My friend (who always thinks ahead) ordered a Dong Phuong king cake for me while we were at NYE dinner. Normally you have to wait in a ridiculously long line at their store in New Orleans East, or quite literally be in the right place at the right time when they drop off at some of the select stores that also sell their cakes in the NOLA area (“authorized resellers”), including Adams Street Grocery (Uptown), Bouree (Uptown), Juniors on Harrison (Lakeview), Urban South (LGD), Killer Poboys (French Quarter), Pho Grace (HAMMOND, holla), and John & Anna Coffee Bean (Baton Rouge). There are also other authorized seller locations on the Westbank, Northshore, Kenner, and Mississippi—Dong Phuong has a map on their website! But if you’re smart like my friend, you can preorder and pick up to whisk away your cakes right into the sunset. I checked the website while writing this and will advise that preorders are closed this year (although you can still “walk in” [read: stand in line]). But now you know for next year.

Editor’s note: an earlier version of this review stated that the dough was brioche per the Big Book of King Cake, but a friend of mine (who I’m fairly certain is a baker by trade and knows more about these things than I do) advised that Dong Phuong uses a laminated Danish dough, not brioche, in their king cakes. This makes sense to me because I always thought this cake had more of a pastry-like quality. Anyway, as you were.

Now, onto king cake. As you’ve probably already figured out, Dong Phuong is somewhat of a holy grail king cake in New Orleans. Many people consider it one of the best, if not THE best, king cake. The very cool thing about Dong Phuong is that it is the oldest Vietnamese bakery in New Orleans. It was founded in 1982 and has a James Beard Award. The cake is a horseshoe-shaped brioche dough with scalloped edges and, unlike most king cakes, the dough is not braided. Dong Phuong boasts some truly insane numbers in terms of their production… during carnival season they bake 24 hours per day, six days a week, and produce TWELVE HUNDRED cakes per day. That’s wild, y’all.

Now, according to the Big Book of King Cake, Dong Phuong uses cream cheese icing, even on their cinnamon cakes, which “makes it a little more savory.” I agree. The cream cheese icing, which is on top of both the cinnamon and cream-cheese filled case, has a delicious saltiness that I think is really what sets this cake apart from the rest of the pack. With that said, the dough is really, really, special, y’all. For me, it has the perfect amount of cinnamon. It is chewy and light and delicious. If fresh it is nearly perfect.

Frankly, the cinnamon and cream cheese king cakes are exactly the same, except that the cream cheese king cake has a cream cheese layer piped inside the middle. Other than that, there is absolutely no difference. Worry not, dear reader—I ate at least three slices of cream cheese and a large slice of cinnamon, taking bites of each intermittently, to confidently reach this conclusion. I did a terrible food photography comparison of the cream cheese slice (left) and plain (right) so you can see. Honestly, I think the cream cheese king cake could have had a smidge more cream cheese filling, but, as a card-carrying member of team #givemefillings, you should not be surprised by this. I’m sure many will think this is plenty of filling.

I will also say that the cream cheese filling has an entirely different taste than the cream cheese icing. So if you get a cream cheese king cake from Dong Phuong, you’re not just getting the same king cake with double the amount of frosting. The cream cheese filling is sweet (but not overpoweringly so) and is a really nice consistency.

Overall, there is a good reason this bakery has become a veritable giant in terms of New Orleans king cakes. It rules. 5 stars.