Thanks so much to pan MacMillan for the eARC, all opinions expressed are my own.

I'm in my translated fiction era!
This is the third installment but functions as an interconnected standalone in the Kamogawa Food Detectives series.
I love the premise of this collection, and the way food functions as a portal to deep rooted memories and the way the diner works to produce answers for those seeking help!
The cosy mystery element adds a great flavour to the book and love how easy to read it is. Combined with short chapters, each chapter functions as a short story in itself, solving one case as a time, and revolved around a single dish. The food & descriptions are so detailed and sound so mouthwatering, each element is explained as well as the efforts the father/daughter duo took to source them, utterly delicious!
At the heart of the story, I really enjoyed the father daughter duo, it's so heartwarming the way they work together on each case.
I started and finished this in one sitting and I cannot recommend this enough.

The latest instalment of this charming series about the Kamogawa food detectives continues with variations on its recipe of nostalgia grief, loss, and comfort.

A diverse group of individuals arrive, usually burdened with grief or regret, and leave with a measure of solace after the father-daughter duo serve up their recipes enriched with past joys and happy memories.

This story is all about second chances (of a kind), and perhaps most importantly a much needed chance for closure. Well worth checking out, especially for those who are on grief journeys of their own, this book easily gets 3.5 stars.

With each instalment of this series I just love it more each time. This was definitely a new favourite and I actually knew what a few of the meals were. I love the magic of the food healing or restoring a memory allowing you to move on or remember the past. Reading these books makes me think of what I’d do if I could have a meal recreated and honestly reading this series just makes me incredibly hungry.

I've read the first two books of the series and I can't help but love it. It's a cozy read with a lot of heart. Again we are taken to the rather hidden restaurant of Nagare and his daughter, who are giving their everything to find lost recipes to help their customers find their ways in life again and remember the important things in life.

I can only recommend this series and honestly ist doesn't matter if you start withe the first or the third book.

This is the 3rd book in the Kamogawa Detective series, in which a father-and-daughter duo help their customers revive memories and find closure by recreating dishes linked to events in their past. The formula is not new, and if you’ve read either of the two previous books, there won’t be any surprises. Five different customers enter the restaurant, savour the menu carefully prepared by the chef, and afterwards explain to his daughter what specific dish they would like to try again, and why.

We don’t actually follow the detective in his search for the exact ingredients, but we get to hear them at the same time he explains them to each customer, two weeks later. Again, we have five sad stories with heartwarming closures.

Nothing new, it’s true! But in this case, that’s a blessing. For me, it never gets boring. Lovely, flawless, and heartwarming!

Welcome to the Kamogawa Diner, where every meal is a mystery ready to be solved. It’s run by a father-daughter duo who not only serve food but are detectives, delving into the past to produce nostalgic dishes for their clients.

Another incredible instalment of the Kamogawa Food Detective series. I love being back in this world and with the returning characters, as well as learning about the new characters.

I love getting to know a snapshot of the background of each character and how each chapter is split into them recounting the dish that they’re looking for, also the reason behind why they want that particular dish and the second part being them experiencing the nostalgia from getting the dish that they were looking for, whilst given them a sense of closure.

The descriptions of all of the food literally made my mouth water and I was imagining how delicious they would all be. I love the writing style and feel like Jesse does an incredible job of translating the series - I feel like I’m there with the characters experiencing what they are experiencing. I flew through the series and if you’re a fan of translated fiction, then this is a series to absolutely check out.

⚠️ CWs: alcohol use, death, injury detail, blood; mentions murder, physical assault, cheating, death of a parent ⚠️

Thank you Mantle and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book early, in exchange for an honest review.

Big Thanks to Netgalley and the Publisher for the advanced copy! I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own

'The Menu of Happiness' is the third book in the 'Kamogawa Food Detectives' series.

This book presents six stories featuring well-known and beloved characters, set against the well-known and beloved style that these books are known for. The descriptions of the dishes were lush and mouthwatering, and the stories were touching and sweet. Some of them were quite sad, actually. And, of course, the Kamogawa detectives were endearing and funny as always.

This review is also posted on Goodreads and The Storygraph.

This is such a lovely gentle book. An unassuming restaurant in Kyoto provides the most delicious food. It also has a detective chef at its helm who will seek out and recreate a favourite dish. Me meet the people arriving at the restaurant and discover their stories and why their dishes are their favourites.

