UPDATE: Natu-Lino Gelateria ナチュリノ・ジェラート 022-397-8235

Please read my previous post about Natu-Lino HERE.

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 near the AEON Town/MAX Foods in Natori.  Or about a 15-minute walk from the Morisekinoshita JR Station (taking the Sendai Airport Access Line).

Map:  Scroll down below.

Open everyday except Thursdays, from 10 am to 6 pm.

This bump up to my FAVORITES LIST is way overdue, but since I’ve made well over a dozen visits in just over three months, I thought I should finally write this post.

How heavenly delicious is Natu-Lino gelato?  

Well, I no longer care for Baskin-Robbins 31 Flavors Ice Cream.   It now tastes bland to me.  And I used to love the Rocky Road and Oreo Cookies N’ Cream at 31 Flavors (that’s what I was brought up calling it)!

I visited the lusciously, creamy Natu-Lino yet again today, and because I’ve been loyally using their stamp card, I received a free single cup of gelato!  

For every 500 yen spent, you receive one stamp.   On the tenth stamp, you receive one single cup.  On the twentieth stamp, you receive a 500 yen coupon.  With the hot summer approaching, I’m sure it won’t take me long to obtain that.

I’m happy to see that this place is always busy, as a few times the line has been out the door and into the parking lot (though service is quite quick!).

Here are a couple of new flavors that they’ve added since my last post.

Tomato Sherbet

Coconut Milk

Soy Milk Banana

Pineapple Sherbet

Despite these unique flavors, picky me still sticks with my Double Chocolate.  Unfortunately, my wife’s favorite of Banana-Milk Chocolate is either not made or often sold out, so she'll also order the same as I do.

W チョコ

A helpful tip:  Because gelato is not served as cold as regular ice cream, it melts quite quickly.   Although the cone served here is quite tasty, I’ve encountered, shall we say, “problems” with the gelato melting much faster than I could consume it.   I’ve been sticking with ordering a double scoop in cups since it’s started warming up.  You should be safe with a cone when ordering a single scoop.

Again, I have to graciously thank my good friend, Michael Martin, for turning me on to this place.   His photography work graces the well-decorated interior of this shop.

A brief sampling of my friend's work

I hope you enjoy this gelato as much as I have!

Natu-Lino Gelateria ナチュリノ・ジェラート 022-397-8235

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.

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

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.

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.   

A sampling of my friend's work

Poporo Gelato Shop - Matsushima ポポロ・ジェラートSHOP 022-354-6322

Website:  http://www5b.biglobe.ne.jp/~mikazuki/poporo/top.htm

Address:  宮城県宮城郡松島町高城字浜３８－３.   Located just off Route 45 near Matsushima Dai-ichi Elementary School.  About a 15-minute walk from Matsushima JR Station (not to be confused with the more touristy Matsushima-kaigan JR Station.  Although, it’s about a 25 to 30-minute walk from there).

Map:  Scroll down below.

Open:  Their website states 10 am to 7 pm from April to October, and closing at 6 pm from November to March.  But in reality they seem to close at 5 pm all year round.

My friend, Helen, recommended this gelato shop to me a couple of years ago, as she knew that I drove out to Matsushima on a weekly basis.   But because I’m bad at directions I could never find the place.   

I changed my route one day, and lo and behold, there it was!  Actually, it took me quite a few trips down that route to notice the giant ice cream cone on top of the building.  Apparently, I’m oblivious to the obvious.

Poporo advertises itself as using 100% all natural ingredients to make the highest quality, homemade Italian gelato.  I’m no authority on gelato (though I did try my best to become one during my trip to Venice), but this mom-and-pop gelato shop offers up some creamy, rich gelato.

My two favorite flavors are the chocolate and chocolate chip (stracciatella).  Pretty plain, huh?

But I’ve also tried the vanilla, which wasn’t sweet enough for my taste buds, and the choco-banana, which tasted much more banana than chocolate.

Vanilla and Chocolate on a double cone

Overall, I would say that Poporo’s gelato is not nearly as sweet as traditional ice cream, yet it is much creamier, which seems to suit the Japanese palate.  My wife loves the Jersey Milk flavor and thought that my vanilla was great.

One complaint I would have is the taste of the cone.  I ordered a double cone for 330 yen because it appeared to be the best value (as opposed to a single cone for 280 yen).  But every time I’ve ordered the double cone, the cone tasted, shall we say, not exactly from an unopened box.  More like a day-old cone.

I’ve been more satisfied ordering a single scoop in a waffle cone (300 yen).  And even then, this is no sweet Baskin-Robbins 31 Ice Cream waffle cone, but at least much fresher than their standard double cone.

Check out their website for their list of 33 flavors of gelato and sorbettos, though not all are available at the same time.

A small sampling of their offerings.

There are a couple of tables inside with air conditioning, and a good sized parking lot.  You can also order 500 gram packs of ice cream to take home.

If you’re visiting Matsushima and are hankering for something cold and creamy, I highly recommend Poporo Gelato Shop!

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