Lion Dance Caf in Oakland

Very delicious Singaporean vegan food to be enjoyed by eaters of all dietary preferences. Bright flavors, thoughtfully curated menu, and cozy hip spot. It was impressive to learn that most everything is made in house or sourced locally! Top items we enjoyed: laksa, golden milk bread services (mushroom rendang/coriander mustard & cheese/jam), teochew brinjal, snacking peanuts. Good not greats: Mushroom goreng (a bit hard) & black bean cauli. We ordered 6 dishes for 3 people (got bread twice) and were full. W/out beverages it was ~40-50 pp, so it is $$ but worth it. We booked a tock reservation and the $20 pp fee was refunded once we were sat. Thank you LDC!

In June, I finally got to try Lion Dance Cafe, who Ive been following since their days as a vegan pop-up years ago. They are still serving vegan fare, and it is inventive and tasty.Their laksa was for sure the best dish, and I really liked the tofu (tau pok) and noodle textures, and the rich flavor of the sauce.Next best? Bread! The Shaobing service includes a sourdough and sesame crusted bread with coriander mustard (not for me) and mushroom rendon paté, which was surprisingly delicious for this non-mushroom fan. I especially liked the kick.The spring salad, with charred green onion buttermilk dressing, was a tasty salad, but nothing particularly special to report for that dish. Good.The pistachio cavatelli seemed a little too chewy at first, with the heritage grain earthy flower used for the noodles. But after the first couple cavatelli, it really started to grow on me. The sauce was also delicious. These folks know sauces well.Finally, drinks! Lion Dance Cafe is a great place for inventive beverages that are not high on alcohol or are zero proof. The Curious George was enjoyed by my companion, a banana sesame milk and the spiced cola that followed. I adored my barbie4barbie with strawberries, Meyer lemon, green cardamom vermouth, brut nature, and basil seeds. It was a delicious, sweet, and tangy drink.I really love to see ingenious vegan cuisines like this. Would definitely go again.

Fantastic vegetarian option. I really enjoyed every single dish I had. My boyfriend and I received a gift card for Christmas to come here and finally made it out 7 months later. We had the charred cabbage, mushroom goreng, prawnless crackers, shaobing sandwich, milk bread, chips & dip and the pandan dessert.The most surprisingly was how great the dessert was!! Absolutely amazing. Personally I adored the cabbage and mushroom goreng. I will be bringing my vegetarian family here for sure.Give the non-alcoholic drinks a try! We tried the plumstruck and sweet n sour apricot, both were absolutely fantastic.The prices are honestly a bit overpriced! I truly cannot believe how much each dish was. I dont think my experience would have been as pleasant as it was if it werent for the gift card. I regularly attend Michelin star restaurants and even then, Ive had Michelin dishes with similar price ranges as here.... Being Michelin recommended is one thing but the dishes really dont seem to warrant this $$$ range. I want to come back here again and again, but please lower the price range 🥺. Id like this to be a regular spot vs a treat spot

Amazing restaurant. This is one of the best restaurants in the United States, with mission-oriented chef owners. I cant wait to see where LDC goes in the future.

Warning: Extremely expensive for the experience and tiny portion sizes. Be prepared to spend well over $150 for 2 people. First of all, its reservation only and they charge $20 per person plus a dollar service fee just to make a reservation. My boyfriend and I paid $41 just to reserve a seat. That is not a deposit. It is misleading from their site. We were charged full price for all the dishes we ordered.We were told that most people order 2-3 dishes per person because its tapas style dishes. They mentioned we should order 5-6 dishes for 2 people. We felt pressured to order because of that recommendation. It was way too much food at the end and we really only should have ordered 3 dishes max. We ordered 4 appetizers, 2 entrees, dessert, coconut water, beer and our total was $155 plus 20% tip brought us to $186. Add the $41 reservation fee and our grand total was $227!!! How does that even make sense. Ill add pictures and see if it makes sense to pay that much. Dont be fooled, I zoomed into the food so it looks big but in actual reality, its miniature.When we arrived they were short staffed so there was no greeter. We sat indoors but it was extremely cold outside but also inside. There was no heater and I faced the kitchen and I can see staff doing the dishes right in front of me.For utensils, we got 1 fork and spoon each with chopsticks but no knives. We also received only 1 paper napkin each.We asked for rice to balance out the heat and spice but they said they dont offer rice which is extremely strange if you say youre an authentic Singaporean restaurant. We asked the waiter and he said its too overwhelming for the staff to manage a rice cooker. We were then suggested to get their sesame bread instead for $16. Even offering noodles would have helped balance out the super spicy food.The only dish that was worth it as far as taste in my opinion was the Laska noodle soup. Still steep for $25 given that the protein was tofu and not a lot of it either. We got like 3 pieces of tofu.The decor was of a hawker center in Singapore which weve both been to. The high price tag was out of touch from the service, tiny portions, and experience we got. Most of the dishes are extremely spicy and you should be cautious because my boyfriend and I both got stomach aches at the end of our night and the next day. We love spicy food and we eat most of our meals with hot sauce but this is not for the faint of heart. My boyfriends taste buds were fried to the point where he couldnt taste anything towards the end of dinner and I was choking up from the spices. Theres no reason to charge $16-25 per dish if the portion sizes are of appetizers. Flavors were good but nothing out of the ordinary that you wouldnt get from a Chinese szechuan dish.If they charge $41 just for the reservation, at least deduct that from our food bill. Its price gouging at best and we felt robbed at the end of our experience.We wont be coming back unfortunately. Unless they get rid of their expensive reservation system, add rice to their menu, add a heater to their building, give bigger portion sizes and or lower their food prices, you can count us out.

True to the unique mix of cultures in Singapore food. dont kiss the green sambal eggplant (I hate eggplant and this was still great)

Lion dance is one of the best restaurants Ive ever been to.All their dishes have such unique flavors. Im always taken aback by their creativity.There is not a single item that I would not recommend. and if the mushroom goreng is on the menu, get 2 orders.If you like unapologetically spicy food then this is absolutely your place!

Loved their takeout menu. Dine in experience left a lot to be desired. The meal was great but very heavy. 3 out of 4 people had upset stomachs because of it. Things were pretty carb heavy and very rich. Courses seemed a bit disjoint and did not flow together. Dessert tasted very artificial. Sent some notes via email but never heard back from them, hence the review. Will come back once they start doing takeout again.

Everything is vegan and theyre so great at labeling for gluten free and nut free! Thank you!! I dont usually go for spicy food but this was worth it. I got the Sesame L.G.M. Noodles and the flavors were fantastic. I also had some of the Three Cup Tofu, it was such a great dish and their tofu is seriously worth trying. I was pleasantly surprised by the desserts here, so unique and delicious. For a nice chewy cake you can try the Pandan Butter Nian Gao. The A.S.S. cookies are also highly recommended. Theres an interesting Cheese Foam Tea as well and some great peanuts for sale. Ill be coming back ASAP!

I come from a Singaporean family, and the food here is delicious, creative, and the best Singaporean food I’ve had in the Bay. Notable highlights were the fried mushrooms and the starter bread dish.Pricing here is that of a upscale restaurant (we spent around the same or even more per person as we do at Bib Gourmand and some Michelin star restaurants) as well as the portion sizes. While I appreciate the option of patio seating it is more hawker center reminiscent than a patio at a restaurant where you would expect to pay 90+/per person, and gets quite crowded. Overall although the food was tasty, the small portions and dining experience was not worth the $$$ when compared to other upscale plant based restaurants in the bay such as Greens and Shizen.