Boqueria Market Tour, Paella Cooking Class, Sangria & Tapas

Amazing cooking class! Very knowledgeable chef and fun class!

We thoroughly enjoyed our paella making class. The chef, the food, the laughter, the sangria and cava were great! Matt was a wonderful guide and chef. It was a small friendly fun group. Our tour of the market and participation in preparation was great. I highly recommend this tour. Don’t hesitate!

We enjoyed the experience very much. From the market tour and sampling to eating the delicious seafood paella we made, John was the perfect host and instructor. The kitchen is a beautiful, intimate space for our evening class.

Matteo was fantastic, family had a great time and would definitely recommend!

Chef Matteo was the best. His market tour was wonderful. He was so much fun in the kitchen. Best part of my trip To Barcelona.

John was very informative, friendly and comforting! This was the best part of my trip. From the ambiance to the food, to culture. You feel directly immersed. I would do this class again in a heartbeat with the same people and 10 Johns to keep the Sangria coming!

We’ve taken dozens of cooking classes in many countries, this class was the best! Chef Mateo was very knowledgeable and presented the techniques in an uncomplicated way. We enjoyed the class, it was a major highlight of our 2 weeks traveling around Spain.

Chef Ron was very welcoming, informative and engaging. Was able to adapt a small portion of the paella to someone with a for intolerance issue. We were all asked to follow sanitary guidelines and then separated into work groups. The whole process was fun and interactive.

This was such a fun experience for our whole family! Shopping experience was soon. The cooking was so fun for our whole family, and the food was amazing! We definitely want to try this at home. Can’t recommend highly enough!!

Mateo was an amazing and informative chef! Very fun and highly recommend!

This experience far exceeded our expectations! Our host John was knowledgeable, friendly, informative, and very pleasant and approachable. The class itself was interactive with a casual feeling of collaboration and camaraderie with the other guests. We have done other cooking classes like this in other cities, and this was by far the best we’ve experienced so far!

We really enjoyed the class! Chef John took our class through an informative tour of the Boqueria Market, where he taught us about the ingredients that go into paella using the market stalls that sold them. He then bought us to the cooking class, where he taught us how to make tomato garlic toast, sangria, and seafood paella. The pace was leisurely and comfortable, and the class really enjoyed our time. Thank you Chef John for a wonderful experience! This was definitely one of the highlights of our trip.

We had a great time going thru the market. Making the paella was an experience to remember. Our tour guide was great and patient. Definitely recommend this tour.

This was so fun. Chef John took us through the market and then we went to a beautiful kitchen to cook paella. John was so cool. We each got a job, and had amazing charcuterie and wine and we even made sangria. I would highly recommend this tour. Amazing.

What a great time with Chef John! Easy to get to, though we had to find him in front of the Boqueria Market as opposed to the front door of La Rambla 89 where they told us to meet, FYI. Once we found him and waited for a couple of families to arrive by car (there were traffic detours so also recommend walking if you can) the tour started and everything was great. He showed us all the ingredients he bought there and we smelled and sampled several of them and other local products like olives and Iberian ham right from the butcher, then walked a couple of blocks to the kitchen. Had a blast making/eating/drinking pan con tomate, cava, sangria, and of course the paella (traditional seafood and vegetarian). Highly recommend and a great group activity. Book early for best value. Had to book the day-of due to stormy weather, but still worth it for the experience.

We had a great time with this. The chef was clearly knowledgeable and explained everything clearly. Our group was really small. It might have been a little more lively with a larger group, but our felt intimate and personal. The food was delicious. Can't wait to try and make it at home.

Great interactive experience from going through the market buying fish and spices to actually preparing and cooking the food to eating the food.

Chef Maria was outstanding from the market until we left. The experience felt you were invited into a home! The friendliness and comradrie was unexplainably warm and welcoming. It was a night of cooking, laughing, learning, and dining. A review of how great this experience is difficult to convey. It is a must do when in Barcelona! Thank you Chef Maria and staff for a wonderful memory and stories to share!

Do not hesitate for a second to book this! We had a blast with Matteo…everything about this was amazing. 10/10

Fantastic. Really worth it. Emma is a very knowledgeable guide and chef. She’s so gracious and fun. The food and wine and sangria were superb.

