Ayu Bakehouse

I was really excited to visit Ayu Bakehouse since I saw Chef Nini Nyugen came to get their king cake. I wanted a lot of items so I thought writing it in my notepad app on my phone would help by showing the lady what I wanted, I also have a really soft & quiet voice and it makes it hard for people to often hear me, however the lady helping me really spited me, asking me why I couldn't use my mouth to say what I wanted. Even at the register, she asked me if I needed to use my notepad to tell her what I wanted for my drink. Aside from this service, the slice of king cake I got was raw at the bottom, but the other pastries I got were good. I came here for my birthday week with my best friend and was really disappointed in this experience. I work a heavy customer service job as well and I'm sorry that I annoyed your worker with writing things on my notepad, I really thought it would be more organized in that way, but I really don't think it deserved the mean attitude I got in return for it.

Wohoho here I come! The best sweets I had in NOLA - extremely well done baked goods that is say are even better then the ones I've had in NYC and abroad. That chocolate cake (1,000/5) oof is like eating a brick or delectable chocolate delectably wrapped in caramel. Get it. My other favorites are in this order: crossaints (5/5), kaya roast (4.5/4), the scallion biscuit (4/5), and the rugalech roll (3.5/5). The king cakes also looked very fire. Y'all gotta be leaving here BUT it does get busy.

Everything I had read was that Ayu was the best bakery in New Orleans and I can absolutely see why. From the atmosphere in the shop to the service to the food, everything was AMAZING. I ordered a ham and cheese croissant (simple but delicious), a chocolate babka knot (unreal), and a cortado. An employee came around with a sample of their king cake that was crazy good. I also grabbed a cinnamon roll to go to share with my wife; so good! I don't know why more people don't coat their cinnamon buns in cinnamon and sugar instead of icing, but its my new favorite. I've been back home in VA for a week now and I'm still thinking about how amazing this bakery was. Can't wait to come back the next time I'm in town!

Kaya: Highly recommend the kaya bread! It’s true to taste, moist and very yummy! Shroom boom: Cheesy and mushroomy, exactly how I expected it to taste (but it’s quite smol 🤭) Chai latte: Not really a fan of this. The latte wasn’t thick enough and the chai was extremely spiced. I don’t even know if it’s the taste of chai, cinnamon, star anise, nutmeg? I drink a lot of chais, but this was a bit much for me.

Ayu honestly exceeded expectations (visiting from out of town, saint louis); everyone working behind the counter was attentive and super friendly. they didn’t make me feel rushed and were very helpful in moving us through the ordering process. we got there within the first hour of open and it wasn’t too crowded (week day) and we had the pick of what we wanted. the kaya bun especially lives up to the hype and i will be ordering at least 10 more before we leave town. the espresso is also quite good and overall the prices were comparable to our top bakeries back home.