The Costco Fish Find You Should Just Leave On The Shelf, According To Bummed-Out Shoppers

Costco's freezer aisle is a fabulous place to cast a net for tasty and convenient dinner items, but not all of the warehouse chain's frozen seafood products are such a catch. According to many reviewers, Costco-sold Sea Cuisine Guinness Battered Fish Strips are a clear miss. This beer-battered fish — available at Costco in a 2-pound pack that costs a little over $12 on average at the time of writing – have left many shoppers deeply disappointed.

In a Reddit thread on the r/Costco subreddit discussing the seafood product, one user said, "I found these extremely heavy and greasy feeling, and not in a good way," a sentiment that several other commenters shared. Another person shared, "Bought these on sale and they were tasteless and mushy and ended up throwing them out." A slightly more generous reviewer commented, "I suppose they could move up a couple notches after you've had several pints of actual Guinness." A few people said they enjoyed the frozen fish product, but the overwhelming majority found the strips mediocre at best, firmly establishing them as one of the seafood items you should never buy at Costco.

Costco's Sea Cuisine Guinness Battered Fish Strips consist of wild-caught Alaska pollock with a crunchy, Guinness coating, which sounds delightful enough. However, many would argue that the first red flag is in the name because the strips are made with the one type of brew you really shouldn't use for beer-battered fish: stout. The magic of a good beer batter is the impossibly light and crispy crust, which pairs beautifully with flaky white fish. This lacy, golden effect is best achieved with lighter beers like lagers and pale ales. Dark, bitter stouts like Guinness tend to result in a heavier, greasier batter, and their strong flavor can be overwhelming when paired with mild white fish — precisely the issues many reviewers complained about in the Guinness Battered Fish Strips.

One Reddit user commented, "Guinness is my beer of choice and I'd still give these a 5/10. The dark bitterness of the Guinness doesn't lend itself to good fish and chips like a lighter beer." Another person said, "Guinness goes with fish and chips. Not in fish and chips." Luckily, there are plenty of other fish in the sea (also known as the Costco freezer aisle) — here are 13 Costco frozen seafood items worth buying, according to customer reviews.