Binki Cafe - Charlotte

They're located in a shopping plaza so they have plenty of parking. We stopped in on a Tuesday evening, so the place wasn't too busy, thankfully, for a weeknight. We had 6 in total for our party.

I love the number of options that they have to offer and am glad they also had a variety of food. The wait staff was friendly and patient with the questions we had about our order. We did have to wait a while for our order of 7 deinks and 7 food items. The drinks came out first, then the ramen and then the noodles and rice.

The drinks were delicious, and the galaxy teas were so pretty!! It was definitely difficult to select just one option to try. If you go with a large party and they're willing to share, I would definitely recommend going that route!! A must try spot if you're in the area.

Updating my review, I've came here a few more times since my last review, about twice a quarter. The drinks and food is still to my same thoughts from last year. Boba milk tea is still the best in town, the boba is still soft and chewy. The lavender and rose are still our favorites.

My gripe is with the customer service. The energy from the first two years of opening and now is extremely different. The employees are very low energy and on their phones more often, no matter which shift, which is the same as last year, but with more detriment to the front end of the store, the interior is starting to have a dingey look. I mean this by: stained room dividers, trash on the ground and on the tables. Lack of "fresh" look is needed, by either removing the "hand drawn" look or cleaning up the place and adding some fresh greenery and removing the black curtains that cover the barista area! It was an engaging area, and it was fun to watch the drinks being made, and it let on so much more light.

The combination of a messy store and low motivational employees, doesn't match the excellent drinks this place offers.

Their brown sugar bobas are perfectly chewy so a good place to get your boba fix

Tapsilog: good portion but a bit too salty

Katsu: freshly fried, well breaded. Also good portions.

Popcorn chicken: they know how to fry

This place could definitely use some redecorating. There was a mid match of themes going on and the place felt a little bit dingy. But don't judge a book by its cover! The food was delicious ! We had the chicken Katsu and Yakiudon. In both meals the chicken was tender and moist. The udon noodles were chewy and NOT mushy.

The drinks were a bit too sweet even after changing the levels. I'll have to try the drinks again. BUT the STAR OF THE SHOW of the Soft Serve Ube!! ITS LACTOSE FREE and was delicious! It's didn't have a heavy ube taste where it just tastes like a potato but it had a more Ube Vanilla taste to it which I prefer. The mochis in the ice cream was also very soft and chewy!

What a cute little spot! I was able to walk right in and place my order in no time.

I got the Tokyo boba tea with lychee jelly and passion fruit boba! 10/10 - Yum!

I ordered the blue sky for my little one with passion fruit boba 10/10 - He loved it!

The popcorn chicken was absolutely yummy! 10/10 - While I was flicking a few pics my son devoured them, thankfully I was able to enjoy the few bites I had... Sheesh!

This was a delight for sure, I seen so many other things that I will for sure come back to try!

This unsuspecting dinner looking restaurant has delicious boba tea and a crunchy chicken popcorn that are a great way to start your dinner on a Friday evening.

I had the passion fruit with lychee boba with less sugar and it was so refreshing. The popcorn chicken was savory and nicely seasoned. I also had the Japanese curry katsu and was perfect for the rainy evening.

They were always busy when I was there with a young crowd. Their system is you pay when you order it and they'll call your order number to get your food. It's simple and effective.

I would love to comeback to try the other dishes as well.

Binki Cafe-

It's a hip and trendy spot in an old fashioned diner space...

A unique place with tons of drink variations- from slushees to soda concoctions to Ube ice cream to milk tea and boba - anyone can find something to their liking here-

Highlights: the popcorn chicken- piping hot, good portion size!!!

The toasted coconut is a great ice cream topping!

Lowlight: the bathroom is not pleasant, it's not somewhere you want to go unless absolutely necessary. Let's just put it that way.

They were out of ice cream when we arrived, like many reviews on here mentioned. I got Seoul and Sakura rose milk tea for my drinks, and my boyfriend got Hong Kong and Caramel milk tea. They were all delicious, but they seem to fit different moods. Seoul is great for if you're craving something sweet like gummy bears. The Sakura rose milk tea is great for a more mild mood. We also got the takoyaki and fried oysters. The takoyaki was pretty good and my boyfriend enjoyed the fried oysters. I'm not much of an oyster person, but I won't fault Binki for it. All in all, I will definitely be back for boba. I may try some of the other food on a day when I haven't already had papusa for lunch.

First time visiting and unimpressed to be honest. Ordered 3 drinks mine being the brown sugar milk tea 50% sweetness and it tasted horrible.. my two daughters didn't hate their drinks but wasn't the best they've had around Charlotte. As you're sitting waiting for drinks and look around the store is a mess..floors look dirty, booth seats with duct tape, scuffs all over walls...drinks did come out fast. Probably won't visit again

The Aesthetic: Hip Filipino, Korean and Japanese counter service shop with great milk teas, snacks, comfort foods, and desserts. The booths felt very 90's, loved it!

The Price: It's affordable! The food is very high quality and the portions are generous for the price.

The Parking: There is plenty of parking throughout the plaza, I've never had trouble finding a spot.

My Order: The Japanese chicken curry is so comforting. It's one of those staple dishes I cook in my home, but I love that I can order it here and get two meals out of it because the portions are large. I also enjoyed the lumpia and earl grey milk tea. I can't wait to try more.

The Conclusion: I highly recommend this shop if you're craving yummy tea or comfort foods.