Originally Posted by happiest_at_40000

I believe the soup is different (or maybe no soup for J).
The only soup I consume on JL is the ramen, and it's the same in J and F.
Not entirely too much different on the cheese plate.
The F version has more choices and more choices that I like. Plus, they're happy to include tins of caviar.
And interestingly the entrees are both a beef or the sea bass usually, but diff presentations.
Empirically, I'd say the F beef is higher grade than J beef ex-TYO, but there might be a bit of expectation bias at play here. At outstations, it depends on the caterer. WRT sea bass or whatever other fish they happen to be featuring, I believe it's usually the same (portion sizes, even), but with different presentations, as you note.
Ofc some diff apps + an amouse in F. I'll be on the A350 for the first time so that alone and of course with great service I should have a great flight. If the food wins me over thats a plus. I was let down on my 2 previous JL F flights, but they were out of Tokyo. Menu for me is much better ex USA.
There is significant variance among the different USA gateways. In aggregate, I've had better experiences ex-TYO.
No doubt though the food menu differentiation of J & F is by far the least out there of the top 5 F airlines I feel (def EK, SQ, AF, etc we are talking about a big difference).
The F service is far more personalized and they sort of encourage you to have as much food as you can handle if you're awake, and they know when you're awake.