So I just reread the Baratie arc and I gotta say this is probably the best east blue arc alongside Arlong Park. The characters, Sanji and his interactions, Mihawk vs Zoro, Gin and Sanji, the battle against Krieg which was pretty good despite how early in the story it was, just greatness.
I find it interesting how this arc establishes and develops the members of the M3. Luffy reaffirming his will and grit, Zoro showing his grit and realizing he still has much to grow, and Sanji learning to stop holding his will back for Zeffs sake.
Also powerscaling wise I found it very interesting that Oda had Sanji handling the third strongest guy, Pearl comfortably until Zeff was held hostage and he let himself take a lot of powerful blows for his sake. Then he goes on to fight Gin and he is holding his own pretty well, until the damage sustained is too much for Sanjis body to take, Oda implying through the chefs that Sanji could have won at 100%, and seeing how he beat Kuroobi, Arlongs RHM one arc after, that seems to be the case