Is my Dining request a possibility?
 

My birthday is coming up in a few weeks, and there is this restaurant in uptown NY that I love; I've always wanted to try the steak there but the meat is not halal. In Canada and Switzerland, we have often brought our own meat to a non-halal restaurant and asked them to cook it for us (and paid full price, obviously) and this has rarely been a problem. However, all my friends insist that no restaurant in NY will even consider such a thing, and some may even be insulted.

Does anyone have any tips before I call the restaurant? Should I even bother trying? I really want steak, and I don't really mind where I have it - There is one halal steakhouse but the food there was atrocious, so I have ruled out that option

Thanks!

Cheers,

just cook at home or deal with the steaks they cook for you. as much as you may doubt it, you won't die, nor will you go to hell.

I wish! I can barely make an egg. :p


I don't doubt it. However, I would rather not eat at all than eat the steaks they give me.

Cheers,

I'm sure you can at least boil one. Can you? :p

I can't answer your question with a definiteive yes or no, but I can tell you with certainty that it would not hurt to ask.

Even better than calling would be to ask in person, assuming the restaurant is not far out of your way.

This is insulting but not enough to park a truck bomb in front of your house.

Eating halal meat in a non-halal restaurant will not solve the problem unless you bring your own paper plates and frying pan for the restaurant.

I may be totally wrong here and if I am I sincerely apologise.

From my very limited understanding of Islam and Judaism I've always thought that Kosher and Halal meat was prepared the same way.

If so is there a Jewish steak restaurant in New York you could have your special dinner at?

Flattery would be the best form of approach.

Going in person would be best, start off by describing the good reasons why you want to eat there.

Explain that religious reasons don't allow you to eat any steak.

You know they have high standards but would like to have the chef prepare something you could eat. You'd be happy to bring something along - tell them about the kind of meat you can get and where it comes from, ask them if there is anything you would need to comply with their own standards, basically, just ask their advice about how it can be done.

You'd be paying twice for your steak. Phrase your question right and it's much more a compliment than any insult.

Local religious leaders should have answer to this question. NYC is a big enough of a city that this issue should really be a non-issue.

Cooling a steak is easy! How about getting some advice or lessions and then you can cook to please yourself for the rest of your life?

Likely the first thing you will need to do if you want to cook your own meat is find a really good Halal butcher who will cut a proper steak for you. It all starts with the quality and cut of the meat. You need to study enough about this to know what the cuts are and what they look like raw.

If you don't have a grill or an outdoor cooker, you can cook a steak using a heavy pan.

We cook steaks indoors when the weather is bad and outdoors when it is nice outside. The best steak I have ever had was cooked in a heavy iron skillet over an open camp fire.

Where is bigguyinpasadena when we need him?

As Mentioned-the meat itself is not the entire "Halal"procedure.
And not to insult your religious beliefs at all-but it would be far easier to skip the restaurant in question rather than ask/insist that they indulge your request-we are talking about your spiritual needs and not your dietary ones.

I second the idea that you ask the local representatives of your religion for a suggestion.

I might also suggest posing your question on ChowHound.com

As to cooking steak or any meat-Might I suggest Bruce Addails excellent book MEAT-no better recource on the subject.

There is a fantastic Jewish Steak place in NYC(Brooklyn ?)
Sammy's Romanian Steak House.

However-the request was for Halal and not Kosher and they are different.

Thanks for the replies so far. I think I should clarify a few things:

1. I do not have any sense I was entitlement. I was posting the question merely to ask if what I wanted was a possibility (see title.) I made sure not to write 'how can I make a restaurant follow my request'

2.In Islam, the Alim (scholar) that I follow has stated that, when in doubt about whether something is lawful or not, you can do/eat/watch it anyway. The only exception is for meat. Therefore, I can assume that the plates have been washed properly. I almost always asked my meat to be cooked with new oil / in a clean frying pan. I have yet to be denied. Even if the people don't comply, but tell me they did, I am none the wiser.

3. Sorted of related to #1, but if I don't eat the steak, it is not a catastrophe. In fact, I just went to Dubai and ate steak about 5 times at Rodeo Grill. They were amazinnggg.

Anyways, I can always eat vegetarian food instead. I just thought it would be nice if I could eat steak. Cooking at home will be difficult at best (since I live in a dorm) and impossible at worst.

4. With regards to Kosher vs Halal, the jury is still out. However, the general concencus is that they are not similar enough that Kosher can be eaten instead. See http://www.albalagh.net/halal/kosher_meat.shtml However, I know many people who will eat Kosher when Halal is not available.

