Crown PrinceTwo Layer Brisling Sardines in Extra Virgin Olive Oil, 3.75-Ounce Cans (Pack of 12)

A little expensive.

I bought this after being very satisfied with the "natural" version of Crown Prince Two Layer Brisling Sardines in the tan colored box. I figured this product in the red box, lacking the nonspecific "natural" moniker, might be the same, for a few dollars cheaper by the dozen cans. My last case of the tan box and red box tasted a bit different, but I can't say for sure if it was a batch-to-batch variation or if it was intentional by Crown Prince. The tan box "natural" sardines had noticeably more smoky flavor than the red box sardines. Both boxes claim "naturally wood smoked", but the sardines in the red box I bought have less smoky flavor. Both products had delicious, small, attractive, headless sardines slathered in oil that I drained off to the best of my ability before eating. The fish are good quality as is the BPA-free packaging. There are about 14 sardines per can, with most of the skin and tail intact. I slightly prefer the ones in the tan box based on flavor. These are good quality sardines that claim to be wild-caught and sustainable.Edit Feb, 2018: Bought this item again and it no longer claims "BPA Free" on the label (top right corner of the front now has a "NON GMO Project VERIFIED label) but now reads on one side panel "WARNING: Contains Chemicals Known To California To Cause Birth Defects, Reproductive Harm." My guess is they added BPA back to the packaging (which might not be a big deal unless you cook your sardines in the can)

I am new to sardines but I am a big fish lover and eater of herring off and on. I was looking for a nutritious lunch item to add to my diet and after reading lots of reviews I started with the King Oscar brand. I found it rather soft, mushy, and fishy. I even had a hard time getting the fish out of the tin as a whole piece, I heard co-workers complaining of the fishy smell and knew it wouldn't work as a lunch staple.Remembering most of the bad reviews for the Crown Prince brand seemed to be "too dry", "too smoky" as compared to the KO brand so I decided to give it a try. I definitely prefer "Crown Prince Brisling Sardines Two Layer" to the equivalent Crown Oscar offering, and at current Amazon pricing it is also over $8 cheaper.I wouldn't call the CP fish dryer than KO, I would say firmer you can actually get a whole fish out of the tin with out it breaking apart with chopsticks or a fork. The flesh is firmer but not nearly dry and flavorless as some reviewers would make it out to be.As for the smoke flavor, I found the CP brand had the flavor notes generally associated with a naturally smoked product. I prefer this to the more acidic flavors of liquid smoke I picked up in the KO brand. Watch the labeling on food items "Natural Wood Smoked" in the USA means the real deal. Users of liquid smoke have all kinds of terminology on labels to hide the fact they are not actually smoking the product.CP is way less smelly than KO and should help with co-worker/family interactions.FYI, another thing I noticed in the reviews is the positives for KO were more evident prior to them being bought out by Bumble Bee.

Good food. Made it a meal

I picked this bran because it said packed in mustard. Turns out it too was a sauce containing corn starch and soybean oil, Not good for your health and is why there is 4 grams of carbohydrates per serving.

After seeing the Good Eats show about how Alton lost so much weight, me and my b/f were very interested in the Sardine sandwich he makes in the show that calls for Brisling SardinesYou can find the recipe here[...]So we went to the super market and the only brisling sardines we can find in oil was King Oscar Sardines but it was almost 5 dollars a can and we needed two of them, well okay whatevers we got it.We got home and made thie recipe... and for someone that hasn't ever had sardines before it was super yummers! My b/f has had sardines before and said yup brislings is the way to go. BTW if you were try this recipe at home, they say prep-time is 5 minutes which it is but there is a 1-hour wait time while the sardines soak in the sauce that you have to prepare for, we wanted to eat it right away and it was still pretty good, but since then we have waited and it is better if you wait.Anyways being kind of a frugel person 10 bucks for protein is not what I call a low cost meal for a dinner for two. Usually with that much chicken we can eat well for a week! So I was like got to find Brisling Sardines cheaper... and that's where Amazon comes in.This is a great deal for about half the price you can find it at local super markets and free shipping really knocked it out of the park for us.I ordered this early last week and got it before the weekend. I made the recipe this weekend and yup very good, I would say just as good as King Oscar Sardines.Happy eating!

You can't taste any of the fish because their is way too much sauce covering up the taste of the fish