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鴨川食堂 #1
The Kamogawa Food Detectives
The Kamogawa Food Detectives, translated from Japanese by Jesse Kirkwood, is the first book in the bestselling, mouth-watering Japanese sleuthing series for fans of Before the Coffee Gets Cold.
What’s the one dish you’d do anything to taste just one more time?
Down a quiet backstreet in Kyoto exists a very special restaurant. Run by Koishi Kamogawa and her father Nagare, the Kamogawa Diner treats its customers to wonderfully extravagant meals. But that's not the main reason to stop by . . .
The father-daughter duo have started advertising their services as 'food detectives'. Through ingenious investigations, they are capable of recreating a dish from their customers' pasts – dishes that may well hold the keys to forgotten memories and future happiness.
From the widower looking for a specific noodle dish that his wife used to cook, to a first love's beef stew, the restaurant of lost recipes provides a link to the past – and a way to a more contented future.
A bestseller in Japan, The Kamogawa Food Detectives is a celebration of good company and the power of a delicious meal.
What’s the one dish you’d do anything to taste just one more time?
Down a quiet backstreet in Kyoto exists a very special restaurant. Run by Koishi Kamogawa and her father Nagare, the Kamogawa Diner treats its customers to wonderfully extravagant meals. But that's not the main reason to stop by . . .
The father-daughter duo have started advertising their services as 'food detectives'. Through ingenious investigations, they are capable of recreating a dish from their customers' pasts – dishes that may well hold the keys to forgotten memories and future happiness.
From the widower looking for a specific noodle dish that his wife used to cook, to a first love's beef stew, the restaurant of lost recipes provides a link to the past – and a way to a more contented future.
A bestseller in Japan, The Kamogawa Food Detectives is a celebration of good company and the power of a delicious meal.
201 pages, Paperback
First published November 25, 2013
About the author
Hisashi Kashiwai
34 books199 followersHisashi Kashiwai was born in 1952 and was raised in Kyoto. He graduated from Osaka Dental University. After graduating, he returned to Kyoto and worked as a dentist. He has written extensively about his native city and has collaborated in TV programs and magazines.
source: Amazon
source: Amazon
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 4,103 reviews
December 12, 2023
Niby słodka ta książka, ale pod koniec to słodycz już mnie mdliła 🫠
January 8, 2024
It's not a tale of crime-solving detectives, but rather a culinary mystery unfolding. 😅
The daughter (Koishi) and father (Nagare) have a special restaurant, The Kamogawa Diner, which has no signboard or food menu. 😁
There is a food detective office inside the restaurant.
Koishi and Nagare are not just chefs, they are "food detectives" who help their customers rediscover lost or forgotten recipes that bring back precious memories and often heal old wounds.
It is a heartwarming food detective novel with several stories about customers.
I was hungry and looking for something to eat when reading about their delicious food.
Is there anyone who knows the way to get there?
The daughter (Koishi) and father (Nagare) have a special restaurant, The Kamogawa Diner, which has no signboard or food menu. 😁
There is a food detective office inside the restaurant.
Koishi and Nagare are not just chefs, they are "food detectives" who help their customers rediscover lost or forgotten recipes that bring back precious memories and often heal old wounds.
It is a heartwarming food detective novel with several stories about customers.
I was hungry and looking for something to eat when reading about their delicious food.
Is there anyone who knows the way to get there?
June 14, 2024
This was one of those, "it's me, not you!!" situations. I went in with a certain idea as to what I was getting, which I know is not fair to the book, but I had a hard time adjusting my perspective as I read the book. I did love all the food descriptions and it was an overall cute read, but just wasn't what I was hoping it would be.
October 28, 2023
3,5/5
Libro para leer cuando no quieres pensar y buscas una distracción que te deje con una sonrisa.
Más que las diferentes historias que vamos descubriendo en el libro (las de las personas que acuden a la taberna a recrear un plato o sabor en particular), lo que de verdad disfruté fue el ambiente de la taberna, la relación del padre e hija que la regentan, los pequeños y sencillos detalles que muestran los cambios de estación en Kioto, el humor y sutileza...
Para pasar un buen rato y ya está. A veces no se necesita nada más.
Libro para leer cuando no quieres pensar y buscas una distracción que te deje con una sonrisa.
Más que las diferentes historias que vamos descubriendo en el libro (las de las personas que acuden a la taberna a recrear un plato o sabor en particular), lo que de verdad disfruté fue el ambiente de la taberna, la relación del padre e hija que la regentan, los pequeños y sencillos detalles que muestran los cambios de estación en Kioto, el humor y sutileza...
Para pasar un buen rato y ya está. A veces no se necesita nada más.
October 5, 2023
Hisashi Kashiwai’s debut novel was a roaring success in Japan, tapping into the country’s rich and varied food culture. It’s a light comfort read that’s been compared to books like Before the Coffee Gets Cold. Set in Kyoto it centres on a father and daughter who run a small restaurant. But they have an unusual sideline, a food detective agency, advertised so discreetly that finding it is a feat in itself. Their clients are people who are somehow cut off from their roots or yearning for some aspect of their past - like the woman in search of a pasta dish she shared with her grandfather during her childhood. Each has a pungent memory of a significant meal or a recipe they've been unable to track down: Tonomi Iwakara is looking for a type of mackerel sushi a neighbour lovingly prepared for him when he was a lonely, young child; widower and former police colleague Hideji Kuboyama longs to taste the noodle dish his wife used to make.
Former police detective Nagare Kamogawa and his daughter Koishi probe their clients’ recollections in order to recreate these lost experiences. They search for regional recipes, local ingredients and blends of flavours and colours building on Japan’s long history of dishes passed down from generation to generation, with variations related to locations, seasonality, or heritage. It’s a fluid, straightforward piece, broken down into interlinked episodes, each featuring a specific customer and recipe. I thought the scenes of life in Kyoto were nicely observed from the weather to the local plants and trees. And I liked the way each chapter overflows with mouthwatering descriptions of foods and flavours – although for readers unable to cook Japanese food or far from a Japanese restaurant these may be a little frustrating. Although this wasn’t the kind of book I’d normally seek out, it was pleasant and enjoyable enough. One of those novels that taps into feelings linked to nostalgia, community, and the dream of a more leisurely, organised way of life, a little like those elaborate cooking shows many people watch while gulping down their hastily-heated, ready meals. Translated by Jesse Kirkwood.
Thanks to Netgalley and publisher Mantle for an ARC
Rating: 2.5 to 3
Former police detective Nagare Kamogawa and his daughter Koishi probe their clients’ recollections in order to recreate these lost experiences. They search for regional recipes, local ingredients and blends of flavours and colours building on Japan’s long history of dishes passed down from generation to generation, with variations related to locations, seasonality, or heritage. It’s a fluid, straightforward piece, broken down into interlinked episodes, each featuring a specific customer and recipe. I thought the scenes of life in Kyoto were nicely observed from the weather to the local plants and trees. And I liked the way each chapter overflows with mouthwatering descriptions of foods and flavours – although for readers unable to cook Japanese food or far from a Japanese restaurant these may be a little frustrating. Although this wasn’t the kind of book I’d normally seek out, it was pleasant and enjoyable enough. One of those novels that taps into feelings linked to nostalgia, community, and the dream of a more leisurely, organised way of life, a little like those elaborate cooking shows many people watch while gulping down their hastily-heated, ready meals. Translated by Jesse Kirkwood.
Thanks to Netgalley and publisher Mantle for an ARC
Rating: 2.5 to 3
March 27, 2024
Una lectura ligera y deliciosa, llena de humor y sentimientos, pero nada empalagosa. Mismamente como la cocina japonesa.
