Written by With so many brands serving up the same types of food, unless you’ve got a novel food product, it’s hard to make your mark. Interestingly enough, brands have found another way to sear their branding in the minds of consumers forever: with ingenious tongue-in-cheek names that are lowkey vulgar. And ones that probably only Singaporeans will understand.
Here’s our list of five F&B outlets with interesting brand names we’ll never forget:
1. Fook Kin
Image adapted from: FOOK KIN 福劲
Nestled along Killiney Road is Fook Kin (est. 2018), a casual dining restaurant serving up a modern take on traditional roasted meat dishes.
Its main highlight is of course the trinity of roasted meats: char siew, roasted duck and roasted pork belly (aka siew yoke). The F&B joint is the brainchild of Class 95 deejays Justin Ang and Vernon A – better known as The Muttons – and hawkers from Old Airport Road Food Centre’s Roast Paradise.
If the name doesn’t strike you right from the onset, try saying it five times as quickly as possible!
Leveraging on the cheekiness of the name, the marketing team behind Fook Kin have had a ball of a time coming up with witty and jaw-dropping copies in their advertisements, with phrases such as “because you Fook Kin deserve it” and “do we hear a Fook yeah?”.
You’ll also see the play on the brand name in a blinging neon sign that welcomes you when you first step into the restaurant. Definitely fook kin ingenious!
2. Eat My CB (Eat My Curry Bun)
Image credit: Eatbook
When the Circuit Breaker hit almost two years ago, we went into an unprecedented time here in Singapore. Many offices and retail stores were closed, and the F&B industry was limited to takeaways only, resulting in a strain on many Singaporeans’ financial income.
This experience was no different for the Lee family (no, not that Lee family), who are the brains behind home-based curry bun business Eat My CB. According to the Lees, the business idea was born when Mum Annie started hosting cooking classes on social media. During one of the episodes, the family came together to make curry buns during one of the episodes, and gave them away to four recipients. Subsequently, more orders came in, and as they say, the rest is history.
Image credit: Eatbook
When the Lees consulted a friend for brand name advice, the latter suggested incorporating the term ‘CB’ in it. Why not, since they were making curry buns (CB) during the Circuit Breaker (CB) period?
Needless to say, they were apprehensive at the start. “We were like, ‘why would you give us such an awful name?’” said son Lester. However, they “just couldn’t get the word out of our heads,” wife Charmaine added. “We decided to just do it. There was no harm trying.”
Today, the business continues to sell its signature curry chicken encased in a doughy soft bun, alongside homemade lemon juice, termed LJ. Kudos to the Lee family for their inspirational story coming out of the pandemic!
3. NBCB (Nothing But Cheese Burgers)
Image credit: NBCB
Another home-based F&B business that was launched during the pandemic was NBCB. And no, we’re not insulting anyone’s mother here. NBCB, which stands for Nothing But Cheese Burgers, is a home-based cheeseburger delivery business that was established back in 2021 by former insurance manager Tommy Wong.
Then, he and his wife Janice were expecting their second child, and the latter could not get the COVID vaccination because of her pregnancy. As such, she could not dine in at eateries, and so it fell on Tommy to venture around Singapore to fulfil Janice’s pregnancy cravings. One day, when he asked her what she wanted to eat, she simply replied “nothing, cheeseburger.”
Instead of heading out to dabao said cheeseburger, Tommy decided to make his own, and it turned out to be a great success! And that’s how NBCB was born (pun intended).
Image credit: NBCB
Tommy has since expanded the NBCB business to a retail shop front at Orchard Central. In addition, he has since also tweaked the menu to not just sell CBs, but other items such as a CCB (Crispy Chicken Burger), Jiak Kentang (an assortment of fries with toppings) and Happy Endings (Udders-brand ice cream).
4. Eat my LJ
Image credit: Eat My LJ
Yet another lowkey – or full-on – vulgar brand on the F&B list is Eat My LJ. Launched by local actor Maxi Lim and business partner Marcus, Eat My LJ offers packaged dried chilli bites, meant to be eaten straight up as a snack or a topping to Asian dishes!
And yes, we know what LJ is – la jiao, of course! Though it is one letter away from a totally different meaning.
The idea came about when the pair first started a business distributing chilli snacks from Thailand. Not long after, they decided to branch out and make their own chilli snack, using a new type of chilli and recipe. And behold, their LJ!
Image adapted from: Eat My LJ
As of 2022, their LJ products include their original chilli snack, along with new offerings such as chicken skin and lotus root chips. Recently on 11 March 2022, the team also launched a retail shop front at EATBOX located in Tekka Place Annex Building serving up their iconic packaged snacks.
Otherwise, you can always order their LJ products from the website, to be delivered to you. They seem to be fairly popular, as they are all sold out as at time of writing. Definitely a well-sought after LJ!
5. DLLM Lok Lok
Image credit: Eatbook
Rounding off our list is DLLM, which stands for Dinner Lok Lok Mou, is a small eatery located in a coffee shop along Macpherson Road serving up fried skewer items, or lok lok. And yes, the DLLM is a play on a vulgar Cantonese phrase, but don’t let that stop you!
What we particularly enjoy about the advertising from the DLLM team is how they’ve ingeniously incorporated tongue-in-cheek phrases throughout their marketing collaterals. For example, right at the start when diners turn up, they are greeted by an image of an ah ma seemingly flipping people off with two sticks of lok lok.
Image credit: Eatbook
In addition, their lok lok is available on popular food delivery platforms such as GrabFood. Taking a look at their menu, we have to applaud them for keeping their product descriptions cheeky and minimal, but exactly to the point. It certainly made us chuckle!
Image adapted from: GrabFood DLLM Lok Lok
Image adapted from: GrabFood DLLM Lok Lok
Memorable F&B brands with cheeky names
And there you have it – our list of the five F&B brands that stand out from the crowd with genius tongue-in-cheek puns in their brand names. They certainly work to turn heads, raise eyebrows and build a following so it’s safe to say that method works – with a solid product offering, of course!
Cover image adapted from: FOOK KIN, Assemble Singapore, EAT MY LJ
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