomes a bespoke quote rather than an automatic surcharge — we price it and show you the number before anything is confirmed. Delivery is free within 10 miles of our Richmond kitchen; between 10 and 20 miles we quote a delivery fee up front. Booking terms are simple: 50% deposit to hold the date, 50% balance due. We do not run credit accounts or purchase-order payment windows.
Planning the numbers
Two figures decide almost everything else: final guest count and service time. Buffet service for 100 guests needs a realistic 45-minute serving window and enough table length for two queues, not one. For sit-down-style plating at a venue with no kitchen access, the constraint is usually the load-in window, not the food.
Our catering service runs from 11am onwards by prior booking; the restaurant kitchen at Ashburnham Road opens from 4pm. If you need food on the table at midday, that is a catering booking and needs to be arranged in advance.
How the food is presented
We serve buffet-style with professional warm holding, in either classic silver or premium copper chafing units. We are straight about what we do not offer: no live chef stations or on-site tandoor theatre for private, wedding or corporate events. We do run food stalls at fairs, festivals, school and PTA events, charity fundraisers and club events — that is a different service, and you can read about it on our food stall catering page.
Dietary requirements and allergens
Bengali and North Indian cooking gives you a genuinely strong vegetarian and vegan section without treating it as an afterthought — see our vegetarian and vegan menus. Allergen information is available on request, and we ask you to tell us about allergies before confirming. Our kitchen handles multiple allergens, so we cannot promise an allergen-free environment; our allergen policy sets out exactly how we handle it.
Next steps
Browse the full menu, compare tiers on the pricing page, or read the London service page for halal catering across London. A tasting menu is available by arrangement — tastings are chargeable, not free, and are best arranged once you have a shortlist.
Written by the Jaflong Tandoori catering team, family-run in Richmond since 2008 and led by owner Syed Bashar. Last reviewed September 2026.