A restaurant inside Takasaka Service Area on the Kan-Etsu Expressway is offering an all-you-can-eat curry buffet for 45 minutes at 1,600 yen or 60 minutes at 1,800 yen, tax included — and on a weekday at lunch, the place was almost empty. That was the discovery Rocket News made on a recent visit to 高坂SA (Takasaka SA), a highway rest area that you can even enter 徒歩 (toho), on foot.
The visit revived Rocket News writer Sato’s old “徒歩で来た！” series, in which he and editor Nakazawa looked for service areas and parking areas that can be reached without a car. Normally, these expressway facilities are places you cannot access unless you have a vehicle, but some have walk-in gates. This time, they chose the inbound Takasaka SA and found a surprisingly 穴場 (anaba), or hidden gem.
How the walk-in visit worked
From central Tokyo, the trip to the facility took about 1 hour and 40 minutes one way. Sato started at JR Nakano Station, went to Shinjuku, then Ikebukuro, and 乗り換える (norikaeru), transfer, to the Tobu Tojo Line for Kita-Sakado Station, the 最寄駅 (moyorieki), or nearest station.
He described the area around Kita-Sakado as quiet, with a bed-town 雰囲気 (fun'iki), or atmosphere. From there, he took the Sakado New City Nissai Loop Line bus operated by Kawagoe Kanko Jidosha, got off at Toguchi two stops later, and walked about 20 minutes, roughly 1.3 kilometers.
He reached the walk-in entrance without much trouble. From Kita-Sakado Station, the total walking time was just over 30 minutes, making it a fairly accessible expressway rest stop even without a car.
A surprisingly full buffet
Inside Takasaka SA, Sato skipped the food court and headed for the restaurant, where the sign advertised 食べ放題 (tabehoudai), all-you-can-eat curry. After paying in advance, he chose the 45-minute option, saying 60 minutes was more than he needed.
The restaurant asked diners to wear plastic gloves when taking food, return dishes after eating, and only take what they could finish. The buffet started with salad items such as shredded cabbage, lettuce, and potato salad, then moved on to fried foods including tonkatsu, fried chicken, croquettes, and fries.
There was also spaghetti napolitan, fried rice, mini udon, unlimited soft drinks, and ice cream. The ice cream is made in-house, according to the restaurant. The operator is Kojimaya Nyugyo Seika Co., Ltd., a company that manufactures and sells ice cream and also runs another expressway facility, the downhill side of Pasar Moriya on the Joban Expressway.
Five curries, and one clear favorite
The main curry station had six warmers. One held soup, and the other five held beef curry, butter chicken curry, green curry, beef tendon curry, and hayashi rice.
Sato said the buffet felt especially 充実 (juujitsu), substantial and satisfying, because even one all-you-can-eat curry would have been enough, but here there were five kinds plus many side dishes. Even so, while many people were using the food court, he was the only customer in the restaurant at that time on a 平日 (heijitsu), a weekday.
He first took salad and Chinese-style soup, then side dishes including napolitan, scrambled egg, stir-fried meat and vegetables, tonkatsu, and fried chicken. For the curries, he put rice and fried rice on one plate, added two curries there, and used another plate for the remaining three.
His tasting notes were specific. The beef curry had no large chunks of meat but a clear beef flavor. The butter chicken curry had very little meat and stronger vegetable sweetness than chicken flavor. The beef tendon curry did include pieces of meat and paired well with plain rice. The hayashi rice was mildly sweet, with tomato acidity and a softer flavor, but had less impact than the stronger curries.
Among the five, he judged the green curry the most complete. He liked its coconut sweetness, gentle spice, larger amount of meat, and bamboo shoots. Even so, he did not get seconds of it, because he had already decided to finish with katsu curry and thought standard beef curry would match tonkatsu better.
He ended the meal with ice cream and coffee. His verdict was simple: on weekends, traffic users likely make the area crowded, but on weekdays, this buffet looks like a real hidden gem that you can visit even without a car. The original report appeared in Rocket News.
Learn Japanese from This Article
Vocabulary
| Japanese | Romaji | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 徒歩 | toho | on foot; walking |
| 最寄駅 | moyorieki | nearest station |
| 乗り換える | norikaeru | to transfer (trains/buses) |
| 雰囲気 | fun'iki | atmosphere; vibe |
| 充実 | juujitsu | being substantial; well-filled; fulfilling |
| 穴場 | anaba | hidden gem; little-known good spot |
| 食べ放題 | tabehoudai | all-you-can-eat |
| 平日 | heijitsu | weekday |
Grammar Spotlight
〜なければ〜ない
Pattern: noun / plain form + なければ + negative result Meaning: if not..., then cannot / do not...
From the article: 当然ながらSA・PAは高速道路にある施設なので、車がなければ行くことができないのだが、歩いて入場できる場所も少なくないのである。 Touzen nagara SA・PA wa kōsokudōro ni aru shisetsu na no de, kuruma ga nakereba iku koto ga dekinai no daga, aruite nyūjō dekiru basho mo sukunakunai no de aru. Naturally, service areas and parking areas are facilities on expressways, so if you do not have a car, you cannot go there — but there are quite a few places you can enter on foot.
Example: 時間がなければ、45分コースを選べない。 Jikan ga nakereba, yonjūgo-fun kōsu o erabenai. If you do not have time, you cannot choose the 45-minute course.
Example: 最寄駅がわからなければ、歩いて行けない。 Moyorieki ga wakaranakereba, aruite ikenai. If you do not know the nearest station, you cannot go there on foot.
〜てみる
Pattern: verb in て-form + みる Meaning: to try doing something
From the article: 久しぶりに行ってみっか！ ってことで、関越道の高坂SA（上り）に徒歩で訪問。 Hisashiburi ni itte mikka! tte koto de, Kan-Etsudō no Takasaka SA (nobori) ni toho de hōmon. Why not try going again after a long time? So he visited the inbound Takasaka SA on foot.
Example: 歩いてサービスエリアに行ってみる。 Aruite sābisu eria ni itte miru. I’ll try going to a service area on foot.
Example: グリーンカレーを食べてみる。 Gurīn karē o tabete miru. I’ll try eating the green curry.
Useful Expressions
徒歩で来た！ Toho de kita! I came on foot!
めちゃくちゃ空いている Mechakucha suite iru Extremely uncrowded
食べ切れる分だけを取る Tabekireru bun dake o toru Take only as much as you can finish
Continue Learning
- Conditional Forms: Tara, Ba, To Hypotheticals: Want to use 〜なければ from this article yourself? Our Conditional Forms: Tara, Ba, To Hypotheticals lesson covers it.
- Compound Verbs: Nuanced Action Layers: Want to use 〜てみる from this article yourself? Our Compound Verbs: Nuanced Action Layers lesson covers it.
- Time and Dates: Tense-Free Expressions: To understand more about 時間, explore our Time and Dates: Tense-Free Expressions lesson.
これからもよろしくお願いします。 Kore kara mo yoroshiku onegaishimasu.