If anyone thinks I am being stupid by demanding halal meat as there are many other options or that the frying pan will make the meat non halal or that I won't go to hell by not eating halal etc, that's fine. But I am aware of all these issues - they don't need to be repeated to me :)

Cheers,

Why wouldn't they cook your own piece of meat that you bring in, and charge you the same price as if they cooked their own? They would be crazy not to take you up on your offer. I smell the opportunity for huge profit potential here. Is there any possibility I could open a restaurant in your neighborhood based on that practice entirely?

Happy Birthday!

to answer your question without entering into any (somewhat ridiculous and waaay off-topic) fray, just ask. LapLap's suggestion to do it in person if at all possible was excellent, but even if you can't, be sure to phrase as she suggested in terms of making it flattering to the restaurant/chef and i'd be surprised if you were denied.

not that you would, but don't go off on any tangents...just flatter and ask the question. :)

hey, worst thing they can do is say 'no.' whatever happens, please do post here so we know the outcome.

good luck. ^

I would call and ask, all they can say is no.

It's probably quite doubtful that you are the first person to make that request, betting they do it for you.

Technically, it's probably illegal for a steakhouse to cook a product brought in by a patron. They will probably do it for you anyways but I believe it violates the health code. You can also try calling a week or so in advance and asking if they will provide halal meat for your meal. My guess is that a high-end steak house will have a way to get a high quality halal product from their purveyors and probably do it occasionally. Let us know how it goes!

I suspect they would accommodate you. Just call and politely ask.

There is a nice seafood restaurant nearby that will prepare the fish you just caught and bring in to them... So my guess is they will work with you.

Don't forget to mention it's for your birthday ^

I think this is a great suggestion, in an ironic way.

Although there is no indication that sadiqhassan's chosen restaurant s a high-end steakhouse, I really like this idea of asking them if they can provide a halal steak. If they can't, it could be the intro to asking them if you could provide your own.

If the restaurant is a high-end steakhouse, then I wouldn't bother with bringing your own if they can't provide it. It is the source of the meat that makes a steakhouse high-end. As others have suggested, the skill of running a high-end steakhouse is in the selection and treatment of the meat before cooking, not in the cooking.

TH suggested that the steakhouses supplier may actually carry Halal meat already.

I hope it works for you!

It's more than the meat. Don't they ruin it if they use alcohol? You need to be careful about them using brandy or some other form of alcohol as a base. Unfortunately, you are probably better dining at home :(

I grew up in restaurants and most I have worked in would do this for free just to make you happy, and some would probably balk at the idea due to ignorance or lack or knowledge, or just lack of caring/interpersonal skills.

I think maybe if you explain your needs and the reasoning behind it (a quick lesson in halal) and regarding the no exceptions for meat, etc. that would help them be more agreeable to your request. I am thinking some may be insulted you may not think their meat is good enough, but if they know that is not the case, they will not be offended.

I hope it works out for you.

As for the person who stated they thought it may be illegal, I have never heard of a law that would prevent anything like this.....

Going to fine restaurants around the world is a hobby of mine, but I don't understand why people like to go out to eat steaks. There is no culinary art to it. It's just a hunk of meat and I don't think it tastes very good.

Have you asked yet?

There actually is a culinary art to a great steak: it's called "dry-aging"!

A good steakhouse will A.) have access to way better prime beef than any (most) retailers sell, and B.) continue the dry-aging process for up to 28 more days prior to serving, a process that you just can't do at home. Most beef you'll cook at home is "wet-aged."

For folks who like a great cut of beef with their red wine, that's why they go out for steak!

You apparently know very little about steak.

Or fine restaurants!

As with everything in NYC - stuff like this you do over the phone.

First find a halal butcher and ask if they deliver - next call the restaurant - epxlain your predicamenet and indicate that there's a halal butcher in New York that will deliver the steak directly to the restaurant. Doubt they could refuse and I could see no reason why this would be in violation fo the health code.

Lastly, I wouldn't be surprised if they tell you its a common request - e.g. many lunch carts serving meat in the city have halal written all over them with big letters. And I would guess that there are a bunch of halal restaurants all over the city (Persian/Afghani kebab places, etc.)

Update
 

Thanks for all the replies. :D A halal butcher delivering is no problem at all, so I might pursue that option.

I called the restaurant and there was good news and bad news. The good news is that they are able to get halal meat supplied (a big ^ to everyone who suggested asking about this, I had never even considered that it would be possible) but the bad news is they said I would need to give at least 3 weeks advance notice. Doh! :o

Thanks again for all the suggestions!

Cheers,

I don't know about that. In fine dining circles, the first clue that someone doesn't know anything about food is when their favorite restaurant is a steakhouse.

I've had some nice steaks, but I can't ever justify going to a steak house when there is a world of restaurants that serve dishes that I actually crave. I know that's just my personal preference.

OP, did you ever work this out? Curious to hear how you dined on your big day.