Book Review | The Restaurant of Lost Recipes

A little change on to something more comforting than my last read.

The Restaurant of Lost Recipes
Hisashi Kashiwai
Translated by Jesse Kirkwood

The Restaurant of Lost Recipes, translated from Japanese by Jesse Kirkwood, is the second book in the bestselling, mouth-watering Japanese sleuthing series for fans of Before the Coffee Gets Cold, and follows on from The Kamogawa Food Detectives.

Tucked away down a Kyoto backstreet lies the extraordinary Kamogawa Diner. Running this unique establishment are a father-daughter duo who serve more than just mouth-watering feasts.

The pair have reinvented themselves as ‘food detectives’, offering a service that goes beyond traditional dining. Through their culinary sleuthing, they reconstruct beloved dishes from the memories of their customers, creating a connection to cherished moments from the past.

Among those who seek an appointment include: a one-hit wonder pop star, finally ready to leave Tokyo and give up on her singing career, wants to try the tempura that she ate to celebrate her only successful record and a budding Olympic swimmer who desires the bento lunch box that his estranged father used to make him. The Kamogawa Diner doesn’t just serve meals – it revives lost recipes and rekindles forgotten memories. It’s a doorway to the past through the miracle of delicious food.

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I read the first book in this series a little while ago, and when I noticed the second book in the library, I decided that a trip back to Kyoto was needed.

What I enjoy about this book is that it is about nostalgia and reconnecting with memories, and that’s why I went back to this series. I remembered the first book feeling like a cozy, wholesome, warm hug, and I wanted to feel that again.

As it was in the first book, different people come to the food detectives to find a dish. After being served some amazing-sounding food, they recount the dish they want recreated and explain why it is important to them.

It is the same formula as the first book, and once I realised that was the case, I did worry that it was going to be too similar to be enjoyable. However, it is the people’s stories, what has brought them to Kyoto to use the agency, that really makes each part unique.

I felt like I got to know Nagare and Koishi a little more in this book; we get a little bit more of a glimpse into their personal lives outside of the diner. I also loved that Drowsy was still a feature of each story.

When I read book one, it was in audiobook format, and this time it wasn’t, and I think I actually preferred it in audiobook because I liked hearing the names of the dishes and the places and the people. It wasn’t quite the same for me trying to decide how to pronounce some of the words, so I feel I would have enjoyed it more in an audio format.

I was happy to come back to spend some time at the diner, and I was glad that I usually read it whilst I was eating lunch because the food all sounded so delicious.