S06:E12 - Spice Up Your Life

[Thrond 3,257]

I think it’s also important to point out that Rarity was with Coriander and not Saffron. Coriander was definitely more interested in keeping the place open than in keeping the aesthetic. Rarity easily could have interpreted this as the number one priority, making conformity the way to go.

 

This is, I think, the most significant thing: In "Canterlot Boutique," Rarity discovered that she valued creative fulfilment over financial success. However, here she perceives that Coriander cares more about attracting customers, so knowing the influence of Zesty's hoof ratings, she does what she thinks is necessary to get what she thinks the Coriander wants. She doesn't realize that it's completely futile in this case until after the attempt to court Zesty's favour fails. In "Canterlot Boutique," the idea was that an unfulfilling approach to business is unsustainable. Meanwhile, while "Spice Up Your Life" is similar, we don't immediately see any dissatisfaction.

 

Rarity certainly values uniqueness, but she understands Canterlot from the perspective of its "high society." She's not even familiar with more distinctive food options in the area, and as a result, she can only apply her limited knowledge of Canterlot high society. Trying the Tasty Treat was to step out of her comfort zone, and although Rarity may be creative, Coriander didn't particularly encourage her to think outside of the box. By the time Rarity got any significant objection to her idea, it was too late. 

 

Not that this is a particularly brilliant character showcase or anything, but I at least found it inoffensive. 

[Twilight Frost 271]

It was alright, a bit awkward at times but it really came together at the very end of the episode. 

[Sunny Fox 5,929]

I enjoyed this episode, I liked seeing Canterlot explored again and loved Rarity and Pinkie in this episode. Also loved the family dynamic between Saffron and Coriander, their relationship was explored perfectly and seeing them come back together was heartwarming. Zesty was both snooty and rude and reminded me of Anton Ego from Ratatouille. Loved the song in this episode, it fit with the overall theme and was very catchy. 9/10 episode!!

 

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Nice... I figured many of the ponies featured in the final scene were meant to be representatives of real life chefs, I just didn't recognize them all. This helps muchly. Thanks.

[FizzyBubbleTea 41]

I loved the inclusion of a ponies of different ethnicities. I mean they could have done a little better with Coriander Cumin's voice but thats all that I have a gripe with. But I loved they're designs and the fact they're names are spices mainly used in Indian cuisine is great. I'm hoping we can see Coriander and Saffron at least once or twice through the rest of the season.

[Sh Pie 65]

This was an awesome episode that returns to the Cutie Map summoning Pinkie and Rarity to solve a friendship problem in Canterlot. The underrated restaurant, The Tasty Treat, is represented by an elephant, one of the less seen animals in the show. The Mane Six's pets include an owl, a dog, a cat, a crocodile, a mischievous bunny and a tortoise. Once more, Canterlot ponies are jumping on the bandwagon and letting a mean food critic dictate what's cool to eat. Presentation and nutrition are important but taste will always be my priority.

 

While it was surprising to see another antagonist refuse to be redeemed, the animators clearly designed her to look like an antagonist and somepony we're supposed to root against. When the song started, I noticed that Pinkie and Rarity weren't on the same page. Pinkie wanted to preserve the restaurant's originality and show Zesty the value of taste, Rarity was focused on meeting Zesty's standards at all costs. I sided with Pinkie since Season 5 episode 1 and 2 shows that everypony has a right to be unique in their own way and the moral of this story is that just cause something is a minority doesn't make it inferior or bad.

[Crusaders Forever 88]

Haven't seen this yet and won't read into much but... Do it play out like Gordon Ramsey's Kitchen Nightmares and discovers things like tons of rotten food I their industrial refrigerators?

 

You mean also like Restaurant Impossible? To answer your question though. No it's not like that at all.

[Amethyst Splash 86]

This was a very interesting episode. But the same song had to appear more than once. And it was kinda annoying

[The Guy 22]

It was a decent episode, but nothing spectacular. I'd say it was one of the better episodes of the season though.

[CrystalRarity 118]

Want to make two petty complaints.

 

One, what kind of a name is Restaurant Row.  The most boring kind!!  Really, what even-

 

Two~  Zesty was ruined.  Beginning with, having Zesty go into The Tasty Treat at the end just to complain herself is weak.  No self-respecting pony in her position would…  Yes, she's an antagonist but must we make her an embarrassing one?  Before that, she was nicely scathing.  Really, to Rarity…..    Ahem, but then she seemed just like a child.  Writers went and made Zesty out with her apparently trying to control hungry ponies in Canterlot, rather than her having been writing her opinions, and other ponies liked them and followed them.  This episode is a fairytale for ponies who read articles with "actually" in the title.  What you find insane and hoity-toity you needn't eat; and what a food critic finds unsavory, they needn't comment on more than once.  Lazily vilifying characters like those which inspired Zephyr Breeze and Zesty only shows ignorance and encourages stereotypes/inaccurate cliches.  