Cuando lo empecé a leer pensaba que eran misterios de otro tipo, pero todo cambia cuando cruzas el umbral de esta pequeña taberna de Kioto, escondida en un callejón y sin signos que la anuncien, de manera que sólo la encuentran - en palabras del propietario - aquellos que están destinados a encontrarla. Los misterios que Nagare y su hija Koishi investigan tienen poco que ver con lo policiaco y mucho con lo gastronómico, sobre todo en el sentido proustiano de los sabores que asociamos con momentos y sentimientos.
Al fondo de la taberna, Koishi tiene una pequeña oficina donde recibe a los clientes que van en busca del plato perdido: algo que cocinaba su madre, algo que cenaron en un restaurante con un gran amor que se perdió, algo que recuerdan vagamente y ansían recuperar - un sabor que les devuelva al pasado. Ella lo apunta todo y le pasa la información a su padre , el cocinero Nagare, que no duda en viajar o entrevistar a gente - investigar en suma - hasta que logra reconstruir los sabores añorados.
Son seis historias cortas con temas muy diversos, que en cada caso culminan - cómo no - cuando le presentan el plato recuperado al cliente y éste da su veredicto.
Aunque es ligero, también hay notas agudas sobre la cultura japonesa: los templos, los gatos, la comida tradicional, la dinamica de la pequeña taberna, la presencia de los familiares difuntos... que hacen que sea una obra interesante. ¿Me he pasado con las 5 estrellas? Pues creo que no.
Por cierto, a los que les guste el tema de la gastronomía japonesa y las pequeñas tabernas, les recomendaría el comic El gourmet solitario de Masayuki Kusumi, también una gozada. Creo que hay una serie en Netflix con un tema parecido, La cantina de medianoche, pero no la he visto.
Cuando lo empecé a leer pensaba que eran misterios de otro tipo, pero todo cambia cuando cruzas el umbral de esta pequeña taberna de Kioto, escondida en un callejón y sin signos que la anuncien, de manera que sólo la encuentran - en palabras del propietario - aquellos que están destinados a encontrarla. Los misterios que Nagare y su hija Koishi investigan tienen poco que ver con lo policiaco y mucho con lo gastronómico, sobre todo en el sentido proustiano de los sabores que asociamos con momentos y sentimientos.
Al fondo de la taberna, Koishi tiene una pequeña oficina donde recibe a los clientes que van en busca del plato perdido: algo que cocinaba su madre, algo que cenaron en un restaurante con un gran amor que se perdió, algo que recuerdan vagamente y ansían recuperar - un sabor que les devuelva al pasado. Ella lo apunta todo y le pasa la información a su padre , el cocinero Nagare, que no duda en viajar o entrevistar a gente - investigar en suma - hasta que logra reconstruir los sabores añorados.
Son seis historias cortas con temas muy diversos, que en cada caso culminan - cómo no - cuando le presentan el plato recuperado al cliente y éste da su veredicto.
Aunque es ligero, también hay notas agudas sobre la cultura japonesa: los templos, los gatos, la comida tradicional, la dinamica de la pequeña taberna, la presencia de los familiares difuntos... que hacen que sea una obra interesante. ¿Me he pasado con las 5 estrellas? Pues creo que no.
Por cierto, a los que les guste el tema de la gastronomía japonesa y las pequeñas tabernas, les recomendaría el comic El gourmet solitario de Masayuki Kusumi, también una gozada. Creo que hay una serie en Netflix con un tema parecido, La cantina de medianoche, pero no la he visto.
June 19, 2023
¿Cómo es de guay cuando escoges el libro perfecto para un momento determinado? Ayer mismo acabé un libro de esos que te dejan afectada y sin ganas de nada que no sea llorar. Necesitaba algo dulce, ameno, acogedor, sencillo… y ‘Los misterios de la taberna Kamogawa’ resultó ideal, me ha dado eso y mucho más. Incluyendo el factor sorpresa de no poder despegarme de sus páginas, puesto que suelo aburrirme con las tramas con aura feelgood pero no esta vez, este libro ha llegado para convertirse en la excepción.
La taberna regentada por la familia Kamogawa, además de servir unos deliciosos y elaborados platos caseros, cuenta en su interior, al final de un largo pasillo, con una agencia de detectives especializados en investigaciones gastronómicas, básicamente encontrar (¡y preparar!) cualquier plato que sus clientes comieron en el pasado, pero olvidaron dónde, no conocen la receta o quien se lo cocinaba ha fallecido, por ejemplo.
Así, en este volumen (¡en Japón ya hay 8 publicados!) se nos cuentan seis historias independientes pero que permiten ir conociendo cada vez más la vida de los propietarios, padre e hija y su gato Hirune (siesta, en japonés), y algunos de los clientes habituales de esta particular taberna (de los que espero saber más en los siguientes libros).
Un libro para regodearse en los pequeños placeres de la vida, para recordar la capacidad de la comida para crear recuerdos y despertar la memoria tiempo después.
Una lectura absolutamente confort, con el toque justo de nostalgia, pero principalmente buenrollera y tierna, que se siente como un abrazo. Un libro que te hace sentir que estás en Kioto, a través de las distintas estaciones y que, además, te dará muchísima hambre.
¿Lo necesitáis? Me la juego a decir que SI.
いただきます! ¡Qué aproveche!
La taberna regentada por la familia Kamogawa, además de servir unos deliciosos y elaborados platos caseros, cuenta en su interior, al final de un largo pasillo, con una agencia de detectives especializados en investigaciones gastronómicas, básicamente encontrar (¡y preparar!) cualquier plato que sus clientes comieron en el pasado, pero olvidaron dónde, no conocen la receta o quien se lo cocinaba ha fallecido, por ejemplo.
Así, en este volumen (¡en Japón ya hay 8 publicados!) se nos cuentan seis historias independientes pero que permiten ir conociendo cada vez más la vida de los propietarios, padre e hija y su gato Hirune (siesta, en japonés), y algunos de los clientes habituales de esta particular taberna (de los que espero saber más en los siguientes libros).
Un libro para regodearse en los pequeños placeres de la vida, para recordar la capacidad de la comida para crear recuerdos y despertar la memoria tiempo después.
Una lectura absolutamente confort, con el toque justo de nostalgia, pero principalmente buenrollera y tierna, que se siente como un abrazo. Un libro que te hace sentir que estás en Kioto, a través de las distintas estaciones y que, además, te dará muchísima hambre.
¿Lo necesitáis? Me la juego a decir que SI.
いただきます! ¡Qué aproveche!
April 22, 2024
I love short books with creative covers. I want you to stop for a moment and just look at this cover. We have a sweet smiling *cat sitting in a bowl sniffing the delicious odors of something coming out of the bowl below. Do you get an overall sense of yum 😋here? And we haven’t even opened the pages yet!
And that is just the beginning.
This book is written by a Japanese author and translated by Jesse Kirkwood for our pleasure. I personally felt like I could smell delicious food through these pages. I wanted recipes. I would definitely recommend not being hungry when you pick this up to read.
Because like any client in this book, you will be seeking the unmarked restaurant, Kamogawa Diner down a narrow backstreet in Kyoto, Japan, for the food and the memories they bring.
But this diner isn’t your typical diner. It is also a Detective Agency that “finds your food.” Nagare is a chef, a retired, widowed police detective, who along with his sassy daughter, Koishi, conduct interviews and help cook the food people are seeking.
Which makes this not your typical mystery. At this diner, they carefully research and reconstruct meals that help to unlock mysteries of memory and regret.
