The Restaurant of Lost Recipes by Hisashi Kashiwai is the second in the Kamogawa Food Detectives series and it is a delightful read, as the first book was. There are a series of customers who come to request a food that holds a special memory for them and it is the food detective who must track the dish down and cook it for the customer to savour.
The foods that are cooked for the customer who comes to find the Food Detective Agency on their first visit are all exquisite and detailed lists of how to eat them are given. Then on the second visit they are given the dish that they have requested to be found.
The books are extraordinary and are easy to read and be mesmerised by the descriptions of foods to be tasted and savoured.
Highly recommended

In an unassuming, bland building in Kyoto, Japan, lies the Kamagawa Diner. Nagare, a widower and an ex-policeman is the chef and his daughter, Koishi looks after the Detective agency side of the business. The people who need their very special services find them through a small ad in Gourmet Monthly and Drowsy, the local cat, meets and greets them.

They are people who are at a crossroads in their lives or who need to make a decision. And so look back to the past and happier times which they associate with a special dish. An Olympic swimmer wants them to recreate the dish that his father used to make for him as a child. They have been estranged for years but now his father has asked him to visit. A woman who became a single parent after the death of her husband wants reassurance that she’s doing the right thing for her son and a model has to decide how to deal with a marriage proposal amongst the Diner and Detective Agency’s clients. The most poignant chapter for me was ‘Christmas Cake’. Japanese Christmas cakes are very different from Western ones and the couple involved want Nagare to recreate one that was given to them as an offering after their young son’s death. They own a traditional Japanese confectionary store and are considering taking on a young apprentice.

I really enjoyed reading about Nagare’s detective work but the reader doesn’t follow him as he undertakes it. Instead he relates it to the clients when they return after a fortnight and taste the recreated dishes. There are no resolutions to the cases as the clients , after having approved the dish, go on their way with a second helping and the recipe in a paper bag. With ‘Christmas cake’ the shop of the cake donor is long closed and she has died so where does Nagare even start? But he is soon on the trail saying ‘that there’s always another connection. You just have to know where to look.’ He also says ‘we don’t concern ourselves with what happens afterwards.’

But this is, as was the first book, a story about food and its place within peoples memories. The taste of it, the situation which it evokes, where it was eaten and with whom. The descriptions of the set menu served to all new clients was absolutely mouthwatering and I loved hearing Nagare telling them on their second visit of his detective work in tracking the ingredients down.

I had a real sense of the Japanese ritual of food and its presentation with special tablecloths, appropriate plates and cutlery, certain makes of china which is as important as the food. Nagare says, ‘Asking for seconds is the biggest compliment you can pay a chef.’

The translation is excellent and preserves the Japanese flavour to the story. For example, one character says that ‘A Kyoto house is as long and narrow as an eel’s bed.’ It also emphasised the Japanese attitude to the dead as they have a shrine and are generally included in any family discussions. They are referred to as if they were still alive and are characters in their own right as with Nagare’s deceased wife.

This is a charming story with poignant stories which made me think ‘which dish would I ask the Kamogawa Diner to recreate!’ It could be described as ‘cosy crime’ but this doesn’t detract from its warmth and humour.

My thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for an ARC.

I was pleasantly surprised that there was a sequel to the book "The Restaurant of Lost Recipes". But I was even more pleased because I am already a big fan of "Before the Coffee Gets Cold" and this series follows the same direction, only here memories are brought back to life. No matter how little information our recipe detectives get, it never seems impossible to find the exact recipe and cook it. Nevertheless, both series are individual and you don't get the feeling that it is just a copy. Greatly written and a book that you don't want to put down.
The sequel does not disappoint and I can hardly wait to read the next volume.

Just as charming as the first book - The Kamogawa Food Detectives.
I'd love to get more around each of the stories - the customers who come looking, the process of tracking down each of the recipe ingredients, and what happens next when they've found the food they're looking for!

