We stopped at Suruga Bay Numazu Service Area at the beginning of our long new years road trip. We got in around 22:30 and most of the restaurants and shops were already closed. Fortunately, there was a 24 hour shop, restaurant, and convenience store that were still open.

We were a little disappointed with the menu options at the restaurant Tsuruga Shokudo (するが食堂). Large SA’s would typically have a 24 hour restaurant with a pretty good selection of menu items to choose from. This would include local specialties and other regionally inspired fare. This restaurant in particular only served those items from 6:00 to 22:00. We looked at the menu that was available and we didn’t really feel like eating any of it.

We decided to just settle with some convenience store food at the attached Ministop. Somewhat surprisingly, Ministop had more food options then the restaurant Tsuruga Shokudo (するが食堂). We picked up some onigiri (rice balls), fried chicken, and steamed nikuman (meat buns).

We took them to a large seating area. The booths were arranged nicely in these staggered offset half circles that gave everyone a nice view of the city and bay below. Unfortunately, it was already dark, but we did get a nice view of Numazu’s city lights.

Suruga Bay Numazu Service Area Local Products Store

The omiyage (souvenir) shop and the local products store had quite a robust selection of goods for sale. After eating we stopped by and noticed that they had fresh sashimi bowls available and they were 50% off. If only we had checked before going to the convenience store. We’ll be sure to try them the next time we come back.

We learned that they had a number of facilities meant for long haul travelers. These included 24 hour coin operated showers and laundry machines with dryers. We took showers before leaving, but in the future it was nice to know that they were available.

The SA appeared to largely cater to truckers with its large number of truck parking space and special meal deals for truck drivers only. The amount of the space for normal passenger vehicles was quite small compared to some of the other SA’s we’ve been to.

Final Thoughts

The meal options were a little disappointing. If we had known that they were going to be so limited, we might have tried to push up to the Shimizu PA which was only 31 km away. The inside bathrooms and the 24 hour convenience store and shop insured our stay was comfortable. We enjoyed our stay at the Numazu SA, but we’re likely to try other SAs/PAs in the area next time.

More to Come…