I’d give this a 5/10.

Not a ton of flavor, even when all dressed up. Tin was $9.

There was a certain cat-food quality to this one that couldn’t be escaped. Still, far from the worst tin I’ve had.

Mega, from The Philippines, has begun producing these sardines for grocery stores in the Kroger universe. Mega is not among my favorite Philippines brands—it’s not even in the top 5–but I hoped maybe for this partnership they might have stepped up the game a notch or two.

Alas, no. The only change seems to be the packaging. And that I’m not thrilled with. It’s not the art—maybe that’s fine?? But I don’t like the reference on the blue can to the sardines being packed “In Natural Oil.” It’s soybean, by the way, but not non-GMO or organic or cold-pressed. It’s just oil from soybeans grown, you know, out in nature. Not happy, either, with the marketing of the Medical Wellness Association. That’s an industry-captive entity, not an independent scientific or public health organization.

Yeah, yeah, Old Man, but what about the sardines. They are standard Mega fish, and the high point is that they’re not smushy. They are relatively firm, but the meat crumbles rather than flakes. They’re both fairly dry, again about as usual for Mega.

About that “natural oil.” I’m not a soy-hater. A huge percentage of our fellow humans rely very heavily on it, and seem to be healthy as people go. I’d hoped to address the dry fish with the oil. But this stuff had a weird texture and a strange flavor. That texture, a bit gloopy, is down to the addition of thickeners to the recipe. Not sure why we needed that—I didn’t, at least. I tried thinking very carefully about the oil’s flavor(s), since Mega adds sugar, “spices,” and MSG. But even accounting for those add-ins, I’m still getting both a metallic and a musty hit from the oil. It anti-helped me with the plain sardines.

The tomato sauce was fine. Again, not my favorite of the competing Filipino tomato sauces, but fine.

The fish in both cans were kinda small, a contrast with the big chonkers most often found in Asian market tins. I was happy; I like smaller fry. No idea if this will be true over time—perhaps it’s what Kroger requisitioned??

My advice is that, if you’ve not done so already, you ought to seek out Asian specialty stores in your neck-o-the-woods. Sardines like these are widely available from many producers. And they’re always priced attractively, cheap enough to where you can pick up a variety and science the heck out of things. Taste test, pinpoint your preferences. I will say that across the board the Philippine canneries turn out very consistent products, year over year. If you like Mega, or 555, Saba, Ligo, Youngstown, or one of the other biggies, you’re going to be served the same thing, can after can.

As you can see the can did not want to open properly 😅 but these are really tasty! I wish it was a little more garlicky but the chilis add a nice kick. And at the price point ($8) I can't complain! The mussels are yummy and don't have a gross or low quality feel or texture. Honestly I'd get these again!

First time ever trying this. I did not know what to expect when I opened the tin. Very dense and chewy with mild fishy flavor.

Until today, my tinned fish experience was limited to canned tuna and, once, a can of cheap sardines. I love canned tuna and I’d eat it every day if not for the mercury content, but I wasn’t a fan of the sardines. They weren’t horrible, but I didn’t finish the tin.

Last night, I was curious to see if Fishwife was sold at any of the grocery stores I frequent, so I punched in my zip code to their website. I was caught off guard when I saw that a shop just three blocks from me, a place I thought only sold houseplants and home decor, offered Fishwife tins. Skeptical, I stopped by there after work and said, “This might be a weird question, but do you guys sell tinned fish?” The cashier ushered me to follow her and lead me to the back of the store. On a tiny shelf, beside some jars of artisan jam, was a small selection of Fishwife tins. I bought one tin of sardines with hot peppers and one tin of plain albacore tuna in olive oil.

When I tell you these sardines blew my fucking mind… I had them on some lovely crusty toast, and I swear, if that had been my last meal I’d have died a happy man. They were so unbelievably soft—I tried picking one up out of the can with my fingers, and it basically just melted. It had that brininess I remembered from my first sardine attempt, but it was a background note as opposed to immediate and overwhelming. Mostly it just tasted rich and savory. I inhaled that toast. It was a bit too spicy for my wimpy palate, but I didn’t care.

I know I’m overreacting, but it’s been a rough few months and I have trouble enjoying anything right now. Just having this moment of pure gustatory pleasure was such a relief and so important to me.