Wonderful experience with a great group and an amazing chef. We had a really fantastic time, i highly recommend this.

Had considered other classes but glad we chose this one. The market tour was interesting and kitchen was clean and modern. Chef Matteo was fun, entertaining and informative. Had a great time.

It was such a fun time! A must do experience. We enjoyed the market and cooking together. Our tour guide was fabulous!

Very fun tour of La Boqueria followed up with a Paella cooking class. Mateo our chef/instructor was very knowledgeable and very funny. My husband doesn’t cook, but even he had a great time.

We started by meeting at the main entrance of La Boqueria open air market. Our chef, Mateo, explained how to purchase fresh shell fish/seafood. Next, we walked to the school, which was set up and equiped very nicely. Mateo led us through the preparation of paella, which we ate with wine/soft drinks. Before making the paella, we learned how to prepare a tapa, and had those with wine. Very tasty! We also had lemon gelato for dessert after the paella lunch. Super tasty! I should also mention that we were a small group of six, which really made the experience more intimate and enjoyable. Mateo was thorough, detailed and organized with a great sense of humor. This class experience has been a highlight of our trip! I would definitely recommend you try it!

During our visit to Barcelona, John hosted an engaging masterclass that covered ingredient selection, sangria preparation, and, most notably, paella cooking. The experience was a standout highlight of our trip, offering a hands-on learning opportunity that was both educational and enjoyable. The practical insights provided—along with the valuable guidance on how to recreate these dishes at home—proved to be an invaluable takeaway. Truly a memorable and enriching experience.

Such a fun experience! Chef John was very understanding about us arriving a little late. I hadn’t read the details about the alternate meeting place on Sundays since the market is closed that day. John kept it exciting, was very informative, had the mood set with great music and a very relaxing atmosphere. Met 2 lovely couples from the states. Overall very nice experience and would highly recommend! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Great evening We loved it. Loved it.

Brilliant experience that we highly recommend !!

John was a friendly excellent guide for the market walking tour, as well as a wonderful teacher and professional chef who paid attention to every little detail. The cooking school itself was beautiful and spotless, with high ceilings, exposed old brick walls, and gorgeous chandeliers. When we arrived at the cooking school, we started by making Catalan tomato bread, which was served with cheese, ham, fruit, and wine. Then we made paella and sangria together. The ingredients were incredibly fresh, local, and essential to authentic Catalan cuisine. I especially loved that there were no artificial ingredients—everything was made from scratch. I was impressed with the stock that came from an enormous pot—practically big enough to climb into!—and was made with vegetables, fish, shrimp, and other fresh ingredients. And then there was the secret ingredient in the Catalan paella—something we actually had to ‘milk’ ourselves! I won’t spoil the surprise, but it added such incredible depth of flavor. You could really taste the difference in the paella. Everything we had was absolutely delicious. This tour and cooking class totally exceeded our expectations! It was one of the highlights of our time in Barcelona, and I highly recommend it!

We had a great time! Matteo was wonderful from the tour around the Boqueria Market, to showing us how to make Sangria, to making the garlic tomato bread, to cooking seafood and veggie paella, and everything in-between! The teaching kitchen was immaculate and a perfect spot for our class! Highly recommend!

This place is great. The market was a great way to start. Mateo, our chef, was a lot of fun to hang out with and cook. He was so knowledgeable but did everything in such a fun way. One of our fav things to do in Barcelona.

Chef Mateo was very fun, knowledgeable and made the cooking class so memorable. Would highly recommend. Highlight of our trip.

Such a fabulous experience! We had the best time with Chef Maria learning about the market and the class itself was amazing! From the tasting boards to the learning all the steps for the perfect paella, every moment was perfect :)

My mum and I had a wonderful time cooking with John! There was another large group that we were supposed to be with that cancelled a few days before, so it just ended up being the two of us, but we still had a lot of fun! We visited on a Sunday so there was no market tour as it is closed, but we honestly didn't feel like we missed anything. We started with some lovely Spanish charcuterie and local wines, made our own sangria, and made the paella. After dinner, John served us a lemon gelato with mint glaze on top. Delicious! After the class we received the recipe in our emails so we can (try to) make it ourselves at home. John was a wonderful host and teacher. We would definitely recommend this class to others!

