Aji - Collegdale Peruvian

[editor's note: this is a second attempt.  the first was composed on-phone, and when complete and submitted, the first attempt vanished into the aether.  argh.]

We have actually been to Aji a few times before, but I had not thought to blog about the experience.  That was an oversight, now to be corrected.

Collegedale is community near Chattanooga, wrapped around the campus for the Seventh Day Adventist Southern university.  It's a short drive from our neighborhood, and there is a nice walking path and playground there for some active family fun.  Collegedale's commercial development is primarily of the strip mall variety; as it turns out, strip malls are often allow small scale ethnic eateries to flourish.

Aji is focused on Peruvian foods, and is staffed by folks who appear to be of Peruvian extraction.  The space is simple, with maybe 8 tables, and is decorated with large format photos of llamas, people in Incan costume, and amazing mountain vistas.  The menu is biased to fish and veggie options (Seventh Day Ad.s are vegetarian); Aji is one of few places in the area to offer ceviche, and theirs is worth trying.

This day I opted for the Chicharron, freshly cut nuggets of fish rolled in a seasoned batter and fried.  The fish is served simply on a bed of lettuce and fried yucca, and topped with some lightly marinated onion.  On request, they brought me a side of a spicy red sauce for dipping.  My lunch was fantastic.

In likely deference to the 7DA's celebration of the Sabbath, Aji is closed on Saturdays.  Also, while they offer a splendid array of S. American fruit juice drinks, they do not offer beer or booze.

We like Aji and will return.  We also want to particularly support small, local options that offer food from outside the SE Tennessee mainstream.