As an example, and the most engaging story for me is called “Beef Stew.” It had an older woman hoping to once again taste a particular beef stew she once ate in 1957 at a restaurant in Kyoto. She had dined there with a student, whom she can’t remember his name, but that student had proposed to her. Unfortunately, in her haste, she ran out of the restaurant and never returned. Now all these years later, she wonders what her life would be like if she had stayed and finished her meal.
Will Nagare be able to recreate that beef stew? And, if he does will it satisfy the woman or will it stir up appetites that can never be quenched? And will Nagare be able to track down that long-ago student? And if he does, is that really what the old woman needs?
This version of the food detectives offers 6 tales (apparently there is quite the series in Japan). For the most part, they are off-beat and charming. There is something Sherlock Holmes-like about Nagare that makes him interesting as an investigator.
And each story offers something that satisfies the seeker, and thus the reader. And oh, wouldn’t it be nice to have just one of those meals?
*That smiling cat is known as Drowsy, a red tabby who is always sleeping and walking around drowsily amongst the clients/customers at the Kamogawa Diner.
And that is just the beginning.
This book is written by a Japanese author and translated by Jesse Kirkwood for our pleasure. I personally felt like I could smell delicious food through these pages. I wanted recipes. I would definitely recommend not being hungry when you pick this up to read.
Because like any client in this book, you will be seeking the unmarked restaurant, Kamogawa Diner down a narrow backstreet in Kyoto, Japan, for the food and the memories they bring.
But this diner isn’t your typical diner. It is also a Detective Agency that “finds your food.” Nagare is a chef, a retired, widowed police detective, who along with his sassy daughter, Koishi, conduct interviews and help cook the food people are seeking.
Which makes this not your typical mystery. At this diner, they carefully research and reconstruct meals that help to unlock mysteries of memory and regret.
As an example, and the most engaging story for me is called “Beef Stew.” It had an older woman hoping to once again taste a particular beef stew she once ate in 1957 at a restaurant in Kyoto. She had dined there with a student, whom she can’t remember his name, but that student had proposed to her. Unfortunately, in her haste, she ran out of the restaurant and never returned. Now all these years later, she wonders what her life would be like if she had stayed and finished her meal.
Will Nagare be able to recreate that beef stew? And, if he does will it satisfy the woman or will it stir up appetites that can never be quenched? And will Nagare be able to track down that long-ago student? And if he does, is that really what the old woman needs?
This version of the food detectives offers 6 tales (apparently there is quite the series in Japan). For the most part, they are off-beat and charming. There is something Sherlock Holmes-like about Nagare that makes him interesting as an investigator.
And each story offers something that satisfies the seeker, and thus the reader. And oh, wouldn’t it be nice to have just one of those meals?
*That smiling cat is known as Drowsy, a red tabby who is always sleeping and walking around drowsily amongst the clients/customers at the Kamogawa Diner.
April 27, 2024
What an endearing collection of stories. The Kamogawa Food Detectives is written in a similar way as the Before the Coffee Gets Cold series. The Food Detectives are a widower, Nagare, who is a retired police detective, and his daughter, Koishi.
Each story has two “chapters”. In the first, we meet the client who is in search of a meal which has sentimental value to them that they wish to recreate. The second chapter is about the client eating the dish and all the emotions and memories that accompany the experience.
Their stories are touching. The father daughter relationship is endearing. The stories highlight the power of food to evoke memories and emotions. I wanted to try every meal. Today I went to my favorite Japanese Korean restaurant and ordered the Tonkatsu as a way to mark my completion of the novel. I loved it Not only was it delicious, I relived and replayed my reading of that story (one of my favorites). I am so happy the rest of the series will be translated and I’ve already preordered the next installment.
If you are a fan of food and cozy, emotional stories, The Kamogawa Food Detectives is for you. Do yourself a favor, give the audio book a try and grab one of the dishes highlighted in the novel. It will be an amazing sensory experience. Enjoy!
Each story has two “chapters”. In the first, we meet the client who is in search of a meal which has sentimental value to them that they wish to recreate. The second chapter is about the client eating the dish and all the emotions and memories that accompany the experience.
Their stories are touching. The father daughter relationship is endearing. The stories highlight the power of food to evoke memories and emotions. I wanted to try every meal. Today I went to my favorite Japanese Korean restaurant and ordered the Tonkatsu as a way to mark my completion of the novel. I loved it Not only was it delicious, I relived and replayed my reading of that story (one of my favorites). I am so happy the rest of the series will be translated and I’ve already preordered the next installment.
If you are a fan of food and cozy, emotional stories, The Kamogawa Food Detectives is for you. Do yourself a favor, give the audio book a try and grab one of the dishes highlighted in the novel. It will be an amazing sensory experience. Enjoy!
July 28, 2023
Comfort read.
May 27, 2024
reading vlog: https://youtu.be/nbVXSOSVKPo
this book cut out the most interesting parts of each short story!! I would've loved to have followed the father as he travelled to piece together these dishes for his clients but ALAS!!! the book was cute but sadly forgettable
this book cut out the most interesting parts of each short story!! I would've loved to have followed the father as he travelled to piece together these dishes for his clients but ALAS!!! the book was cute but sadly forgettable
February 29, 2024
a japanese novel with a cat on the cover that actually has a cat in the book? the world is healing
September 10, 2023
My thanks to Pan Macmillan for a review copy of this book via NetGalley.
Food is about taste, about flavour of course but also about aromas and textures—not just something to savour but an entire experience—it’s not just what one ate but where, in what circumstances and with whom that creates the full experience stored as a memory in our minds (though we little realise the whole). We all have some such in ours, a particular dish tasting a particular way, but something we just can’t quite capture the ‘feel’ of however much we try to recreate it.
In that sense the heartwarming The Kamogawa Food Detectives, originally published as Kamogawashukondo in 2013 by Shogukan and in this translation by Jesse Kirkwood by Pan Macmillan in 2023 is all about time travel, but not in the sense of actually travelling back like one did perhaps in the book I found myself comparing it with Before the Coffee Gets Cold (a recent read for me) but in the sense of a place which is able to recreate those moments, those memories—the smells and flavours but also the experiences which are locked away in memory, and linger on but which one is not able to capture again.
Kamogawa Diner is a small little place in a non-descript building in Kyoto, which few really know about. It seems to have few customers, though there are (like in the Funiculi Funicula café of Before the Coffee) its regulars. It advertises as we learn a ‘detective’ agency, but again though a one-line almost undecipherable advertisement in the Gourmet Monthly magazine, attracting only a few clients that are able to make sense of it and have the tenacity to actually track it down. And that is just how the owners would have it, for they want only a few customers, request them to refrain from reviewing it on the internet, and don’t even have a signboard displayed in front. The café is run by Nagare Komogawa, a retired policeman and his daughter Koishi. Nagare does the ‘detecting’ and much of the cooking (aided by Koishi) but it is Koishi who interviews clients for the detective agency, able to perhaps ask the right questions and break it down for her father to work out (interesting considering he was the policeman).
In this book we have six different stories, each arranged in two chapters, one where the client comes to the diner/agency with their story and case and the second when they return (usually in two weeks’ time as that’s how long it takes to fulfil their request) to sample the dish as we alongside learn how Nagare actually recreated the feeling and experience which the client was actually looking for. The first couple of clients are known to the Komogawas, one Nagare’s former colleague in the police and the other a friend of a regular customer, but others are new. All though have caught on to the advert and followed up from there. Most of their stories are of loss in some form or other—a mother who died when young, a grandfather now suffering dementia, a first proposal which elicited too strong a reaction or an estrangement due to social circumstances. Each are left with the memory of a dish cooked by the lost wife or husband, sampled on a trip with granddad or eaten in a restaurant. As Nagare recreates their dishes we see soon enough that it is naturally about what goes into the dish—not just ingredients but the right ingredients sourced from those very same places, but also the experience itself—how it was eaten, where, even down to the things that one might have been doing at the time. For some clients it returns what was lost, enabling them to relive it and finally move on, but for others it also leads to dispelling some myths or revealing some truths they were unable to see before.