 

That paragraph may read passionately, but idk how important this actually is, la di da, bye

[Glimmer 78]

Really liked this one! The song was one of my favorites of the season so far, but some of the lyrics were a touch forced. Example being rarity saying "just be the same" in contrast to pinkie's "be unique", which is kind of an awkward lyric. 

[BrawnyCharger 511]

As a lover of food I really enjoyed this episode. I really enjoyed the message as well. I also found the Rarity and Pinkie Pie interaction to be interesting as well. 

[Grepper 3,192]

This was a pretty good episode. It introduced several unique characters, and it had a good moral.

[Multi-screen 2]

"I would think even you could recognize that the decor here is trying desperately while desperately failing"

 

Bu..but they got everything exactly perfect, the bad food, the lights, seats, wallpaper, even the signs on the walls with the geometric shape! Maybe Zesty just hates rhombuses.

[Shadow lance 45]

i really liked the episode and i think it is awesome that their is a pony version of India  :-o

[BikerDash 24]

I liked the episode, it's always cool when they pull in more "ethnic" ponies.. shows that there are lots of different kinds people in the world.  Also, I loved the theme of not trying to be like everyone else.

[Azureth 686]

So not sure if anyone else has pointed it out, but there is one animation error from the episode that REALLY stuck out at me the first time I saw it:

 

Sweet Biscuit is hovering over the stool! I don't normally get to bothered by animation errors but this one really stuck out like a sore thumb to me.

Edited August 5, 2016 by Azureth

[Lexamena 391]

I liked the episode, but its another situation where the ponies pretty much screwed up someone's life in the interest of solving a perceived friendship problem. Most notably how AJ singlehandedly ruined RaRa's Countess image and brand in an earlier episode. Same here pretty much. In this episode, Rarity nearly ruined these poor ponies livelihood by injecting her own opinion into the situation. Also, who paid for TWO total renovations to this restaurant? Not Rarity. Pinkie just tossed perfectly good and probably expensive decor in the dumpster. I get what it is trying to illustrate, but it totally irks me. This is one reason why I hate the cutie mark map. Also a reason why I don't like the ponies being friendship warriors/superheroes in general. I prefer episodes where the ponies solve their OWN problems, then they're not affecting the livelihood of others. This ended up being a lesson for Rarity, nobody else. Which that's fine, even preferred for me but I don't like that they had to nearly destroy the dreams of other ponies for Rarity to learn something. But that's just me.

Edited August 6, 2016 by Lexamena

[Honeysuckle 135]

i like how Rarity overcame her own... i wouldn't say prejudice.... but her negative feelings to anything outside the box. I like how Rarity gave something new a chance.

 but i LOVE how Pinkie is already open minded and ready to try anything knew you throw her way!

finally seeing them get on the same page to save the tasty treat was wonderful 

[4april 374]

 

 

As for the episode, it looked like a tribute to Indian bronies, are there many/any? It was very Indian themed but for the diversity of Equestria, the introduction of these two ponies and their restaurant is a brilliant idea, the father, typical with that accent l;ol. I can say from personal exp, I find some of the Indian food delicious and spicy!

 

 

Not many Indian bronies. I live in India and don't think there are a lot, mostly because people are not aware of a show called My Little Pony. I should probably show this episode to some of my friends in India. By the way, I don't speak like Coriander.

 

I personally liked the episode, although Rarity was kind of a jerk at some moments.

[Pastel 7,627]

That intro...so Twilight and Glimmer fixed the map just like that? Loved the "Twilight and Twilight at Twilight's castle" though xD

 

And good episode overall, but it's a lot like the other "map episodes".

 

 

[GiFTGewEhrSCHutzen-4 8,827]

Since there's a Gordon Ramsay pony here, and I could be wrong in this one, or could be just a coincidence, perhaps a Nigella Lawson pony? Reason why I brought it up because of the red shirt that pony was wearing, and I also remembered watching one of Lawson's cooking videos wearing that as well. Oh, and also the similar hair/mane style. Here are some pics just for you guys to get an idea what I'm talking about...

The pony in the right wearing a red shirt.

 

And here is Nigella Lawson.

[MystMane 6]

Catchy tune, exotic scenery and a moral that applies to real life as well.

I can't tell you the amount of times I've heard people decide on watching a movie based on the review of critics. 

Overall, a very fun episode.

[Moony the Cat 3,695]

I liked the Episode, i just dont understand why the Map thinks that helping an restaurant is super important, but okay, i guess it was more about the Family Problems. Also i thought that the restaurant critic herself would maybe learn a lesson or taste the food and actually enjoy it, instead of just leaving and ending the Episode there. It was a bit anticlimatic...or however thats spelled, i would look how its spelled but i dont even know the german word for it. XD

[Nye 1,652]

It was good irony throughout, the only flaw I could see was that the restaurant connoisseur didn’t taste the food.

[Ruddboy Olaf 10,627]

It was good. I loved the friendship between Pinkie and Coliander, loved Saffron's uncaring attitude, it had a good moral, and now Gordon Ramsay is canon in the show.
My only complaint is that Ramsay didn't rate the restuarant.