Verb(ますstem)にくい vs Verb(dictionary form)のは難しい


hoping for some clarification here. This is my example:

これはめっちゃ粘って食べるのは難しい

The reason I used 食べるのは難しい rather than 食べにくい is because my understanding is
that にくい・やすい is used for psychological difficulty (You don't want to buy
something because it's embarrassing) versus physical/mechanical difficulty
(having trouble chewing something because it's sticky). I made a post on
HelloTalk but that natives simply told me にくい is more casual. Is that really
the only difference then?




Basically, "食べにくい" is very common. And "食べるのが難しい" is certainly not casual but
it never sounds formal too.

> having trouble chewing something because it's sticky

In your example above, since this situation leads psychological difficulty
after all, actually this is exact case of "食べにくい".

Please note these first of all.

Then, let me show my sense of the difference between "-にくい" and "-のが難しい".  
"-にくい" sounds quite intuitive/illogical while "-のが難しい" is rational/logical.
"食べるのが難しい" sounds more like "When eating it makes me thinking."

For example, when you eat boiled crab for the first time in Japan(Japanese
people really like it!), you'll find it's really technical! You have to take
one, break it off and pick meat from shell by using a special fork. You could
say "食べるのが難しいね" in such a situation.

