The Restaurant of Lost Recipes

What an absolute delight this book is! I had read the previous novel, and fans of the first book will continue to enjoy the cosy vibes, beautiful descriptions of food and the wholesome father and daughter who help people find and recreate the dishes they miss from their pasts.

This book is a series of almost individual short stories, but that all take place in a small, hidden restaurant in Kyoto. This restaurant also houses a detective agency where a father and daughter will listen to your story and try to recreate a dish that has meaning to you. This book is firmly rooting is nostalgia, with people having fond memories of the dishes and the people who cooked them, even where those relationships may have now soured. Our chef often helps people to face up to decisions they are struggling to make, repair lost relationships or move forward through the reminiscence they experience with their lost recipes.

This is a delightful, wholesome book with a wonderful setting and distinct characters. The descriptions of the food are so creative and I found i really wanted to try them, they sounded delicious!

I read The Kamogawa Food Detectives at the end of last year shortly after a trip to Kyoto and absolutely loved it and this sequel was equally brilliant!

Such a cosy heartwarming read filled with lovely moments and even better food descriptions that will leave you drooling.

There is something so familiar and nostalgic about Hisashi Kashiwai’s descriptions of Kyoto that bring back fond memories and this was a real joy to read!

A great addition to the Kamogawa food detectives, The Restaurant of Lost Recipes has the same coziness that the first book had. It follows the same format as well, but without getting repetitive. Easily read in an afternoon or over a longer period of time with a ahh chapter remaining its own stand alone story. A heart warming and comforting read I would recommend- thank you to Pan Macmillan for providing me with a copy of the ARC on NetGalley!

Another wonderfully comforting, wholestome title in the Kamogawa Food Detectives series!

Is it repetitive? Yes. Is it exactly what I needed when I read it? Absolutely. Kashiwai brings us another set of customers looking for a meal from their past and the lessons that those meals bring. Reading The Restaurant of Lost Recipes is like having a cup of tea or mug of soup on a cold day - Heartwarming, comforting, and oh so cosy. If you enjoyed the previous book in this series, you'll love The Restaurant of Lost Recipes. Prepare to be hungry though!

I absolutely love this series of books - the descriptions of the food served in the restaurant make my mouth water and then research trips to Kyoto. The personal stories, the detective work, and then the meal memories/recreations are always pitch perfect - if not quite so tasty!

I loved the first book and I think I loved this one a little more.

I really like the writing style. It is simple but so rich at the same time. I love the food descriptions and each meal having a personal connection with the people.

Highly recommend ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

"The Restaurant of Lost Recipes" by Hisashi Kashiwai is an excellent follow-up to "The Kamogawa Food Detectives". Similar in style to "Before the Coffee Gets Cold", each chapter or set of chapters focuses on one character and their request or wish which in the case of this series is to have a certain dish recreated. Deceptively simple, you get to appreciate the finer details in life without being bogged down with external factors like politics. Hoping there are more books waiting in the wings to be translated.

" Food is never just about flavour. It's something we feel- and in different ways, depending on where wea re in life"

Following on the heels of Hisashi Kashiwa's The Kamogawa Food Detectives comes a new series of stories. If it ain't broke why fix it... this new selection of tales follows a similar pattern with the talents of Nagare recreating long lost dishes supported by his daughter Koishi (and quietly observed and scented by Drowsy the cat).

This time dishes range from Ramen, Christmas Cake , Fried Rice and others- each request is linked to a personal memory that needs resolving for the restaurant visitors.

The repeated structure of the stories gives a comfort and familiarity ; this is a gentle read with the right balance of culinary delight and emotional impact.

A calming and relaxing read for the autumn .

I did google many of the ingredients and food references for a fuller experience- and a rumbling stomach

I loved the magical, heartwarming simplicity of 'The Restaurant of Lost Recipes.' This book is a sequel to 'The Kamogawa Food Detectives,' in which a father-daughter duo helps clients recover lost recipes tied to cherished memories. Each character's memories are very relatable and poignant. I loved the way their memories were triggered by savouring the flavours of their childhood or youth.
This was a fast and soothing read—perfect after a novel with darker themes. Even without reading the first book, I thoroughly enjoyed it. Now I can't wait to try a Japanese Christmas cake next holiday season! 😊
I'm well aware this is not everyone's cup of tea but I would surely recommend it to fans of 'Before the Coffee Gets Cold'.

Reconstructing magical moments, resurrecting lost memories, lose yourself in bittersweet, touching, thought-provoking tales.

This was a super cosy read and I really enjoyed it, nearly as much as the first book. You get to know the characters more in this book though, which is always a plus for me. I’m definitely a fan of this author.

The Restaurant of Lost Recipes once again follows Chef Nagare and his daughter, Koishi, as they recreate dishes that hold special memories for their customers.
Each chapter of the book introduces a new character with a story tied to a particular dish from their past.

A captivating, heart-warming novel, recommended for lovers of the Before the Coffee Gets Cold series.

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

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.

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!

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.

Another wonderful example of the most beautiful translated fiction. Quiet, unassuming, enchanting - highly recommended!

Kashiwai's books are so sweet and gentle. I love reading about the food and how the detectives find the original recipes. Such a soul-soothing collection of books - does not disappoint.

As always, thanks to NetGalley and the publisher!

The sequel to 🍱The Kamogawa Food Detectives, this story follows a very similar pattern of storytelling- people bringing their favourite food memories, only to be recreated by our favourite chef Nagare and his daughter Koishi.

This collection retains the same cozy vibe, with all these emotions and stories that connect us to all our favourite food and the memories around them. While the narration felt a little monotonous, the stories are quite interesting and will keep you invested.

If you are a fan of Japanese food, or like reading about how food preparation changes from one region to another, this book is extremely rewarding.

Or, if you’re looking for a sweet, breezy read from the world of Japanese Literature, THIS IS FOR YOU!

The second in the Kamogawa Food Detective series, the story brings back Nagare and Koishi, a father & daughter duo, who run a restaurant that doubles as a food detective agency. Here they try to recreate dishes from people's pasts to evoke memories. Each chapter is a different customer, the story split into 2 parts, an introduction to the character and their food memory desire, then their return to taste the food. It's a charming book, very easy to read and the food descriptions are off the charts - warning, you will be salivating! There is also the return of Drowsy the cat, a well cared for stray who lives outside the restaurant. If you're after high end drama I don't think this is for you but this ticks all the boxes for cosy translated fiction fans.

Thank you so much to Pan Macmillan and the Book Break team for sending me both a digital and a proof copy, The Restaurant of Lost Recipes is out in October.

The Restaurant of Lost Recipes, follows on from The Kamogawa Food Detectives where a father and daughter work together to reconstruct beloved dishes from the memories of their customers, creating a connection to cherished moments from the past.
This cosy little book is perfect for fans of Before the Coffee Gets Cold and for anyone looking for a heartwarming read. Each chapter tells its only little story and so it is the perfect book to dip in and out of when you don't want to read anything too heavy.