Italian Gelato Cerchio

Gelato, with nothing to distract from it

Gelato is the entire proposition at Italian Gelato Cerchio. The shop makes Italian-style gelato and serves it over the counter, so the visit comes down to what is in the case that day and how much of it you want. There is no pastry programme or coffee menu competing for attention, and that is the appeal: one thing, treated as the main event rather than as the end of a meal.

A small room for a short stop

The room is small, plain and non-smoking, with counter seating and just enough space to eat where you bought it. It works as a neighbourhood gelateria in Nanao rather than a café you settle into, and the natural visit is a short one: choose, sit for ten minutes, carry on.

Worth the stop in Ishikawa

Cerchio was placed 50th on the Tabelog 100 in 2023, a notable placing for a gelato shop in a city the size of Nanao and the reason the name travels beyond Ishikawa. Ask for gelato, choose from the flavours in front of you, and take the shop on its own terms rather than arriving with a fixed order in mind.