Who’s behind it Owner Sudha Thangavel and chef Saravanan Senniappan
What’s on the menu A spread of Pan-Indian items, including curries, dosa, chaat and biryani
When it opened July 2025
Saravanan Senniappan is a known quantity in the local restaurant industry as the owner of Big Fish and Open Range, but he and his wife, Sudha Thangavel, have always retained a soft spot for the Indian cuisine they grew up with. Thangavel longed for a more celebratory aspect of Indian food than what she was typically seeing in Canada. So, last summer she opened Kondattam (meaning “celebration” in Tamil), with her husband serving as chef.
The couple wanted to present an upscale side of Indian food with attentive service, quality ingredients, Indian wines and on-theme cocktails. They travelled to India and filled a shipping container with ornate décor and furniture — and massive quantities of spices — all to give Kondattam a legitimately Indian look and flavour.
Kondattam explores the greatest hits of India, representing, as Senniappan likes to say, the route “from Kashmir to Kanyakumari.” That philosophy shines in dishes like the ultra-fragrant signature curry, bringing together 16 spices from the Karaikudi region of Tamil Nadu.
“At the end of the day, it’s about the full experience and thinking about all the senses,” Senniappan says. “From the décor to the scent of the food and flavour of the spices, we’re immersing you in Indian culture.”
1006 1st St. S.E., 403-453-0078, kondattam.ca, @kondattamyyc