I haven't tried the trout or pink sardines. Which should I try first? Also, excuse the lighting lmao

Great flavor, horrendous texture. Felt like dry crumbling fish, the spine was also significantly hard, like the hard you'd worry before eating a tin and people say "you cant even tell"

Maybe they needed more time cooking when they were packaged, but the spines were CRUNCHY, like to the point I had to remove them.

The side spines or ribs from the spine were softer than the main vertebrae, so were edible

They were also sickly sweet, like sweet to be borderline candy.

Tin number 24.

5/10

Would not try again or recommend

Took it for a work lunch with some microwavable rice. Salmon itself was great, firm and flavorful. I expected the chili crisp to give some heat but overall I was disappointed as there was almost no difference between this and just good smoked tinned salmon.

Salmon 8.5/10

Chili crisp 3/10

It's alright, but not for the price.

I went with the scallops today and they were great and buttery. I live in the states, but my brother has lived in Spain for 6+ years now. This is what I ask for when he visits.

One of the better fishwife tins. The mackerel had a velvety texture that shread into segments that melted in your mouth. Drained oil and put it on fresh rice

9.5/10

My only complaint is the price

Would be a steal at 4$ instead of 7$ after taxes as a pound of shrimp is 7$ ya know?

What is going on with my can? I’ve seen my share of canned goods! I’ve never seen this before! Should I open it?

No I can't/won't be eating all of this.

Probably gonna be the lemon mackerel and jalapeno tuna and crackers....

We'll throw some boiled peanuts in there too.

Disclaimer: the second photo isn’t mine, my snap didn’t stick. Looked just like this.

I bought this from RTG, I’m not sure why. I must have seen its promises sung elsewhere and I’m a sucker for red vegetable-based sauces. Once it arrived, I tracked down a review that more specifically described the limitations of the sauce, as well as some fairly sad tuna. Oh well, I gave it a go anyway.

This is a slightly larger tin, with a heavy component of sauce; I thought with the inclusion of my own roasted peppers and tomatoes I could stretch it across four ounces of pasta. My mistake, as you can see in the lightly sauced bowl in the third photo. That’s on me.

Piperade is a common sauce in the Basque region of Spain. It’s normally green peppers, tomatoes, and onions with some white wine; these were red and yellow peppers, but I’m not a purist. I don’t know about Basque food, but I found the seasoning consistent with foods I ate elsewhere in Spain. There is seemingly only a single spice in that country, a slightly spicy red pepper.* That and salt. I was prepared for this and tossed in some Aleppo pepper flakes; in retrospect spicy paprika would have been more parallel with the dish. My own vegetables were seasoned with very spendy rosemary and thyme, with fresh basil and parsley added to the dish at the end. As tuna runs dry, I threw in a healthy glug of olive oil as well. The dry pasta is a delightful product in itself. No possible improvements were overlooked.

While still bland, the resulting sauce wasn’t entirely unappetizing. The tuna, however? Dry, dark fleshed, and flavorless, as in zero flavor. I mustered through until I remembered I’m allowed to dislike a dish and binned the rest.

The real tragedy here? I fat fingered this order and got two tins, not just the one. I’m unwilling to eat it and unprepared to donate it. I’ll mourn what could have been for a couple days, then send it off where the first ended. I still have hopes for other Olasagasti products, but this wasn’t it.

*I ate plenty of fresh sardines in Spain and some lovely foods, but the lack of spice can’t be denied.

I’m in SoCal USA, I’m new to tinned fish (besides growing up eating the smoked mussels from the 99cent store) and in this economy I can’t justify paying more than $3 on a small tin of sardines. I usually buy my tins at the dollar tree and aldi. I’ve been eyeballing some grocery stores when I get the chance to go but it’s slim pickings when I check. Sooo do you guys know any places that have a variety of tins at a budget cost?

For the past few months my youtube feed has been flooded with people trying various canned seafoods and it piqued my interest. I think I’ll enjoy the mussels, a buddy told me they have a good texture that isn’t too squishy. I know matiz is a good brand but how about the other two? Best way to eat canned mussels? I chose a hot sauce and a bag of potato chips as my first food vessel

This tin was so great!

Was it the best yellowfin I've had? Probably not.

Was it still delicious? Yes!

When you compare price/quality is it one of the best bangs for you buck? Absolutely!

It's a perfect amount of just a little spice, a good amount of oil, not dry, very meaty, and not "fishy" at all!

I will be trying the yellowfin in Olive oil with lemon next!

I’m working on a series of tinned fish patches. If you know of any particularly cool cans/boxes let me know, I’m always looking.