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to read this book before its release date. This book is one of my anticipated reads for the year.

I have read the first 2 books of The Kamogawa Food Detectives, and it never disappoints. The Menu of Happiness was also the same. It would make you feel relaxed and sometimes relate to the clients of Nagare and Koishi Kamogawa. And, it would also make you hungry while reading it!!! This book would make you wish that the Kamogawa Food Detectives were true, so you can taste the food from the past and reminisce about old times while eating it.

This book feels like a warm hug if you're looking for something cozy to read.

Wholesome, uplifting, and full of quiet magic 🍜💫. The Menu of Happiness invites readers to discover joy in the simplest things—delicious meals, small kindnesses, and the connections that nourish the soul. Hisashi Kashiwai’s story promises cosy, heartwarming charm and rich cultural detail. Perfect for fans of comforting fiction like Before the Coffee Gets Cold.

A book full of hope in finding food dishes that created happiness for the characters finding them.
The chapters are repetitive in style but the stories behind finding a specific food dish was interesting.

I did enjoy the book, but found the repetitive style a bit too much. 4 stars.

Thanks to Netgalley and Pan Macmillan for letting me read this arc.

Thank you for giving me an opportunity to read and review this book that I really enjoyed. I have attached my review below.

In The Menu of Happiness, acclaimed Japanese author Hisashi Kashiwai pens down a heartwarming collection of stories set in the Kamogawa Diner, a tiny restaurant tucked away in the streets of Kyoto. The story centers around a father-daughter duo Nagare Kamogawa, a former police detective and his spirited daughter, Koishi.

They use their 'detective' skills to recover and recreate long lost recipes and dishes that are meaningful to their clients, remembered only through their hazy memories and emotions. Koishi and Nagare, while central to the book, remain quietly in the background of each narrative while the diners and their nostalgic stories take the centre stage.

Among the diners we come across Sakyo Kataoka a contemporary dancer, Nobuo Matsubayashi who crafts lacquerware, a pianist Yumiko Maezaki, Shuji Kosaka who runs a small hotel, Takayuki Jojima who is a Managing Director working in food service industry and a romantic fiction author Miyuki Akikawa, each searching for closure from their past. Their stories explore how food is deeply tied to our memories, our sense of self and the people we've lost or grown distant from.

This is the third book after The Kamagowa Food Detectives and The Restaurant of Lost Recipes written by Hisashi Kashiwai and translated by Jesse Kirkwood. The premise is simple, yet profoundly touching. Kashiwai’s prose is gentle, understated and filled with a deep empathy for his characters. With each culinary mystery, readers are reminded of the emotional weight and nostagia that seemingly ordinary meals can carry and how their flavors become bridges to the past where food can offer healing and comfort.

A most fitting title for this third book in the series, which can be read standalone too.
This is a comfort read, as with the previous two books.
The stories connect by a common thread - imagine a restaurant where you can recreate your favourite dishes.
Run by two food detectives, a father and daughter, the restaurant is the main character (with food, memories and emotions).
I highly recommend this to the first comers to the series.
As for those of us who have read the other books, it is a bit like what our culinary detectives do - same old, a bit different. we know what to expect, but we still are here for the food and memories.
Novelty in the plot, structure and characters - 3 stars
Overall enjoyment, 3.5 stars.

I love this series! Such heartwarming cosy stories that follow a somewhat predictable but comforting formula!

I can’t help but devour these books every time I read one and then I immediately regret not savouring it- much like the guests at the Kamogawa diner I’m sure!

3.5 rounded 4

This was my first book from Hisashi Kashiwai, and it was a nice read.
This is book 3, but you can read it without having read the first two (I didn't read them). You grasp the concept relatively quickly.
I always like Japanese Literature, I find it very "soothing". It's low-stakes (compared to a thriller, for example), and it's very different from what we can read elsewhere. I like the concept of the food detectives. It reminds me of some dishes I'll never be able to taste again, due to a late parent.
The book reads quickly and breaks easily with the different chapters - each has its own "mystery" and food research. It can become quite repetitive, but it's part of the concept.

Pick it up if you like:
- Low-stakes/No stress reading
- Food (if you don't like food, don't read, there are pages of food description)
- Japanese literature