Although I’ve never gotten a tattoo before, I can imagine anxiety entering a tattoo parlor because many of them usually look scary.
When we are covered Poking Duck a few months ago, a tattoo artist shared that many of her clients said they were more comfortable when they were painted with a mask in her living room because it felt like they were going to a friend’s house.
While a comfortable environment may not be the most important part of tattooing, I can imagine that it would add so much experience, especially if it’s your first time.
“We like to tattoo ourselves, and from our experience we have noticed that accessibility here is different from other places in the world. Therefore, we wanted to create a space that is friendly enough for everyone who has not received ink before, “the two shared Licky Chanfounders, Keith and Rick of Vulcan Post.
Pairing is not common
Licky Chan is an alcoholic ice cream shop in the tattoo parlor at Chow Kit.
The concept came to life when one of the founders, Brian, who is also the head chef of the restaurant GAME, he thought of opening another tattoo studio separate from the one he already has in Cheras.
“I’ve always loved adding alcohol to dessert, and with Rick portraying, we naturally gravitated to alcohol lollipops and cakes,” Kit explained of how everything is tied up.
The founding team behind Licky Chan is made up of 5 individuals: Kit and Rick for operations, Penny and Shin for architecture and design and Brian for ice cream production and tattoo management.
“Only Brian has experience in making ice cream and he’s also a trained tattoo artist, and we’ve stayed very skilled at eating and drinking,” Kit joked.
Licky Chan began operations on February 13, 2021, so they only have a month since they started.
Attracting customers for tattooing
There are currently 2 full-time tattoo artists, Reid and Jasper, working in a tattoo studio called The Poke Guy.
Poke Guy is in its part on the premises, and customers can look out the windows at people getting tattooed. However, they will not be able to see it up close, as tattoo artists and their clients would stand in their way.
Their tattoos start at RM150 and are priced according to size and color. Kit and Rick also explained that this price is the average rate in the local market.
Although their artists use tattoo guns, they hope to include guest artists at The Poke Guy in the future who specialize in hand pricking or other specific signature styles.
“There were people who came in to get tattoos or came for ice cream and got tattooed spontaneously. It takes time to make custom designs, so often guests come to inquire and schedule a meeting for another day, ”they shared.
There is nothing vanilla about this place
Although alcoholic ice cream is not a new concept in the country, it is unusual enough that it is harder to perfect during the research and development phase, because there are not many references.
The amount of drinks they could use in the flavors had to be correct, otherwise the ice cream would not be obtained. Because of this, they were challenged on how to bring enough flavor of alcohol into their ice cream.
“None of us had experience making ice cream of this scale and there was a lot of learning to get everything to be right and on what we were willing to compromise on,” they shared.
“We made a vegan soft drink piña colada, which took weeks to perfect. Every bad batch consumed 3L and it’s not just one dish or cocktail. ”
Although Licky Chan’s team wanted to experiment with their ice cream, it also took care of inclusion towards lactose intolerant customers who wanted to enjoy alcoholic ice cream.
So they created a series of lactose-free and vegan ice creams and made all their gluten-free and vegan-free cones free. Their ice cream prices range from RM 9.80 to RM 16.80 per scoop, which is usually a little more than average.
And in case you’re wondering, they don’t serve vanilla ice cream, which is a very common question they get from their customers, other than delivery questions (which they also don’t have yet).
The answer was unexpected
Licky Chan is circulating on social media, which is to be expected with their appeal among millennial and Gen Z groups.
“To be honest, we did not anticipate this answer and how quickly it spread by word of mouth. It was a bit devastating and we are still learning a lot about the ice cream business, ”Kit and Rick shared for the Vulcan Post.
“We still have an amazing team and we can’t be more proud of what we have already achieved in this short period. There are people who love what we do, and some don’t really do it. ”
As a space that will make tattoos more appealing and less intimidating, Licky Chan hopes their work will succeed in removing some of the stigmas society has on tattoos.
As for their upcoming plans, they would add more taste to the list and seek cooperation.
Pictures shown: Kit Yin Chan, one of the founders of Lickychan / haaangryeats
0 Comments