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.