XH Delicious Seafood is a new zi char stall in Chinatown
When my editor asked me to interview Devid Retanasamy, a viral Indian chef known for his fluent Mandarin, I was immediately intrigued. I’ll admit I was a little worried my Mandarin wouldn’t hold up, but I was still determined to meet him and try my best to communicate, even if it ended up being a mix of broken Chinese and guesswork.
Here’s a brief background: Chef Devid previously ran Mr Blecky Seafood in Farrer Park, where he first rose to fame, but things didn’t go as planned. After being scammed out of $27,000 and facing a series of setbacks, he eventually met his current business partner, who gave him another chance. This led to XH Delicious Seafood on Temple Street—his first proper solo venture.
Before diving into the food, we had a brief chat with Devid, affectionately known as “Xiao Hei.” With over 30 years in the F&B industry, his journey began unexpectedly at 12 years old, when he helped deliver food for his uncle’s eatery. His uncle showed up the next day, took him under his wing, and the rest, as Devid says, is history.
Having been adopted by a Chinese family, Devid is fluent in Mandarin and Cantonese, joking that his Mandarin improved after meeting his wife. English, however, isn’t part of his vocabulary. With such a unique backstory, I was curious to see if his food would live up to the hype he’s been getting online.
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Food at XH Delicious Seafood
Devid runs a one-man show, handling everything himself while juggling multiple woks in a humid kitchen. Even so, all of our dishes were served within 15 minutes. He shared that the menu is largely shaped by customer feedback, built around what people enjoy most.
A dish close to his heart is the Moonlight Hor Fun ($7), where a mound of dark, glossy hor fun is topped with a gleaming raw egg. The dish leaned towards Malaysian-style hor fun, known for its thinner, smoother noodles and lighter, prawn-based flavours. Here, it’s adapted with familiar local ingredients such as sliced beef, fish cake, and bigger prawns.
The noodles were silky and well-coated in sauce, with bits of cabbage adding a light crunch. The wok hei came through immediately, giving the hor fun a smoky depth, while the dark soy sauce added a sweet-savoury richness. Mixing in the raw egg made everything creamier, tying the dish together.
Of course, we had to try his Curry Fish Head ($30), a quintessential at any seafood zi char stall. It’s cooked with a housemade spice paste that features over 10 ingredients, including an intense chilli paste fermented for four days. The humongous bowl of curry is also packed with vegetables such as okra, cabbage, and brinjal.
We found the curry rich and layered, its flavours building with every sip we took. The gravy was savoury and robust, with a gentle heat that lingered without being overpowering—though I still had to reach for my ice lemon tea in between.
