Binki Cafe Winston Salem — Restaurant in Winston-Salem

TLDR: Don’t believe the hype around a place that doesn’t cook boba properly and uses artificial flavoring for their tea/ice cream

I was delighted to learn of another boba place opening up in Winston. This was my second time at this location. After my first visit a couple days after their grand opening, I thought I would give them a couple of months to get it together. Sadly, service, food, and drinks did not improve. I ordered the New York Galaxy tea and gosh it was gorgeous. Sure it looked pretty in photos but that’s all it was - something to flaunt on social media. As an avid boba drinker, I have to say this cannot be categorized as boba but literally a cup full of artificial sweetener with overcooked tapioca pearls. One sip will certainly give you a sugar rush. If you do order a drink, ask for extra ice or your blood sugar will spike. Further, the texture of the boba was wrong: too mushy and overcooked. As a Filipino, I was super excited about the dessert offerings and was eager to try the ube swirl and the halo halo. I was hoping to introduce this place as an authentic Filipino dessert joint to my friends. However, after one taste of the ube swirl I could only think of a single word: dishonor. I don’t know what was added to the ice cream, but this “ube flavor” would have had my ancestors rolling in their graves. (Pro tip: if you want an amazing ube flavored ice cream, go to Matcha Cafe Maiko in Charlotte or grab yourself a tub of Magnolia ube macapuno ice cream from the Filipino American Grocery in Greensboro). The flavor of this ice cream screamed artificial and I could not finish it, which was a shame because it was $6. I want to support Filipino establishments because lord knows we need representation around here outside of the hospital but I cannot in good faith recommend this to anybody. For y’all looking for authentic Filipino food the best place right now in the triad region is my momma’s kitchen. There was so much hype around this cafe and I hope to come back again if...

My wife and I went Monday a few days after they opened.

Positives - The food is good. Period. We had Tonkotsu Ramen, Lumpia appetizer, and a couple iced teas. This is most important aspect and I think they've got that down without an issue. They can get out specialty drinks in about 10 minutes. The staff was kind, courteous and apologized for the delay of our food.

Negatives - We went during lunch time @ 12:30. It was reasonably busy but wasn't anything that couldn't be managed. They were 14 orders behind when we ordered. We didn't get our food until 1:45. People were swarming the counter trying to find out what was going with their order. Tickets aren't given so you'll need to remember your order#. We were told the wrong # initially so it only compounded the confusion. People were changing their order to carry out because of the delay, we saw one lady just straight up leave. When we inquired about our order, we were told they were "probably" working on it. To continue the frustration, I didn't get what I ordered. I ordered the Shoyu ramen, only to be told that they made me Tonkotsu because they were out of the Shoyu. That's something that needs to be communicated on the front-end, not after we wait over an hour. Appetizer came out later after our order.

The place has good potential, but expect to wait a long time if you order food. It is good food though. Give them some time to work out the way it's run. I'll try it again in a...

after purchasing a cup of their Jasmine Green Tea and taking a sip of it I knew immediately that something was off... I requested to see what the tea was made of but I was not able to get that answer, I tasted pure chemicals... like fabric softener or worse... I had to spit as much as I could to get the chemicals from seeping into my nervous system, I requested an additional cup with the plastic lid they press on via a machine to see where the chemicals came from, I also analyzed the straw to make sure the chemicals didn't come from there, additionally I requested a sample straight from their tea urn, ultimately, I was not able to conclude where the chemicals came from because all of my nervous system was under the influence of the chemicals I was not able to spit out, & the ducts of my submandibular gland are tender and in pain.. I also suspect I would of had a psychological adverse effect if I had continued to drink the tea.... after reading the reviews I have come to the conclusion that my case is not isolated; they have a history of serving unethical foods and drinks by violating health standards and proper food quality... I suspect they keep their teas with their cleaning chemical agents or there was a cross contamination of these two things... I deem it dangerous to consume beverages at this particular location... I also wonder if they are cutting corners for profit or if they are malignantly and deliberately poisoning the public and...