Our original plan was to spend the night at the Kita Kumamoto Service Area North Bound. We were surprised to find that the Service Area was under construction. The main building complex had been completely demolished and was in the process of being rebuilt. They did have basic restroom facilities and a portable that housed the souvenir shop. Since the amenities were a bit lacking, we decided to continue on to Hirokawa Service Area. We were pretty tired, but continued on for another 30 minutes. The service area had good amount of car parking and a single row of spots for buses and trucks.

It was getting late, but we decided to grab a bite to eat before calling it a night. We were interested in eating at the SA’s retro themed restaurant Showa Shokudokan, but unfortunately they were already closed. Fortunately, the food court was open 24 hours a day.

Hirokawa Service Area Food Court

We accessed our options which were between udon, ramen, and curry. We decided to try their local Kurume Ramen, the Hirokawa Ramen, and sides of their fried rice. The seating area was a simple array of brown tables and chairs. We were surprised how busy it was considering it was pretty late.

Our numbers were called shortly after and we picked up our food at the counter. We were happy with our choice of ramen. The hot soup warmed our bodies and tasted great. The Kurume Ramen’s pork based broth had a very deep and rich flavor. We later learned that what makes the broth so flavorful was the way it was produced. Instead of being made in batches, the broth is continually restocked in the pot when it gets low. This results in the new broth being mixed in and further seasoned by the older broth. The Hirokawa Ramen used the same broth from the Kurume Ramen, but had dumplings in it instead of chashu slices. The fried rice was well seasoned and the red ginger added a nice kick.

We finished up our meal and took our trays back to the service counter. After, we checked out the souvenir shop before heading back to the car. We got set up and brushed our teeth in the restrooms before calling it a night. It was pretty cold, but between our base blanket and comforter, we were comfortable in the car.

Final Thoughts

The Hirokawa Service Area was conveniently located between the major cities of Fukuoka and Kumamoto making it an ideal place to spend the night. The 24 hour food court, souvenir shop, and consistent flow of travellers gave us piece of mind. We could see ourselves stopping here again in the future.

More to Come…

Here is the link to their website.