The Kamogawa Food Detectives was a lovely little book, quick, charming and touching, about food certainly but also about life, loss and memories, relationships and in its own sense time travel. On can’t help comparing it with Before the Coffee Gets Cold and it has those similarities (in structure, in moments from the past that people want to relive) but it is also very much its own story.
Like I did in that review, I will also here include what I should start to call the ‘cat report’. This book too as is apparent has the customary cat on the cover. And I am happy to report that there is in fact a cat in it. This one’s called Drowsy and is likely an alley cat who finds his way into the diner even though Nagare disapproves (since cats shouldn’t be where food is being cooked). He nonetheless comes in and receives plenty of love from Koishi and some of the clients as well. But rest assured his presence is mostly decorative (and just by being a purry cat, comforting too), but no more than that, so he fares just fine.
Being a story of food detectives, there is plenty, and I do mean plenty of food, Each first time client to the diner (even if they come in search of the detective agency, they do end up starting by eating a meal) is served only a set meal, and each of these is elaborately described, from the variety of rice and soup to the various dishes—fish, pickled and sautéed veg, tofu and much else, and often ending with fruit, or Mizugashi, which gets distorted in its Western interpretation as dessert (probably no point mentioning that this does make one hungry). I love how in these meals or even the dishes Nagare recreates, one gets a sense of the care that is taken over dishes, each ingredient down to the water used being sourced from specific places to create that special taste or flavour, the reflections of seasons (which change as the stories proceed) in the food and much else. When it comes to the dishes clients have requested, there is this but much more since Nagare cannot recreate the experience without knowing everything of the story behind it, even beyond the sparse details the client often remembers. So the process involves a trip to the place, and ‘proper’ detective work tracing the stories and people involved so as to make the experience as close to what it was.
The stories as, I already mentioned, of most clients involve loss in different ways, mostly death but also others (estrangements, loss of memory, a relationship that never took off at all), and through making that food once again, Nagare is able to help the clients come to terms with things, understand elements of it they weren’t able to at the time, and even dispels misunderstandings for some, such that with the satisfaction of the stomach also comes a sense of relief. The stories do in that sense touch on one’s emotions, yet without going down too deep.
This was my second time reading a work translated by Jesse Kirkwood, and the book read smoothly all through. The one small thing that puzzled me at the start though was Koishi addressing her father’s old colleague by first name (no honorifics) which left me wondering whether this was the case in the original.
This is a quick little read with plenty of warmth which leave one feeling pleasant and comforted even though there is that thread of pathos in the stories themselves. A book that will also likely leave you hungry—especially for Japanese food.
4.25 stars
Food is about taste, about flavour of course but also about aromas and textures—not just something to savour but an entire experience—it’s not just what one ate but where, in what circumstances and with whom that creates the full experience stored as a memory in our minds (though we little realise the whole). We all have some such in ours, a particular dish tasting a particular way, but something we just can’t quite capture the ‘feel’ of however much we try to recreate it.
In that sense the heartwarming The Kamogawa Food Detectives, originally published as Kamogawashukondo in 2013 by Shogukan and in this translation by Jesse Kirkwood by Pan Macmillan in 2023 is all about time travel, but not in the sense of actually travelling back like one did perhaps in the book I found myself comparing it with Before the Coffee Gets Cold (a recent read for me) but in the sense of a place which is able to recreate those moments, those memories—the smells and flavours but also the experiences which are locked away in memory, and linger on but which one is not able to capture again.
Kamogawa Diner is a small little place in a non-descript building in Kyoto, which few really know about. It seems to have few customers, though there are (like in the Funiculi Funicula café of Before the Coffee) its regulars. It advertises as we learn a ‘detective’ agency, but again though a one-line almost undecipherable advertisement in the Gourmet Monthly magazine, attracting only a few clients that are able to make sense of it and have the tenacity to actually track it down. And that is just how the owners would have it, for they want only a few customers, request them to refrain from reviewing it on the internet, and don’t even have a signboard displayed in front. The café is run by Nagare Komogawa, a retired policeman and his daughter Koishi. Nagare does the ‘detecting’ and much of the cooking (aided by Koishi) but it is Koishi who interviews clients for the detective agency, able to perhaps ask the right questions and break it down for her father to work out (interesting considering he was the policeman).
In this book we have six different stories, each arranged in two chapters, one where the client comes to the diner/agency with their story and case and the second when they return (usually in two weeks’ time as that’s how long it takes to fulfil their request) to sample the dish as we alongside learn how Nagare actually recreated the feeling and experience which the client was actually looking for. The first couple of clients are known to the Komogawas, one Nagare’s former colleague in the police and the other a friend of a regular customer, but others are new. All though have caught on to the advert and followed up from there. Most of their stories are of loss in some form or other—a mother who died when young, a grandfather now suffering dementia, a first proposal which elicited too strong a reaction or an estrangement due to social circumstances. Each are left with the memory of a dish cooked by the lost wife or husband, sampled on a trip with granddad or eaten in a restaurant. As Nagare recreates their dishes we see soon enough that it is naturally about what goes into the dish—not just ingredients but the right ingredients sourced from those very same places, but also the experience itself—how it was eaten, where, even down to the things that one might have been doing at the time. For some clients it returns what was lost, enabling them to relive it and finally move on, but for others it also leads to dispelling some myths or revealing some truths they were unable to see before.
The Kamogawa Food Detectives was a lovely little book, quick, charming and touching, about food certainly but also about life, loss and memories, relationships and in its own sense time travel. On can’t help comparing it with Before the Coffee Gets Cold and it has those similarities (in structure, in moments from the past that people want to relive) but it is also very much its own story.
Like I did in that review, I will also here include what I should start to call the ‘cat report’. This book too as is apparent has the customary cat on the cover. And I am happy to report that there is in fact a cat in it. This one’s called Drowsy and is likely an alley cat who finds his way into the diner even though Nagare disapproves (since cats shouldn’t be where food is being cooked). He nonetheless comes in and receives plenty of love from Koishi and some of the clients as well. But rest assured his presence is mostly decorative (and just by being a purry cat, comforting too), but no more than that, so he fares just fine.
Being a story of food detectives, there is plenty, and I do mean plenty of food, Each first time client to the diner (even if they come in search of the detective agency, they do end up starting by eating a meal) is served only a set meal, and each of these is elaborately described, from the variety of rice and soup to the various dishes—fish, pickled and sautéed veg, tofu and much else, and often ending with fruit, or Mizugashi, which gets distorted in its Western interpretation as dessert (probably no point mentioning that this does make one hungry). I love how in these meals or even the dishes Nagare recreates, one gets a sense of the care that is taken over dishes, each ingredient down to the water used being sourced from specific places to create that special taste or flavour, the reflections of seasons (which change as the stories proceed) in the food and much else. When it comes to the dishes clients have requested, there is this but much more since Nagare cannot recreate the experience without knowing everything of the story behind it, even beyond the sparse details the client often remembers. So the process involves a trip to the place, and ‘proper’ detective work tracing the stories and people involved so as to make the experience as close to what it was.
