The Kamogawa Food Detectives | This Book Will Make You Drool

The Kamogawa Food Detectives | This Book Will Make You Drool | Book Review

The Kamogawa Food Detectives is a 2013 Japanese novel written by Hisashi Kashiwai and translated by Jesse Kirkwood. It follows a father-daughter duo that runs a quaint and unassuming restaurant. In addition to serving regular food, they offer “detective services” to help diners find dishes from their past.

Since I’ve been writing film reviws and SFF book reviews, I thought why not review non-SFF books as well? After all, I do read quite a lot of those every year. So, let me start this new series with my latest read!

The Kamogawa Food Detectives Synopsis

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.

The Kamogawa Food Detectives Review

One of the most popular trends in the SFF genre is cozy fantasy. But, cozy reading has always been part of literature, hasn’t it? You’ve probably read ample near-indulgent descriptions of landscapes, architecture, art, and nature even that evoke a sense of dream-like immersion. Often its to stimulate senses, but in many ways it works to create a comforting atmosphere. Kamogawa Food Detectives does this expertly with food.

What I liked about The Kamogawa Food Detectives:

Clearly, the food is most clearly the star of this book. Be it the set-menu that Nagare serves his diners, or the ‘requested’ dishes that he so painstakingly recreates based on clues from memory, the author paints vivid pictures of these dishes. Every ingredient gets its due. Nagare first explains the source and reasoning behind each ingredient, key to developing the food’s character. I’ve read books where the protagonists weren’t half as developed as the food in The Kamogawa Food Detectives. Jesse Kirkwood’s translation—I strongly believe—does justice to Hisashi Kashiwai’s original descriptions because my stomach was genuinely grumbling after every chapter. Despite reading only after my meals, I couldn’t help but crave the dishes Nagare makes.

Of the six stories included here, I found the Nabeyaki-udon and Tonkatsu stories to be the best. Each dish had an emotional connection that the author was able to blend with the stories and their characters. The stories themselves weren’t all too great, but their relevance to the dishes made them enticing enough. The Nikujaga one is a close second, if I have to pick. Beef Stew was my least favourite story. It felt like a rehashing of the Nabeyaki-udon story, and the food took a backseat with this one. The Napolitan Spaghetti was also good, but nothing that really stood out for me like the first two I mentioned.

What I didn’t like:

To be fair, the food and the author’s writing—and the translator’s translation—are the only things making this book rich and enjoyable. The characters aren’t that well developed. We don’t learn anything about Nagare or Koishi beyond what is mentioned in the first chapter. Even the characters who request the dishes are developed only on the surface. The episodic nature of the chapters is interesting, except the formula quickly grows stale. Beef Stew is just the second story, and I already found myself losing interest. And, nothing about the formula changes, except the history and ingredients of the dishes. That was, for me, the biggest letdown of the book.

There’s not much to discuss here. It’s pretty straightforward. One comparison I can think of—because it’s in the blurb—is Before The Coffee Gets Cold. While the coffee shop setting is unique in that story, every single client has a unique and fully-developed story. Even that book is relatively episodic, but the formula keeps changing with each story, keeping the book fresh and interesting. I haven’t read the sequels yet, but that experimenting with the formula worked much better for me.

Conclusion:

The Kamogawa Food Detectives is a good book. A very cosy read for anyone who loves food and/or Japanese cuisine. Even though the positives start and end there, the book does a good job of comforting its readers. This book will make you drool!

My Rating: ★★★1/2

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