This series is such a comfort read! So cosy, heartwarming and mouth-watering

The Restaurant of Lost Recipes was such a good follow-up to The Kamogawa Food Detectives! It made me excited to carry on reading this series.

If you're not familiar with the premise of this series, let me explain. These books are set in Kyoto, Japan where Nagare Kamogawa, a former police detective, and his daughter, Koishi, run a restaurant that has a side business: a food detective agency. Nagare is hired to use his detective skills to find dishes that hold special significance in his customers' hearts and then uses his abilities as a chef to recreate them. Each chapter focuses on a different character, and their story with the specific dish they ask him to look for.

Because the premise had already been explained in the first book, The Restaurant of Lost Recipes has a simpler structure of two chapters per character; the first one detailing the first visit to the restaurant and the story of the dish each person is looking for, and the second one focused on the tasting and the story of how Nagare got hold of the exact recipe of the dish in question.

I loved all of the stories in this book! Even though the structure is the same, each story was quite interesting and different amongst themselves; the characters were quite unique as well. Once again, the food descriptions really steal the show in The Restaurant of Lost Recipes. All of the food Nagare cooks sounded so incredibly delicious! It was a mouth-watering read. Reading this book truly felt like a treat to me. I can't wait to keep reading this series!

Thank you very much to Mantle/Pan Macmillan for my e-ARC!

This is a beautiful book with a simple formula. People seek out a small diner in Osaka with the hope of having the chef recreate for them an emotionally significant dish. One that is connected to some kind of important memory, whether of joy, childhood, grief or loss.

The story essentially consists of a series of chapters featuring the search of different individuals and their reasons for searching. In the process, the reader is also introduced to a mouthwatering array of dishes, both simple and complex, from Japanese cuisine.

Relax and enjoy your culinary experiences at the Kamogawa diner and detective agency in the capable hands of the father-daughter duo who manage things there. This one should not be missed.

Once again, we have another winner on our hands! A fantastic follow up to the first installment of the series, with more mouth-watering mysteries to solve. My immense gratitude to the publisher for the opportunity to read this in advance!

Following on from the first instalment, this book transports readers back to father-daughter food detective duo Nagare and Koishi, where they recreate dishes from customers’ pasts.

I don’t know what it is about the second book in this series but to me, it was so much better than the first which I really loved. I enjoyed being back with Nagare and Koishi, although for some of this book Koishi seemed a bit rude to some customers? For the customers, I really enjoyed having glimpses into their lives and the reasons behind why they want certain dishes recreated.

One of issues of the last book is that I wanted to know more about Nagare’s investigations; how he finds the foods from people’s pasts and his ability to recreate them which this book delivered. It was so interesting to learn about how he found out the ingredients and recipes to the dishes and having a glimpse into the people who made these dishes in the first place. It felt like their dishes had created a legacy that lived on even after they did, which was beautiful.

I flew through this in one day — I adored the writing and Jesse Kirkwood deserves all the flowers because his translations are fantastic. This is the third one I’ve read by him now and I don’t know if having favourite translators is a thing but he is certainly one of mine and I will be looking out for more of the translated books he has worked on. Definitely recommend if you are looking for a cosy, translated fiction about food with some beautiful underlying messages.

⚠️ CWs: alcohol use; mentions past physical assault, death, car accident, bullying, spiders ⚠️

Massive thank you to Mantle and NetGalley for letting me read this book early, in exchange for a honest review.

The book captures the essence of "un apapacho al corazon," creating a warm and inviting atmosphere with endearing characters that you quickly grow to love. It beautifully portrays the importance of family, food, and the heritage that comes with it. The inclusion of recipes adds a nostalgic touch, connecting readers with family history. Despite its simple plot, the book is delightful, making it perfect for a quick, relaxing, and enjoyable read. I'm a fan of the author's work and I'm definitely looking forward to purchasing a copy of this book once it's officially released. I'm grateful to the editorial team at Penguin Group Putnam and to NetGalley for providing access to this ARC.