The stories as, I already mentioned, of most clients involve loss in different ways, mostly death but also others (estrangements, loss of memory, a relationship that never took off at all), and through making that food once again, Nagare is able to help the clients come to terms with things, understand elements of it they weren’t able to at the time, and even dispels misunderstandings for some, such that with the satisfaction of the stomach also comes a sense of relief. The stories do in that sense touch on one’s emotions, yet without going down too deep.
This was my second time reading a work translated by Jesse Kirkwood, and the book read smoothly all through. The one small thing that puzzled me at the start though was Koishi addressing her father’s old colleague by first name (no honorifics) which left me wondering whether this was the case in the original.
This is a quick little read with plenty of warmth which leave one feeling pleasant and comforted even though there is that thread of pathos in the stories themselves. A book that will also likely leave you hungry—especially for Japanese food.
4.25 stars
April 8, 2024
I hated this book from the beginning, through the middle and to the end. I hate its boring repetitiveness. I hate its complete lack of spark or vitality. I hate that I spent money on it. I was deciding between Kelly Link’s The Book of Love and this, Hisashi Kashiwai’s The Kamogawa Food Detectives and went with the latter. My big mistake. I was probably suckered in by the very, very cute book cover. The book itself sounds charming. In reality, I was bored and annoyed.
Koishi and Nagare Kamogawa run a food detective agency/diner on a secluded street in Kyoto. A subtle advertisement in a gourmet magazine leads very particular customers to its door—customers who want to relive tastes of their past. Koishi interviews them and Nagare, her father, does the footwork and creates the dishes. No spoiler here, every investigation is a success.
The book is split into chapters named after the dishes that clients want to eat again. If you read the first chapter, Nabeyaki-Udon, you’ve read the entire book. Nothing changes. This is a dish from their past and for various (and not interesting) reasons, they want to eat them again. The clients: a) complain about how difficult it is to find them; b) notice the photographs on the hallway; c) fill out a form (who knows why; it’s not used for billing purposes); d) either pet the cat Drowsy or ignore the cat; e) are very impressed and touched by the meal and f) are given a bill and told to pay whatever they think the meal is worth. That’s it. The characters aren’t interesting—neither the father/daughter detectives nor the clients. The food is described in excruitiating detail only a Japanese foodie could enjoy (that’s not me) and again, it’s just boring. Why did I bother?
I don’t recommend this. It’s not even a fun little read. It’s irritating.
Koishi and Nagare Kamogawa run a food detective agency/diner on a secluded street in Kyoto. A subtle advertisement in a gourmet magazine leads very particular customers to its door—customers who want to relive tastes of their past. Koishi interviews them and Nagare, her father, does the footwork and creates the dishes. No spoiler here, every investigation is a success.
The book is split into chapters named after the dishes that clients want to eat again. If you read the first chapter, Nabeyaki-Udon, you’ve read the entire book. Nothing changes. This is a dish from their past and for various (and not interesting) reasons, they want to eat them again. The clients: a) complain about how difficult it is to find them; b) notice the photographs on the hallway; c) fill out a form (who knows why; it’s not used for billing purposes); d) either pet the cat Drowsy or ignore the cat; e) are very impressed and touched by the meal and f) are given a bill and told to pay whatever they think the meal is worth. That’s it. The characters aren’t interesting—neither the father/daughter detectives nor the clients. The food is described in excruitiating detail only a Japanese foodie could enjoy (that’s not me) and again, it’s just boring. Why did I bother?
I don’t recommend this. It’s not even a fun little read. It’s irritating.
April 20, 2023
Spesso non ci facciamo caso al fatto che anche i sapori sono legati ai nostri ricordi: pietanze legate alle persone amate o a periodi della nostra vita particolarmente cari che vorremmo riprodurre.
Questo libro mi ha fatto venire in mente anche altro: un po' di anni fa il Corriere della Sera pubblicò una collana "Racconti di cucina" di ventiquattro volumi, attraverso la quale si riproponevano dei libri legati al mondo della cucina.
Hisashi Kashiwai attraverso queste storie fa riflettere il lettore su quanto alcune pietanze siano legate alla sfera dei nostri ricordi e delle nostre emozioni e lo fa in perfetto stile nipponico.
Kamogawa Nagare e la figlia Koishi sono degli investigatori culinari, che gestiscono un ristorante atipico: aiutano i clienti che ne facciano richiesta esplicita a ritrovare quei sapori custoditi nello scrigno della memoria.
“Koishi aprí il blocco per gli appunti. – Potresti essere un po’ piú preciso?
– Era un piatto di mia moglie.
– Sono passati tanti anni da quando Chieko è mancata, vero?
– Quindici…
– E ricordi ancora il sapore di quel piatto?
Kuboyama annuí, ma subito inclinò pensoso il capo. – Il gusto, suppergiú, me lo ricordo, e anche gli ingredienti.
– Vuoi dire che non riesci a riprodurlo pur ricordando il piatto?
– Bingo! Si vede che sei figlia di Nagare.
– Mi auguro che non avrai chiesto alla tua compagna di provare a preparartelo.”
E così dal Nabeyaki udon allo stufato di manzo, dal sushi di sgombro al tongatsu, dagli spaghetti Napolitan al Nikujaga, padre e figlia condurranno le loro indagini per restituire sapori e ricordi ai loro clienti. Ma non fanno solo questo: aiutano i clienti a sbloccare alcuni ricordi che li tengono intrappolati nel passato perché loro possano essere liberi di vivere il proprio presente.
“Le indagini le svolge mio padre. Io faccio consulenze, nel senso che interpreto i bisogni dei clienti. Le sembrerò sgarbata, ma concorderà che chiunque cerchi un piatto, come dice lei, sia sempre un po’ svitato. Ne consegue che mio padre fraintende spesso le richieste, quindi io le interpreto per spiegargliele con piú chiarezza.”
Un romanzo che fa sorridere e riflettere; un romanzo nostalgico e anche delicato.
“– Mi perdoni l’indiscrezione, ma posso chiederle come vi siete conosciuti?
– Era un’amica della mia defunta moglie, già molto tempo prima del nostro matrimonio. Ormai è come una sorella.
Hisahiko annuí con l’aria di aver capito tutto. – Allora è cosí che ha avuto uno spazio su «Primavera e autunno in cucina».
– La gastronomia è una cosa seria, e in quella rivista ne parlano come si deve. Grazie all’annuncio, chi ci trova è sempre gente a posto. Ci si incontra se è destino, insomma, altrimenti è difficile arrivare qui –. Al termine della spiegazione, Nagare serrò le labbra come a dire che non c’era altro da aggiungere.”
Questo libro mi ha fatto venire in mente anche altro: un po' di anni fa il Corriere della Sera pubblicò una collana "Racconti di cucina" di ventiquattro volumi, attraverso la quale si riproponevano dei libri legati al mondo della cucina.
Hisashi Kashiwai attraverso queste storie fa riflettere il lettore su quanto alcune pietanze siano legate alla sfera dei nostri ricordi e delle nostre emozioni e lo fa in perfetto stile nipponico.
Kamogawa Nagare e la figlia Koishi sono degli investigatori culinari, che gestiscono un ristorante atipico: aiutano i clienti che ne facciano richiesta esplicita a ritrovare quei sapori custoditi nello scrigno della memoria.
“Koishi aprí il blocco per gli appunti. – Potresti essere un po’ piú preciso?
– Era un piatto di mia moglie.
– Sono passati tanti anni da quando Chieko è mancata, vero?
– Quindici…
– E ricordi ancora il sapore di quel piatto?
