Response to owner/business:
Thank you for your response, however I think we may have different recollections of the conversation. When originally asked if everything is halal, I was told yes, but something inside of me – maybe just past practice from some businesses not being fully honest or transparent – or not being aware of what being “halal” constitutes – which is what pushed me to inquire further regarding gelatine. This is how I found out that it is used, which was disappointing for me as although I had not gone in at that time, my sister already had gone there & bought some items, one of which was a cake that she ate a bit and had to get rid of the rest which was very unfortunate to find out that all the cakes use gelatine. It threw her off how the person who served her wasn’t aware that any of the items were/weren’t halal, which is why I had called prior to going. Just so you are aware, the only reason my sister had gone in to give business to your establishment was because you had advertised yourself as halal on a Instagram with no further specifications as to being partially-halal (see attached picture), but with your employee/worker not knowing more information about it didn’t sit well with me and caused me to inquire further – this is what led to my disappointment with the additional discoveries. Yet, I still decided to give the business another chance, as I didn’t want to base my experience on someone else’s & this is when I was able to try the pastries that were gelatine-free and delicious, however, for the soup, it was recommended by your team when shared that we eat halal, which is why I felt my money and time were wasted. Ownership/accountability on how something that may seem small, but could be harmful to a group of people (no matter how small) that you may not have intended to harm goes a long way. Disappointed with the response and my sincere request is for the business to please do better. You work hard for your money – as do we when we are coming to spend it at an establishment that we are pouring our trust into for transparency. Looking forward to supporting again only if accountability is seen and changes are made – my big suggestion would be for you/your team to understand better what halal constitutes. Thank you for reading and wishing you a good day.
Original review:
Honestly quite disappointed. I looked so forward to support a black-owned business, and I called before going. The person I spoke to (likely the owner) confirmed that everything was halal, including their meat pies. I felt grossly misled as their carrot-ginger soup uses wine (it specifically states it in their ingredients) – so I felt my money was wasted as I had to give it away – along with their bakery items that use non-halal gelatine). I truly hope this was an honest mistake to be advertising as halal on the business’ part, otherwise this would be deception and false advertisement as they are not a halal business. There is a difference between offering (some) halal items, versus being a halal cafe/business altogether. There remains a huge risk of cross contamination. I hope that the business will take ownership of their error and commit to true advertising (if it really was a mistake), as I know it can be tempting to say “halal” to encourage more business & revenue, but it is unethical and misleading to do so for those who are practicing and have strict dietary restrictions. If the business is truly committed to learning more surrounding what constitutes halal versus non-halal, there are communities and online resources to help with doing so. This would also include cross contamination with cooking utensils & so on (for those who practice strongly). Although the breads, pastries, and everything I tried were delicious, I cannot (in good faith) give a good review to a business who has sold their brand based on deception. I hope the owner will understand where this review comes from and will take action to not repeat the same thing again.
