It’s also a hot topic on SNS!I went to a Portuguese canned seafood specialty store that opened in New York.

• A high-end canned seafood store specializing in Portuguese seafood has opened in New York’s Times Square.
• The sardines, which are hand-deboned and mixed with gold leaf, are sold in cans shaped like gold bars for $44 (approximately 6,600 yen).
• Canned fish has been a hot topic on social media for about a year now. Ease of access is also one of the reasons for its popularity.

A specialty store selling only canned seafood recently opened in New York’s Times Square.

Canned fish has been a hot topic over the past year. Videos showcasing different types of canned seafood on TikTok have been viewed millions of times, and brands like Fishwife, a high-profile Los Angeles canned fish startup, have mushroomed. The affordability of canned food, which can be purchased for less than $3 (approximately 450 yen), probably plays a role in its popularity, but high-end canned food that costs $50 is also gaining attention.

Fantastic World of the Portuguese Sardine, a magical world library decorated from floor to ceiling with shelves filled with canned seafood, at least In terms of price, it can definitely be classified as a luxury store. The store is also attracting attention on social media.

Canned fish plays an important role in the food culture of many countries, including Portugal and Spain. Fantastic World of the Portuguese Sardines is already an established brand in Portugal, but the Times Square location is the first time it has opened overseas.

I immediately took a look at the store.

Fantastic World of the Portuguese Sardines is located in the middle of Times Square

I saw many passersby taking a second look at the shop window and peering inside.

The interior is decorated with a “magical world library” theme — canned seafood lined up on floor-to-ceiling shelves along the walls.

Project manager Joana Quaresma said that for her, the store is about introducing Portuguese “classics” to Americans and helping them get to know Portugal better.

“We decided to create this fantasy because sardines are a very important ingredient for us Portuguese people.Sardines are one of the best things our country has to offer and we want to give them the attention they deserve. ” Quaresma said.

I am particular about the decoration…

All of the store’s iron decorations were made in Portugal by Portuguese artisans and brought to the U.S. in time for the opening, Quaresma said. The books on the top shelf were also imported from Portugal.

Marching band music was playing from the speakers, and I could even hear the American marching song “The Star-Spangled Banner Forever”. A wall decoration inside the store notes that John Philip Sousa, the composer of this march, is of Portuguese descent.

Canned sardine prices range from $12.80 for regular canned sardines to $46.40 for smoked sardines.

Many of the canned goods in stores are in the high-end category. Canned tuna is $19.60, and sardines with flavors like lemon, pepper, and tomato are all $19.60. Smoked salmon costs $29.30, marinated eel costs $32.30 and canned sea bass costs $32.40. The only two types you can buy for under $15 are regular sardines (other than small sardines, timeless sardines, skinless/boneless sardines, and flavored sardines) and horse mackerel.

Canned sardines called “Portuguese Gold” cost $44.

This canned sardine, designed to look like a gold bar, is filled with gold leaf. The bones and skin of each sardine are removed by hand, which takes about 15 minutes per can, Quaresma said.

“We wanted to bring out the best in sardines. That’s why we made it gold. It’s truly a treasure.”

Regular skinless, boneless cans of sardines without gold leaf cost $30.

The art on each can and box is as playful as the store itself.

Some packaging designs are based on Portuguese traditions, while others are based on manga and pop art.

The show windows and walls of the store are lined with canned goods with various year names engraved on them.

As a marketing gimmick, the store’s “Timeless Sardines” series includes all the years since 1916, so you can purchase them as gifts to mark your birth year or other commemorative years. Each can also includes historical events from that year and the names of famous people born that year.

Andy Fuentes, 25, whom I met at the store, discovered the store on TikTok and came to buy Timeless Sardines as a present for his Portuguese boyfriend.

“His birthday is coming up and he loves sardines, so I thought it would be a good idea to give him a can of milestone years, such as the year he was born or the year he graduated from high school.”

Of course, you won’t actually be eating vintage sardines. Regardless of the year stamped on the can, all sardines were recently canned.

In addition to sardines, there are also canned codfish — each with illustrations of various Portuguese cities.

Lisbon, Porto, and Madeira are all cities depicted on the cans that have Fantastic World of the Portuguese Sardines stores.

Mr. Quaresma provided two canned foods for review—canned sardines and canned octopus.

Fantastic World of the Portuguese Sardines originally specialized in canned sardines, but soon expanded to include other canned seafood, such as octopus. By the way, canned octopus is selling particularly well, Quaresma said. There are many recipes using canned seafood, but I decided to simply try it with bread.

Sardines are very delicious

I’m not an expert on canned fish, nor do I have enough data to make a comparison, but I thought it felt fresher and didn’t have a fishy smell than the sardines from other supermarkets I’ve eaten. The olive oil that came with it was also delicious and I ate it with bread.

I had never eaten canned octopus before, but…it was delicious.

The canned food contained about 10 pieces of octopus legs, each about 2.5 cm thick. It was soft, not chewy like fresh octopus, but rather salty. In my case, octopus is an ingredient that I don’t often try to cook at home, so it was refreshing and fun to be able to eat octopus at home, but the canned version costs $29.80, so I decided to make this a staple at my house. is difficult. It seems better to order octopus at a restaurant.

I think this store has achieved its goal of making canned fish something special.

Mr. Quaresma has lived in Portugal all his life, but moved to New York to oversee the store ahead of its opening.

“Once you understand the importance of a product and the value behind it, you have no choice but to be passionate about it,” Quaresma said.

“I think the current trend is that the world is saying, ‘We’re doing the right thing.’ I’m very happy about that.”

Adding Fantastic World of the Portuguese Sardines to my daily food supply may be too expensive for me, but this shop, which is like a library of magical worlds in the middle of Times Square, I think it’s a special thing to have, and I’d like to see it again.

By the way, when I found a can of sardines in my birth year at a store, I learned that I was born 100 years after Enzo Ferrari, the founder of luxury sports car Ferrari, was born. What more could you want?