Kuboyama annuí, ma subito inclinò pensoso il capo. – Il gusto, suppergiú, me lo ricordo, e anche gli ingredienti.
– Vuoi dire che non riesci a riprodurlo pur ricordando il piatto?
– Bingo! Si vede che sei figlia di Nagare.
– Mi auguro che non avrai chiesto alla tua compagna di provare a preparartelo.”
E così dal Nabeyaki udon allo stufato di manzo, dal sushi di sgombro al tongatsu, dagli spaghetti Napolitan al Nikujaga, padre e figlia condurranno le loro indagini per restituire sapori e ricordi ai loro clienti. Ma non fanno solo questo: aiutano i clienti a sbloccare alcuni ricordi che li tengono intrappolati nel passato perché loro possano essere liberi di vivere il proprio presente.
“Le indagini le svolge mio padre. Io faccio consulenze, nel senso che interpreto i bisogni dei clienti. Le sembrerò sgarbata, ma concorderà che chiunque cerchi un piatto, come dice lei, sia sempre un po’ svitato. Ne consegue che mio padre fraintende spesso le richieste, quindi io le interpreto per spiegargliele con piú chiarezza.”
Un romanzo che fa sorridere e riflettere; un romanzo nostalgico e anche delicato.
“– Mi perdoni l’indiscrezione, ma posso chiederle come vi siete conosciuti?
– Era un’amica della mia defunta moglie, già molto tempo prima del nostro matrimonio. Ormai è come una sorella.
Hisahiko annuí con l’aria di aver capito tutto. – Allora è cosí che ha avuto uno spazio su «Primavera e autunno in cucina».
– La gastronomia è una cosa seria, e in quella rivista ne parlano come si deve. Grazie all’annuncio, chi ci trova è sempre gente a posto. Ci si incontra se è destino, insomma, altrimenti è difficile arrivare qui –. Al termine della spiegazione, Nagare serrò le labbra come a dire che non c’era altro da aggiungere.”
February 16, 2024
Where tf was the mystery and detective part of this?? Two stars for Drowsy, the kitty, and that’s THAT
May 5, 2024
”It sounds like nostalgia might be the secret ingredient here.”
Food is such a sensory thing. It really has the ability to remind you of someone, and to link up to a memory of happy times. Just the scent of freshly brewed coffee or the sizzle of garlic can take you back to a specific time and place.
On a Kyoto Street there’s an unassuming building with no particular signage that could hint at what the storefront contains. It’s not easy to find The Kawagama Diner but if you need to, you will.
A single line ad in the magazine Gourmet Monthly doesn’t reveal the exact location, but simply says ”Kawagama Diner - Kawagama Detective Agency - We Find Your Food.’”
The father and daughter team of Nagare and Koishi Kawagama perform miracles as “food detectives”. In their tiny kitchen they recreate particular meals on request for people who have a sudden urge to eat them again. In most instances because the food involved has such emotional triggers to both people and times long gone.
There are six short stories, vignettes really, of different food requests. Along the way we learn more about the requester, and why this meal has suddenly become important to them. Nagare was a former detective, and now retired from the force, he puts his skills to the test by tracking down the exact ingredients and method for bringing these meals to life again. His daughter Koishi is the one who interviews the prospective clients, taking notes to delve into what this meal means to them and why.
” ‘This is going to sound a little abstract, but when I try to remember it, the first thing that comes to mind is the word “happiness”. If you’re after something a little more concrete, I do remember that she used yellow rice.’ ”
Udon, beef stew, spaghetti as well as other Japanese delicacies fill these chapters. There were so many foods that I’d not heard of before and had to look up. And others I’ve eaten several times. This is such a wonderful foodie book it had my tummy rumbling throughout.
Such a gorgeous book about all sorts of people and all sorts of food. Which made me wonder what my ultimate meal (or two) would be. I know what they are. What would yours be?
” 'Thank you! Delicious doesn't even cover it. My heart is all aflutter.' ”
There is an adorable tabby by the name of Drowsy who lives at the diner and appears in each of the chapters. Usually getting tangled up in the legs of the diners. What more could I want? ᓚᘏᗢ
” ‘Not again! Drowsy, you can’t just come wandering here!’ The tabby cat strolled through the door as soon as Koishi opened it.”
Translated to English by Jesse Kirwood, this is an absolute book hug. The cover is also a joy to look at. Read it and feel better about the world for a while.
4⭐ teppanyaki filled stars.
Food is such a sensory thing. It really has the ability to remind you of someone, and to link up to a memory of happy times. Just the scent of freshly brewed coffee or the sizzle of garlic can take you back to a specific time and place.
On a Kyoto Street there’s an unassuming building with no particular signage that could hint at what the storefront contains. It’s not easy to find The Kawagama Diner but if you need to, you will.
A single line ad in the magazine Gourmet Monthly doesn’t reveal the exact location, but simply says ”Kawagama Diner - Kawagama Detective Agency - We Find Your Food.’”
The father and daughter team of Nagare and Koishi Kawagama perform miracles as “food detectives”. In their tiny kitchen they recreate particular meals on request for people who have a sudden urge to eat them again. In most instances because the food involved has such emotional triggers to both people and times long gone.
There are six short stories, vignettes really, of different food requests. Along the way we learn more about the requester, and why this meal has suddenly become important to them. Nagare was a former detective, and now retired from the force, he puts his skills to the test by tracking down the exact ingredients and method for bringing these meals to life again. His daughter Koishi is the one who interviews the prospective clients, taking notes to delve into what this meal means to them and why.
” ‘This is going to sound a little abstract, but when I try to remember it, the first thing that comes to mind is the word “happiness”. If you’re after something a little more concrete, I do remember that she used yellow rice.’ ”
Udon, beef stew, spaghetti as well as other Japanese delicacies fill these chapters. There were so many foods that I’d not heard of before and had to look up. And others I’ve eaten several times. This is such a wonderful foodie book it had my tummy rumbling throughout.
Such a gorgeous book about all sorts of people and all sorts of food. Which made me wonder what my ultimate meal (or two) would be. I know what they are. What would yours be?
” 'Thank you! Delicious doesn't even cover it. My heart is all aflutter.' ”
There is an adorable tabby by the name of Drowsy who lives at the diner and appears in each of the chapters. Usually getting tangled up in the legs of the diners. What more could I want? ᓚᘏᗢ
” ‘Not again! Drowsy, you can’t just come wandering here!’ The tabby cat strolled through the door as soon as Koishi opened it.”
Translated to English by Jesse Kirwood, this is an absolute book hug. The cover is also a joy to look at. Read it and feel better about the world for a while.
4⭐ teppanyaki filled stars.
Read
August 25, 2023A cozy read about FOOD and memories.
A detective duo (father and daughter) specialize in customized dishes. They try to replicate the exact taste of the dishes that a person might've enjoyed at some point in their life. For this, they go hunting for clues in the person's past, clues in the life of the person/restaurant/grocery store that helped put together the dish. For example : a wife's udon dish, a first love's beef stew, an ex-husband's pork chop. Lots of food descriptions. So this would be a nice read with cozy homebound vlogs on Youtube.
What to expect?
Each chapter focusses on a person and a food from their memory + backstory. It ends with the detective's findings and lots of descriptions about how the food is made/what flavors comprise the dish. Think of this book as a TV series where each episode explores something new
Thanks to Pan Macmillan for the ARC. All opinions are my own
A detective duo (father and daughter) specialize in customized dishes. They try to replicate the exact taste of the dishes that a person might've enjoyed at some point in their life. For this, they go hunting for clues in the person's past, clues in the life of the person/restaurant/grocery store that helped put together the dish. For example : a wife's udon dish, a first love's beef stew, an ex-husband's pork chop. Lots of food descriptions. So this would be a nice read with cozy homebound vlogs on Youtube.
