I honestly enjoy this episode a lot. It's a fun one, and it has the best shots and use of the Promenade in the entire series.
(Avery Brooks had a wonderful eye for shots... just look at how the cave set was shot in "IMPROBABLE CAUSE". THAT is the gold standard on how to film in a cave set.)
My question was always this... did the scene between Kira and Bashir set off the romance between their real life counterparts, or was the scene a sort of nod to them saying, "We all know you dig each other"?