Original Air Date: October 11, 2017
Soma chances upon Erina, Alice, and Hisako then decides to make them taste test Restaurant Yukihira's Mapo Doufu Meal, wherein he was told that it is lacking compared to Terunori Kuga's Mapo Doufu. Afterwards, Megumi states her plan to assist Soma with his booth, helping out in acquiring tools and tasting his overly-spicy prototype dishes.
A few days later, the Moon Banquet Festival is officially opened.
This episode provides examples of:
- Adaptation Distillation:
- Soma and Megumi run into the Aldini's booth by just walking past and the brothers greeting them. In the manga, Megumi almost tripped while carrying a lot of boxes, having to be rescued by Isami, while Takumi nagged at Soma for letting her carry heavy stuff.
- Since Season 2 omitted Takumi's fanclub, the anime only barely explains that all the girls behind Takumi are just classmates that offered to join them. In the manga there's also shots of girls in the fanclub who also think Isami is cute, which isn't shown in the anime.
- Alma Mater Song: Soma is surprised by discovering that Tootsuki has a school anthem and everybody but him both know the lyrics and sing it with devotion, especially Isshiki.
- Awesome, but Impractical: Isshiki plans to make a rustic tent for his Hot Pot booth that showcases nature. Then he suggests digging an entire water circuit to have a flowing river near his post.
- Blazing Inferno Hellfire Sauce: Soma made a "Twice-cooked pork" and "Pepper Steak" to experiment with hotness, and both dishes were bright warning-hazard hot red.
- Chick Magnet: Trattoria Aldini booth managed to open with a large staff in the Main Area despite not being in any club. How? Because all the staff are Takumi's fangirls.
- Fire-Breathing Diner: Both Soma and Megumi throw fire through the mouth during Soma's trials. By the end of the taste testing, both have their mouths so red and swollen that they couldn't possibly try anything else or talk properly.
- Impossibly Delicious Food: Soma and Megumi's Hujiao Bing has juicy minced pork meat and crispy dough enough to give a delighted reaction to their first two customers.
- Lethal Chef: While trying to find the combination of spices and the right amount of hotness, Soma overdid his two test dishes, leaving both him and Megumi with numb mouths.
- Oh, Crap!: Akira has this reaction when Alice informs him that Jun gave her and Ryo permission to join the Shiomi Seminar booth.
- Who Would Be Stupid Enough?: Konishi reassures Soma that, while expulsion is on the line, he can't possibly lose money since they were taught in middle school how to manage a business, until Ikumi adds "unless you do something stupid like setting your booth next to a member of the Elite Ten".