What to expect?
Each chapter focusses on a person and a food from their memory + backstory. It ends with the detective's findings and lots of descriptions about how the food is made/what flavors comprise the dish. Think of this book as a TV series where each episode explores something new
Thanks to Pan Macmillan for the ARC. All opinions are my own
August 15, 2023
Tenía muchas ganas de leerlo en cuanto vi la portada
Me encanta leer literatura asiática y este ha cumplido muchas de mis expectativas
Primero es un tema diferente, es una taberna donde te cocinan aquel platillo que has olvidado su preparación pero que su sabor siempre te ha traído buenos recuerdos
Los platillos que por supuesto google se veían muy ricos
La historia se desarrolla en Kioto y el autor hace una muy buena descripción del lugar, también google fotos para imaginarme más el estar ahí fisgoneando en la ciudad y la taberna
El gatito , hirune, su participación se me hacía adorable
La historia de fondo, un padre y una hija que eran los dueños y cocineros del lugar, ambos se acompañaban luego de años de fallecida de esposa y madre Yukiko.
Ágil de lectura
Recomendado si te gustan los anteriores ingredientes de la historia
Saludos a quien me lea :)
Me encanta leer literatura asiática y este ha cumplido muchas de mis expectativas
Primero es un tema diferente, es una taberna donde te cocinan aquel platillo que has olvidado su preparación pero que su sabor siempre te ha traído buenos recuerdos
Los platillos que por supuesto google se veían muy ricos
La historia se desarrolla en Kioto y el autor hace una muy buena descripción del lugar, también google fotos para imaginarme más el estar ahí fisgoneando en la ciudad y la taberna
El gatito , hirune, su participación se me hacía adorable
La historia de fondo, un padre y una hija que eran los dueños y cocineros del lugar, ambos se acompañaban luego de años de fallecida de esposa y madre Yukiko.
Ágil de lectura
Recomendado si te gustan los anteriores ingredientes de la historia
Saludos a quien me lea :)
June 4, 2023
"Nos acostumbramos rápido a las cosas. Lo que nos impresiona la primera vez pronto se vuelve anodino, pero es importante no olvidar la emoción de la primera vez".
El poder de la buena comida para hacernos felices y devolvernos recuerdos. Una historia sencilla pero luminosa sobre unos detectives gastronómicos que buscan y recrean al detalle los platos que hace años probaron sus clientes y quieren recuperar. Me ha encantado.
El poder de la buena comida para hacernos felices y devolvernos recuerdos. Una historia sencilla pero luminosa sobre unos detectives gastronómicos que buscan y recrean al detalle los platos que hace años probaron sus clientes y quieren recuperar. Me ha encantado.
August 13, 2024
Oishii, ne???
If you're going to read this book you better do it on full stomach.
Otherwise it's going to be rather annoying to imagine all this mouth-watering food and read on and just chill, you know. Grab a good, hearty sandwich and get ready for some serious googling. With pics.
I really didn't expect much from this little book but it was fun and I think for me it would be even more fun as a series, be it anime or dorama, so that I could watch all the cooking that is left out for my imagination.
It was a very simple, uncomplicated story. The chapters were quite repetitive and while it wasn't a bad thing, I can imagine that not everyone is going to like it. But I DID. And I actually want to read a second book in series even though I'm pretty sure it's very much alike the first one. That's what I need, in fact. One more bowl of this good, heartwarming chicken soup. I mean - miso. With soba.
Sabasushi, anyone?
If you're going to read this book you better do it on full stomach.
Otherwise it's going to be rather annoying to imagine all this mouth-watering food and read on and just chill, you know. Grab a good, hearty sandwich and get ready for some serious googling. With pics.
I really didn't expect much from this little book but it was fun and I think for me it would be even more fun as a series, be it anime or dorama, so that I could watch all the cooking that is left out for my imagination.
It was a very simple, uncomplicated story. The chapters were quite repetitive and while it wasn't a bad thing, I can imagine that not everyone is going to like it. But I DID. And I actually want to read a second book in series even though I'm pretty sure it's very much alike the first one. That's what I need, in fact. One more bowl of this good, heartwarming chicken soup. I mean - miso. With soba.
Sabasushi, anyone?
February 14, 2024
Whoever said "time heals all wounds" had never had a good home-cooked meal.
The only thing that actively competes with my love of books is my love for tasty food. A book centered around foodie mysteries is my idea of a good time. This was so cute and cozy. The detailed descriptions of Japanese cuisine sent me to another realm. The author cared for and spent time describing these complex and tasty dishes.
The "mystery" aspect didn't quite work out for me. I expected more of the father and daughter working together to solve the mystery dishes. Instead, the client described the dish they were thinking of/wanted and immediately cut to the client tasting the food. This was disappointing, but more a case of I had wrong expectations.
I grew up in a family where food is an expression of love. To see that in a novel was heartwarming and gave me genuine joy. The clients coming to terms with old memories or unlocking new ones was touching.
Minus a star because I wanted more cat content.
Thank you, NetGalley and PENGUIN GROUP Putnam, for the advance copy. All thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.
The only thing that actively competes with my love of books is my love for tasty food. A book centered around foodie mysteries is my idea of a good time. This was so cute and cozy. The detailed descriptions of Japanese cuisine sent me to another realm. The author cared for and spent time describing these complex and tasty dishes.
The "mystery" aspect didn't quite work out for me. I expected more of the father and daughter working together to solve the mystery dishes. Instead, the client described the dish they were thinking of/wanted and immediately cut to the client tasting the food. This was disappointing, but more a case of I had wrong expectations.
I grew up in a family where food is an expression of love. To see that in a novel was heartwarming and gave me genuine joy. The clients coming to terms with old memories or unlocking new ones was touching.
Minus a star because I wanted more cat content.
Thank you, NetGalley and PENGUIN GROUP Putnam, for the advance copy. All thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.
August 28, 2023
a short and sweet book about food. what would you give to taste a particular dish a loved one who passed on used to make?
the descriptions of food are mouthwatering and definitely made me hungry. it was fascinating to read about every complex dish.
however, i couldn't bring myself to care about the characters. the plot is slow. this is a short cozy book, but perhaps not the book for me.
thank you to netgalley and the publisher for an arc in exchange for an honest review!
the descriptions of food are mouthwatering and definitely made me hungry. it was fascinating to read about every complex dish.
however, i couldn't bring myself to care about the characters. the plot is slow. this is a short cozy book, but perhaps not the book for me.
thank you to netgalley and the publisher for an arc in exchange for an honest review!
June 11, 2023
1,5 étoiles
La déception est grande (autant que le seum, au vu du prix de ce livre).
Dans la lignée des Tant que le café est encore chaud et La bibliothèque des rêves secrets, ce court roman propose différentes histoires autour de personnages recherchant une recette qui les a particulièrement marqués.
Ayant adoré les deux livres cités plus haut, je m'attendais à autant accrocher à celui ci. Toutefois, l'exécution ne m'a pas plu du tout et ça se résume en deux points :
- le tout est beaucoup trop rapide pour s'investir un minimum dans l'histoire des personnages
- la forme des dialogues engendre beaucoup d'incompréhensions et l'ensemble sonne faux
C'est vraiment dommage car j'ai trouvé que certaines histoires avaient un réel potentiel pour être touchantes mais l'exécution m'a tout gâché.
