Tabelog ratingMas de Lavande is a small, three-table dining room in the basement of a business hotel in Nagoya. Chef Nishino, formerly head chef at Le Mas Tourteron in Provence, cooks sauce-driven classical French, and his wife handles service, wine and desserts. The signature dish is a summer abalone-and-truffle pie baked in pastry, often served alongside live Breton blue lobster, and regulars book it a year ahead. The restaurant has won a Tabelog Award Bronze six times, most recently in 2026.
Almost every review praises the sauces and the precision of the cooking. Dishes that come up again and again include sea urchin over carrot or corn mousse with crustacean jelly, amadai (tilefish) pan-fried until the scales crisp, foie gras with white asparagus or truffle, and venison or lamb. Guests single out the careful vegetable work, portions generous enough to leave them full, and warm, unstuffy service. The kitchen will prepare lighter courses or swap ingredients on request.
Complaints are few. One 2026 diner found a ¥22,000 dinner underwhelming for the price. A 2024 regular reported wines by the glass poured without explanation and a red with floating sediment. Another guest wanted a printed menu and fuller descriptions of each dish.
Dinner is courses only, from ¥12,000 plus tax (¥13,200), and you set your budget per person when booking. Reviewers in 2024–2026 paid ¥9,680–¥11,495 for the five-dish short course and about ¥30,000 for dinner with four glasses of wine. One couple paid roughly ¥35,000 including a bottle of Drappier champagne, and a 2023 abalone-and-blue-lobster dinner with wine pairing came to about ¥49,000. The listing puts typical dinner spend at ¥15,000–¥19,999. Lunch falls in the same band but is served to groups only, and no reviewer quoted a lunch price. A 10% service charge applies, and prices rise from 1 July 2026.
Most reviewers call it excellent value for French cooking at this level, especially the short course. Only one felt the bill outran the food.
- Getting there: Hotel MyStays Nagoya Sakae, B1F. It is a 1-minute walk from Tokyu Hotel, 7 minutes from Sakae Station, Exit 12, and 6 minutes from Shin-Sakaemachi Station, Exit 1. The basement corridor looks dated, but the dining room itself is clean and pleasant.
- Booking: Reservation only, so walk-ins are not possible. With so few tables, book weeks ahead. Call 052-325-2587, ideally outside business hours; some reviewers booked through Ikkyu. Same-day requests are taken by phone only. Same-day cancellations are charged 100%.
- Payment: Visa, Mastercard, JCB, Amex and Diners are accepted. Electronic money and QR code payments are not accepted.
- Children: Children are welcome. Contact the restaurant in advance if you plan to bring a child.
- Dress code: Avoid very casual clothing.
- Seating: 12 seats, all at tables, and no private rooms. The whole restaurant can be hired for up to 20 people.
- Smoking: Entirely non-smoking.
- Parking: None. Use nearby coin parking.
- Language: French is spoken. No review mentions English support, and there is no printed menu.
- Other: The restroom is a shared one outside the restaurant. The abalone pie is served in summer only.
