Vira's Indian Kitchen — Restaurant in Bentonville

Look­ing for some­thing new and au­then­tic in NWA? Walk into Vi­ras Ker­ala Kitchen and ask for Joe, one of a hand­ful of kind and at­ten­tive Malay­alee staff-mem­bers who would love to tell you about Ker­ala (In­di­an) cui­sine and what you should or­der from their ex­ten­sive menu.

Though it’s an easy choice when every­thing on the menu is of the high­est qual­i­ty, I rec­om­mend the beef fry: ten­der beef packed full of fla­vor and a lit­tle heat from long green chilis bathed in co­conut oil, paired with clas­sic Ker­ala poro­ta - a flaky, tor­tilla-esque bread that should come with a warn­ing la­bel for ad­dic­tion. If you pre­fer something more mild, but still want beef, go for the chilli beef, an Indo-Chi­nese de­light with a lit­tle heat tem­pered by a thick, sweet sauce that coats ten­der pieces of steak (be sure to wrap this up in poro­ta too!). The kap­pa biryani will melt in your mouth with juicy pieces of chick­en and a bo­lus of well-bal­anced In­di­an fla­vors. If you’re look­ing for seafood, get the spicy fish cur­ry and mix it with mild-fla­vored kap­pa - an In­di­an com­fort food - or get the mack­er­el fish fry for flaky filets fried in a spicy and de­lectable bat­ter. If you can’t de­cide, then or­der the plat­ter spe­cial and try it all; this al­lows you to pick sev­er­al items in small por­tions (though more than I could eat) to get a well-rounded ex­pe­ri­ence of what Vi­ras has to of­fer.

With plen­ty of wine and beer to pair with your touch­ings, and more deserts than you can pos­si­bly choose from, Vi­ras pro­vides every­thing you could want for your dining ex­pe­ri­ence, and more. For­get the pseu­do-In­di­an, Amer­i­can­ized cur­ries, and en­joy an au­then­tic ex­pe­ri­ence from South­ern In­dia in...

EVERYTHING was delicious. Not a single drop of flavor missing anywhere. We feasted on the mango lassi and vegetarian platter — which had ALL the goodies!

The mango lassi was DELICIOUS. It was a mistake to order it so early since i couldn’t stop drinking and it’s really filling 😋. The tart yogurt flavor compliments the mango so well.

We really wanted to try a bit of everything and decided to go with the vegetarian platter!

Starting from the top, the vege cutlets were perfectly fried with nice vege mix dipped in delicious mint sauce.

The kappa chammanthi resembles yucca in texture; except none of the stringy tough bits! Paired with a spicy, tart, cream-based sauce for dipping. This was perfectly satiating.

We insisted to try both the coconut veg curry and the cauliflower capsicum, both dishes specific to the Kerala region, and not found in most Indian restaurants. Both were explosions of flavor and texture! The coconut veg curry was slightly thicker, with an abundance of vegetables and perfectly seasoned (not too salty!). The cauliflower curry was savory with a lighter sauce base.

Handmade Parotta - so flakey and light, not greasy at all. Pulls apart with your fingers and perfect for dipping or wrapping. Chatting with the waitress, apparently these guys make these in-house, daily. Since these doughs tend to dry out, they prepare each batch before lunch and dinner.

Just needed to make one last note about the sauces: they are ALL delicious 🤤 . The plum sauce surprised me the most! Thick and full of flavor, it was instantly tart and sweet.

The dessert hit me with notes of warm cream and cardamom. Since the rest of the dishes packed so much spice, it was the perfect post-meal palate comforter.

Highly recommend...

Food from the Kerala region of India which is coastal. It was FABULOUS! We love Indian food in general but this was a bit different in a wonderful way. So if you don't love a ton of curry flavors, this is a great way to get other flavors of India without just curry. My husband ordered a traditional Kerala dish of fish baked, Fish Mulakittathu, Its baked in a banana leaf. You can choose your fish. He chose Mahi Mahi. NO banana flavor just kept the fish moist. The topping on it, that it was baked in, was almost a hint of Thai flavor as far as a nice spicy savory, citrusy-herbal flavor. I don't like fish but I did try it and it was fantastic! I ordered a traditional dish common in Kerala- I think it was the Chicken Kurumulaku Fry. SO GOOD!!! We ordered a bottle of Dao to share, the price was only like a dollar more than buying it at the store. We had a glass each and then we took the rest with us (we were staying across the street at The Bike Inn) and sat around the fire finishing it.

Service was great, such sweet staff. Super helpful in explaining everything. Restaurant was clean, decorated nice and TVs on travel channels which actually added to the feel in a good way. Portions were a good size, we had leftovers, which was fantastic...