J'ai lu ce petit livre en compagnie de ma fidèle amie de LC Charline et je suis rassurée qu'elle ait eu le même sentiment que moi tout au long de la lecture !
La déception est grande (autant que le seum, au vu du prix de ce livre).
Dans la lignée des Tant que le café est encore chaud et La bibliothèque des rêves secrets, ce court roman propose différentes histoires autour de personnages recherchant une recette qui les a particulièrement marqués.
Ayant adoré les deux livres cités plus haut, je m'attendais à autant accrocher à celui ci. Toutefois, l'exécution ne m'a pas plu du tout et ça se résume en deux points :
- le tout est beaucoup trop rapide pour s'investir un minimum dans l'histoire des personnages
- la forme des dialogues engendre beaucoup d'incompréhensions et l'ensemble sonne faux
C'est vraiment dommage car j'ai trouvé que certaines histoires avaient un réel potentiel pour être touchantes mais l'exécution m'a tout gâché.
J'ai lu ce petit livre en compagnie de ma fidèle amie de LC Charline et je suis rassurée qu'elle ait eu le même sentiment que moi tout au long de la lecture !
March 24, 2024
— 4.5✮
Kamogawa Food Detectives is about a father-and-daughter duo restaurant that not only serves foods but also helps people find long-lost dishes they've been wanting to eat, and through their detailed investigation, they are able to recreate the dishes.
I LOVE THIS BOOK.
very cosy and comforting read. i love how detailed the explanation is about the foods, how foods are not only about how delicious they are but also the memories that hold them.
the way each chapter summarised how those lost dishes can help people move on, grieve, and answer the unanswered question.
foods are not just about taste; they give us something to hold on to—the memories, the people.
Kamogawa Food Detectives is about a father-and-daughter duo restaurant that not only serves foods but also helps people find long-lost dishes they've been wanting to eat, and through their detailed investigation, they are able to recreate the dishes.
I LOVE THIS BOOK.
very cosy and comforting read. i love how detailed the explanation is about the foods, how foods are not only about how delicious they are but also the memories that hold them.
the way each chapter summarised how those lost dishes can help people move on, grieve, and answer the unanswered question.
foods are not just about taste; they give us something to hold on to—the memories, the people.
June 1, 2024
3.25/5 ⭐
Cute, short, classic Japanese cosy book for rainy days. I did enjoy the food in this!
Cute, short, classic Japanese cosy book for rainy days. I did enjoy the food in this!
January 8, 2024
“Como agua para sake”
Conviene imaginarse mentalmente este libro como uno de esos animes medio lo-fi donde hay escenas que ocurren en interiores intimistas y los personajes hablan más o menos en susurros. Suficiente para darlos ASMR y por consiguiente sueño.
El concepto está muy bueno, pero me hubiera gustado un poco más de desarrollo. Se siente más como una serie de viñetas que como una obra completa. La comida suena súper rica (el sábado me fui a comer un maki, así que lo tenía fresco), pero al final sentí que todo era demasiado salado. Extrañé algo de pan dulce y café, por demás normal en todas las novelas cozy.
Y temo que adolece de ese problema que tienen muchas obras denominadas 'cozy' (excepto los misterios cozy) que es una notoria falta de trama. Pero dado que el retrato de las experiencias personales es intimista y sincero estoy dispuesto a no castigar de más este problema.
Conviene imaginarse mentalmente este libro como uno de esos animes medio lo-fi donde hay escenas que ocurren en interiores intimistas y los personajes hablan más o menos en susurros. Suficiente para darlos ASMR y por consiguiente sueño.
El concepto está muy bueno, pero me hubiera gustado un poco más de desarrollo. Se siente más como una serie de viñetas que como una obra completa. La comida suena súper rica (el sábado me fui a comer un maki, así que lo tenía fresco), pero al final sentí que todo era demasiado salado. Extrañé algo de pan dulce y café, por demás normal en todas las novelas cozy.
Y temo que adolece de ese problema que tienen muchas obras denominadas 'cozy' (excepto los misterios cozy) que es una notoria falta de trama. Pero dado que el retrato de las experiencias personales es intimista y sincero estoy dispuesto a no castigar de más este problema.
March 25, 2024
This was such a cozy, gentle, and bittersweet collection of "cases" undertaken by the Kamogawa Food Detectives. They are father daughter food sleuths who try to recapture lost food memories. A dish from a favorite restaurant. A stew made by a mother who died too young. Other foods that are from half forgotten childhood memories. And of course there is a cat.
Read
May 15, 2024The Hook - Listening to the Podcast "the library of lost time!", The Kamogawa Food Detectives By Hisashi Kashiwai caught my attention. It sounded like such fun so I immediately checked my library's holdings and the rest is history.
The Line - ”Never lose sight of your goals.”
The Sinker - Have you ever craved a meal that is a long gone memory, one made by a loving person, one that can not be replicated? What if there was a restaurant you could visit, where the father-daughter chefs have detective skills that promise they can bring that recipe back to life.
“”The restaurant of lost recipes provides a link to vanished memories, creating a present full of possibilities.” Visit The Kamogawa Diner in Japan, one that doesn't look like much from the outside, so much so, that you're not even certain that you've arrived. Walk in and your adventure begins; if hungry and a first-time customer, your meal will be up to the chef, the set meal of the day. If you happen to have come here after finding the one-line advert in Gourmet Monthly, one that is so mysterious, it's hard to believe it's real. But this is the ticket to that dish your heart desires. Tell the chef you're here, not for the diner, but the Kamogawa Detectives, and you'll be happy to find you are in the right place. The daughter, Koishi, will help you describe your recipe, and the chef, Nagare, will do the research from Koishi's notes and should be able to serve your meal within a few weeks, when Koishi steps into the kitchen. Koishi and her Dad, make a wonderful team, plating more than just memories.
From the first Nabeyaki-Udon to the ending Nikujaga, this is delightful fun while the detectives fill your heart and belly with your cherished meal, all at the price of what you feel you can afford. Just put it in this jar.
So many foods and places I'm not familiar with, was a bonus to the read. I have my own research to do now. Perhaps I'll visit The Kamogawa Detectives for a meal while I'm at it.
The Line - ”Never lose sight of your goals.”
The Sinker - Have you ever craved a meal that is a long gone memory, one made by a loving person, one that can not be replicated? What if there was a restaurant you could visit, where the father-daughter chefs have detective skills that promise they can bring that recipe back to life.
“”The restaurant of lost recipes provides a link to vanished memories, creating a present full of possibilities.” Visit The Kamogawa Diner in Japan, one that doesn't look like much from the outside, so much so, that you're not even certain that you've arrived. Walk in and your adventure begins; if hungry and a first-time customer, your meal will be up to the chef, the set meal of the day. If you happen to have come here after finding the one-line advert in Gourmet Monthly, one that is so mysterious, it's hard to believe it's real. But this is the ticket to that dish your heart desires. Tell the chef you're here, not for the diner, but the Kamogawa Detectives, and you'll be happy to find you are in the right place. The daughter, Koishi, will help you describe your recipe, and the chef, Nagare, will do the research from Koishi's notes and should be able to serve your meal within a few weeks, when Koishi steps into the kitchen. Koishi and her Dad, make a wonderful team, plating more than just memories.
From the first Nabeyaki-Udon to the ending Nikujaga, this is delightful fun while the detectives fill your heart and belly with your cherished meal, all at the price of what you feel you can afford. Just put it in this jar.
So many foods and places I'm not familiar with, was a bonus to the read. I have my own research to do now. Perhaps I'll visit The Kamogawa Detectives for a meal while I'm at it.
December 20, 2023
do not read this while hungry
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