I've been enjoying all the new books in the library and found a charmer, but it depends on whether you have some knowledge of Japanese food and the very particular way a dedicated chef would cook a meal. 'The Kamogawa Food Detectives' is a current best seller in Japan and no wonder. A father and daughter team will try to recreate a special recipe for people who are desperate to taste again the food that is so special because of the memories attached to it. Brought back memories for me of the wonderful traditional meals I enjoyed in Japan and the respect Japanese people have for food and they way it should be eaten.

The Kamogawa Food Detectives is, in translation, a nice, clean, pleasurable novel linking food to memory, nostalgia, and family. The meals described in loving detail are genuinely, literally mouthwatering. A pleasant, comforting book. ( )

I enjoyed this book, but I'm glad it wasn't any longer than it was because I fear that it would get really repetitive quickly. (And as such, I'm probably not going to read any further in the series.) The vignettes in this book were cute and sometimes sweet, though. It's similar to Before the Coffee Gets Cold but the time travel is in the person's mind and memories instead of actual time travel. I disagree with classifying this as a mystery, though; it's a contemporary novel with a focus on memory. There's no real mystery being solved even though "detectives" is in the title. ( )

Thank you to Netgalley for this ARC!

What more could you ask for, food, family, beautiful writing and sensitive storytelling? I want this to be a cooking show, because I would follow it religiously. What a lovely little book. The only thing I request is more Drowsy the cat! ( )

Along the lines of the "Before the Coffee Gets Cold" series - only this is set in a restaurant, not a coffee shop, and there is no time travel. But the premise is similar: People find their way to this unusual place and tell their story. Each episode begins with the patron being offered a meal of Japanese food and swooning over the deliciousness. Then the patron describes the dish they want recreated and why, though sometimes you don't get the whole story until later. The patron returns two weeks later to find out whether the chef has succeeded in bringing their memory to the plate. Sweet stories and sad stories, and a joy to read. A side note: As a fan of The Big Bang Theory TV show, I was delightfully caught off guard when one of the stories revolved around the dish spaghetti with hot dogs. So apparently it's real thing, and not just Sheldon's mother's Eye-talian treat. ( )