Website: http://www.natu-lino.jp
Address: 宮城県名取市飯野坂字南沖93-1. Located just off of Route 4 just before the AEON Town in Natori. Or about a 15-minute walk from the Morisekinoshita JR Station (taking the Sendai Airport Access Line).
Map: Scroll down below.
Map: Scroll down below.
Open everyday except Thursdays from 10 am to 6 pm.
I found a bit of heaven today, and in Natori of all places! I may be exaggerating a bit, but it always pleases me when I find a new place that I love from first bite (first lick, in this case), and I was certainly tickled pink today.
My dear friend, Michael Martin, recommended Natu-Lino Gelateria to me last July when it first opened. Michael had the inside scoop on this joint as he was instrumental in the interior designing of the shop, as his photographs grace the walls of the restaurant.
Today’s featured flavors were as follows…
Matcha
Milk
Rice
Fig
Mushroom
Zunda
Chocolate
Vanilla
Cappuccino
Strawberry Rare Cheesecake
Sweet Potato with Black Sesame
Melon
Banana Milk Chocolate
Burnt Caramel
Yuzu Sherbet
Strawberry Sherbet
Kiwi Sherbet
Apple Sherbet
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| Wow! What a selection to choose from! |
Picky me had to go with the basics, a double scoop of chocolate and vanilla (420 plus 30 yen for the cone), while my better half decided upon a single banana milk chocolate cone (380 yen in total).
The chocolate was exquisite!
Rich, creamy, sweet, with strips of chocolate mixed in!
The vanilla was also creamy and quite nice, but I preferred the much sweeter chocolate.
I stole a spoonful of my wife’s gelato to find that the banana milk chocolate was bursting with banana flavor which she really enjoyed!
I recommend going with the cone, as it was also quite sweet and flavorful.
The chocolate was exquisite!
Rich, creamy, sweet, with strips of chocolate mixed in!
The vanilla was also creamy and quite nice, but I preferred the much sweeter chocolate.
I stole a spoonful of my wife’s gelato to find that the banana milk chocolate was bursting with banana flavor which she really enjoyed!
I recommend going with the cone, as it was also quite sweet and flavorful.
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| Vanilla and Chocolate cone |
I can’t recall a better gelato I’ve had in Japan.
The gelateria has a nice little patio with sofas that was covered for today’s blustery winter weather. They also sell coffee for 150 yen and offer a free hot tea service which is a nice plus. Take out is also available with an additional cost to cover for packaging.
The gelateria is not located on a main street, but it is just off of Route 4 and somewhat near the Aeon Mall in Natori. I Googled the address and came up with accurate directions that made it easy to find. There are ten parking spaces available and it was nice to see that business seemed to be doing well as people were coming and going with quiet regularity.
Today was my first visit to Natu-Lino, but if it were a bit closer to home I could easily see this Italian ice cream parlor having a permanent setting on my Favorites list. I can’t wait till my next opportunity to delight in this dairy nirvana!
Oh, and by the way, if you’re ever in need of a top-notch professional photographer like the good people at Natu-Lino, drop my friend Michael a line at friedtoast@gmail.com.
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| A sampling of my friend's work |
3 comments:
I tried this place after eating at the nearby stamina taro all you can eat yakiniku and boy was i not disappointed. Such a nice little gellato shop but I do wonder why they decided to set up shop in quite a remote place. By the way have you ever tried a kind of food called abura soba （油そば）its basically ramen without the soup and instead they put some shoyuu tare and you eat it with vinegar and chili oil. I tried my first one last week and have been blown away to the point of getting hooked on it.
Hi Junny,
Glad you liked Natu-Lino! I have to write an update on this place as it has now made my Favorites list.
No, I've never tried abura soba, but I've heard of it.
Do you know of a good place where I can try this?
Ps. Thank you for reading my blog!
The pleasure is all mine my friend. There are actually two places, and both of them have more than one store, but I would recommend trying out at the main stores. One is Hifumi 油そば 一二三(http://tabelog.com/miyagi/A0401/A040101/4011655/) being an abura soba exclusive shop, and also masamune
麺屋政宗 (http://tabelog.com/miyagi/A0401/A040101/4010522/) where they also serve some good tsukemen and ramen. Personally I prefer masamune for the lighter flavour and really good char siuw. Hope you enjoy!
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