There really does seem to be one Din Tai Fung-esque fried rice stall too many around the island these days — there is seemingly one such stall in most heartlands. Was going about the Central Business District looking for somewhere wallet-friendly to dine at and came across this new stall named I 🤍 福口福 hidden within Marina Food House. The stall places it emphasis on their fried rice offerings — the star item of the stall being the XO King Fried Rice and their Black Truffle Fried Rice which are prominently listed on the menu board that fronts the stall. As with most other stalls serving up similar fare, expect a familiar mix of other Din Tai Fung-esque fried rice being available here — think variants of the fried rice such as XO, Spicy and Egg Fried Rice available to pair with meat options such as Pork Chop, Chicken Chop, Shrimp and Crab Meat. Prices of the fried rice dishes ranges from $6.50 to $10.00 — not exactly the most pocket-friendly option around, but still relatively affordable considering this is in the Central Business District after all.

Being a one-man show, the Fried Rice is done upon order; that being said, the Pork Chop and Chicken Chop have been prepared ahead of time to be heated up when the order of the fried rice is being prepared. The Pork Chop Fried Rice (XO) comes with no surprises considering what we all know comes with the Din Tai Fung-style of Fried Rice that has been further popularised by King of Fried Rice — the XO variant sees the fried rice being wok-fried with XO sauce. The result is this plate of fried rice that is savoury and with bits of crisp umami-ness that comes when one chews on those bits from the XO sauce included. As with almost variants of such styles of fried rice we have came across, the grains being used in the variant served at I 🤍 福口福 features short-grain rice that is lacquered with just enough oil that gave it a consistently moist texture throughout. The rice does come savoury with a slight hint of wok-hei for that light smokiness that makes it so good on its own; what was really the limelight for us was the Pork Chop however — no doubt it does seem to lack that crispness that some renditions such as the one from FireRice had. That being said, we liked how tender the Pork Chop here was; does not require much effort to chew and maintain its juiciness — all that whilst still lightly peppery and not particularly porky for a good flavour.

With so many Din Tai Fung-esque fried rice stalls around, it does feel that the market for such fare has been pretty much saturated — there is also significantly less hype surrounding such dishes as opposed to when the trend has seemingly started with King of Fried Rice having aggressively expanding throughout the entire island. That being said, I 🤍 福口福 is a stall that would serve the office folks around the Central Business District well — there are some, but not that many of such stalls located at this end of Singapore; definitely provided office workers yet another dining option or a convenient spot for them to get their cravings for Din Tai Fung-esque fried rice resolved. The fried rice is executed well, while we did really enjoy the pork chop despite there being some room for improvement for it to be up another level. Overall, something which we would not mind going for again; a reasonably priced Din Tai Fung-esque fried rice option in the Central Business District that would appeal to the office crowds working in the area.

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