Difference — Restaurant in Osaka

This is my review posted on another site, from my visit on 23.9.2017:

I was there from my wedding anniversary dinner. It was also my wife's first time to Japan. We ate here on our last evening in Osaka. Needless to say, the pressure on me (I chose and booked the place) was immense - I needed Difference to deliver. And boy did they ever.

Difference was one of the most interesting culinary adventure we have had in while (and we have had the good fortune to have dined at quite a few notable restaurants), and for this we only have chef-owner Yoshiaki Fujimoto to thank. French influence, with focus on fantastic local produce, in the hands of a young Japanese chef who brings in the expected care and attention to detail of the Japanese, but with the guts and gusto of youth to dare to be different. The result was the marrying of unexpected flavours in a perfectly cooked and thought out plate of art.

The first dish came out and it was a winner. And I feared that things could only go downhill from there. But I was wrong. each course that came out was a bundle of surprise and fine-cooking, and my wife and I couldn't wait to see what the next dish was. Although we were provided with a menu at the outset, the dish usually never turned out the way we expected. By the end of the dinner, we were surprised it was almost 3 hours since we begun - we hardly noticed the time, and that is testament to how captivated we were by the food. The final dessert tray, or my lordy lord. It made me smile from ear to ear...I have taken the liberty to upload the food (credit to my wife who took the pictures, I keep forgetting to feed my phone first). Feast your eyes.

It helped tremendously that the service was a perfect balance of warmth and professionalism without going OTT. Attention to detail was great - case in point, they printed on a ribbon their congratulations re: our anniversary. Sommelier / front of house manager (?) was on point throughout, and made some very good wine recommendations.

At the end of dinner, both the chef and the front-of-house manager saw us out the door. We even managed to capture a we-fie.

Why Difference is not more highly rated, I do not know. Because it really should be, and I hope they will be in time.

If you put a gun to my head and forced me to find something to complain about, it might be the location - it was not "central". But that wasn't a big deal, it was still accessible by subway, and if anything, that added a little charm to the place. My wife's only criticism was that the menu (only one menu, degustation style) was a little too filling for her (it was perfect for me).

All in all, the food was of very high quality, and executed to near-perfection. While the flavours may not end up being your personal favourite (there are some very bold flavours), if nothing else, it sure was an adventure that I highly recommend.

Chef and team, thank...

The issue with michelin in Japan is that it is insanely competitive. A 1 star restaurant like Difference or Le sputnik in Tokyo, would EASILY be a 2 star in many other countries.

Among the many delicious dishes, these were the amazing stand outs:

-Oyster X persimmon x sourcream/fromage blanc? Simply perfect. I suspect the oyster was slightly cooked/warmed to make it even plumper and nicer in texture.

Cod's milt with hamburg. The oily smoky dish, with the crisp panseared shirako, paired with the subtle curry spices(?) and quick sauteed leaves was life changing. I've never imagine shirako to be used this way, like a sweetbread.

Crispy scale tilefish with prawn sauce/jus & cauliflower 100% Masterful cook on the fish, accentuated by the impressive prawn sauce, which was almost brought to the brink of being too 'caramalized?' but it was balanced perfectly like flying a kite. I've had many crispy scale fish in my lifetime, but this was the most memorable.

-Sweet Soy tofu custard Again, just perfect. temperature, texture, aroma, portioning, amazing.

Notable mention: The Awabi taro ball, with clam ginger broth. Was really fun dish and reminded me of akashiyaki, maybe chef was having fun doing his take on a Takoyaki? (Taro-Yaki)

The meal was really great, with friendly chefs as service crew, absolute steal at 19000yen / pax for dinner, definitely do give them a visit!

If i had to really nitpick on issues, here are just some nonsense nitpicking:

-I know it's modern French, but would really appreciate less courses with cream based sauces, maybe swap with those thickened with xanthan or kuzu instead. (just personal preference)

-would prefer 50% less chardonnay vinegar jelly on the pear dessert, was great ice cream & pear, but too much jelly was on ours, which threw it slightly off balance

Less sweet/concentrated on the strawberry(?) palate cleanser between veal courses

-We're not tea masters or drinkers but our tea at the end did feel too astringent, either the water was too hot, or perhaps too concentrated. Or we simply dont know how to appreciate such teas 😅

Anyhow, we'd definitely revisit Difference and see it's future menus whenever we visit Osaka again.

Thank you team Difference for a wonderful and...

I'm a very fussy eater with very high standards for food, be it very yummy street food or fine dining and honestly, This is by far the best fine dining french food I have eaten in my life. And I have dined in quite a few diverse cuisines inc 3 Michelin star places in Singapore (Odette). It's excellent french technique with japanese flavours so while it is very punchy, it is not sickly heavy to the point you cannot eat. My partner really does not prefer french food but she finished all her dishes. The technique here is excellent, probably the best I had with creative gastronomy and some molecular gastronomy techniques. Insane number of courses, I think like almost 15 and the desserts were insanely good. I mean, how do you even put together the cheesecake dish with like salad lol. 10/10 would definitely recommend. And it's just 18,000 yen per pax inc tax. (I paid 700 sgd per pax in Singapore for Odette 3 Michelin but difference is nicer lmao). I'm very pleasantly surprised. Not only by the level of the food and cooking and clever use of ingredients (not overpowering with butter or cream), so the food still tastes rich but isn't as heavy as most french places that just spam butter and cream. The flavour dimensions are also more robust here (instead of just salty and creamy). I learnt alot from their food and thoroughly enjoyed myself!!! 10/10 would recommend you experience their food before they become like...