Aji Peruvian Restaurant — Restaurant in Collegedale

Absolutely bland! I'm a peruvian and have tasted many peruvian restaurants throughout the east and cook peruvian food at home as well. My family and I had the ceviche, arroz chauffa de pollo, pollo a la brasa, and lomo saltado. We were all agonizingly disappointed, except for the Lomo saltado which was slightly above average. The arroz chauffa was absolutely bland. No salt, some of the rice was not still white, and the chicken was tasteless. The ceviche was also very tasteless and not exceedingly prepared. The tallarín verde was also very tasteless and the steak had several inedible parts and was bland. No amount of salt added to any of our dishes fixed the flavor. Fortunately, I didn't mind the pollo a la brasa much. My family didn't enjoy it because it did not taste like traditional Pollo a la brasa, but I am giving my critique on its flavor. It didn't taste like any other Pollo a la brasa I've ever eaten. It was not bad, but it was not great. A good 3/5.It was the best thing I ate there. In addition, my mother said that the chica morada tasted weird and maybe spoiled. All in all, it was a bad eating experience. The staff and decor are great, but unfortunately, that's it. They even took more of our money by placing a mandatory 18% tip since we had a party of 6 (something done with successful and popular restaurants, which this is not at all). Some nerve! It's an incredible shame that the people of Chattanooga only have this option for peruvian food as it is "Chattanooga's First Peruvian Restaurant". You read all these reviews of good food (and yes, though I've not eaten everything on the menu, trying several of the popular items on the menu is enough to show me their foods with abysmal seasoning) but they don't know how it should really taste. Maybe they have low standards...

It tasted like grandma's cooking! To tell you the truth I was skeptical to try this place, but boy I'm glad I went there with my family! We enjoyed every single dish, from appetizer to dessert! It's hard to find a Peruvian restaurant that is consistent with good quality and good flavor in all their dishes. Well, Aji is one of those almost impossible to find places. The lomo saltado was excellent, every single dish and dessert tasted home made and in it's traditional way. I was born in Peru, and I pretty much consider myself a Peruvian food connoisseur. I come from a family of great cooks, and I'm one of them, too! The only problem with Aji is that is all the way up in Chattanooga, KY, while we leave in FL, (you would think we have awesome Peruvian restaurants here, well....no, we don't). But well, we stopped there on our way back home after hurricane Irma. It was lunch time and we needed a place to eat and rest, so just for the heck of it, I googled for Peruvian restaurants, I had no idea that I would find one over there, but to my surprise I did and I'm very glad we stopped by and tried it! Aji, that day, you made me transport myself back in time all the way back in Peru, in all those houses including my grandmother's, where food was not only cooked with love and pride, but also it was what brought every single family member close to each other at every meal time. Thank you, Alji, you will always be in our hearts! And maybe, just maybe, if we ever happened to be running away up north once again from another hurricane.... We might stop again to enjoy one more time your delicious...

Just an update for 1/27/2023: Came again for late lunch/early dinner. I was so happy they had antichuco again. It was even more delicious than I remember it last time. The service is always wonderful. I had never met the man there today but he was beyond attentive and all around very happy to help and serve us. And I had no idea they were closing soon and he never even mentioned it or rushed us out. Also I’m not sure if there’s a fusion of food but I absolutely enjoy the rice and beans options and the empanadas that I had my last visit here when my mother in law from Peru was visiting. It was So so good. And we buy their aji verde by bottles as they make some of the best I’ve ever had. Same for their chicha morado. It’s so delicious. Also I forgot to mention the deserts too as I’ve tried their alfajores and picarones!! Que Rico! gracias por la maravillosa comida y servicio!!

Also pictures were taken after already starting to eat bc it was too good I forgot. My son enjoying antichuco which he thinks is steak for some reason 🤣

Old review: We moved from Nj where there’s tons of Peruvian places to eat. Glad we found here. Pollo a la brasa was delicious which me and my son shared the half chicken. The arroz chaufa was very good also. Aji verde was so good. Enjoyed the papa la huancaina which I’ve been craving. Disappointed they were out of anticucho. But everything was good! I come for my Chicha morada fix (which is worth the price)! Or Inca cola. I get lazy on cooking and I’m glad we found a place to get our...