What an amazing experience! The chef was amazing and we got to experience hands on how to make paella and sangria. It’s definitely worth adding this to your list!

It was a very mixed group yet Matteo made it a fun and very relaxed experience! We learnt a lot while laughing and enjoying ourselves

The chef John was really excellent! The atmosphere was also very contemporary and classy. There was an accident the caused no taxis to be able to get to our ship for two hours after we docked, so my husband and I had to walk over 90 minutes in the heat (got in over 15,000 steps), but it was worth it in the end. I was texted asking where I was when we were about 20 minutes late as we went to the Viator address of the market (really a door near it with some sign that made it seem like we were victims of a hoax, especially as the number Viator had for this resulted in a “scam likely” message telling us to hang up, so Viator needs to correct their info); on Sundays, you meet directly at the cooking class location, and I had that in my phone calendar, but was unfortunately using the Viator app ticket to direct us. Anyway, they waited for us to arrive before starting to cook (others had chopped fruits for the sangria and veggies for the veggie paella), and we lucked out in having two delightful couples to take this class with. John served us cava as soon as we sat down, and there were already tapas on the table. It was all just so relaxed and also informative (like I learned not to use orange juice in white sangria, not that I ever had, but it is interesting to know it just isn’t a good idea). John and his assistant just couldn’t have been nicer. It was a great experience for celebrating our 40th wedding anniversary!

John was a wonderful chef, guide and teacher. Kept the session lively and fun. The market place was unique. The cooking class was held in modern kitchen with AC (important in August) .

his cooking class was truly one of the highlights of our trip! Friends who had taken the class in May recommended it to us, and we are so glad they did. It absolutely lived up to their enthusiastic recommendation. Our chef and instructor, Mateo, was fantastic—knowledgeable, attentive, incredibly funny, and just so much fun to spend time with. He kept our group of eight laughing throughout the class while teaching us about Spanish and Catalan food traditions, the origins of terms like paella and tapas, and how paella differs from region to region. The fact that Mateo is Italian made some of the culinary comparisons even funnier. We learned the very important difference between Italian prosciutto and Spanish jamón—and were warned NEVER to confuse the two or even mention the word prosciutto in the market! 😂 And chorizo absolutely does NOT belong in paella. My niece, however, was granted special dispensation to use it in her personal paella—because Mateo is Italian! 😂 From the beginning, the school was wonderfully accommodating. One member of our party has a seafood allergy and doesn’t eat mushrooms, and they made sure she could participate fully. My niece had a wonderful time making her own chicken and vegetable paella while the rest of us prepared the traditional version. Mateo also shared some terrific practical tricks along the way, including an amazingly easy way to devein langoustines that I will definitely be using at home. We made delicious sangria, cooked together, laughed a lot, and learned a lot. And while our paella was cooking, Mateo introduced us to the porró—the traditional Catalan wine vessel where you aim a stream of wine into your mouth without touching the spout to your lips, moving it farther and farther away as you go. Let’s just say some of us were more successful than others! 😂 It was hilarious and had our whole group laughing. Then came the reward: sitting down together to enjoy the gorgeous family-style meal we had prepared. Everything was absolutely delicious, and sharing the meal together was the perfect ending to the experience. And we got the recipes afterward! I genuinely cannot wait to try making everything at home. A memorable, delicious, and joyful Barcelona experience. Mateo made it truly special. We would recommend this class without hesitation—and now we completely understand why our friends recommended it to us!

Great food and experience. We had Matteo as our head chef and he was fantastic. Learned a lot, he was funny, and kept our group on track to make 2 delicious paella. You had effectively unlimited wine also which was a plus. :)

Such an amazing time. The chef/teacher made the class very enjoyable.

Directions to the meeting spot I found super clear and informative Mathew was a fantactic host / chef and included as all in even though I was solo and there was a large family group and lots of couples He had us all talking cooking togeather . He took the time to be personal with each of us asking us where we are from the three hours flowed exeptioanlly well . 5 stars

This was a Top Tier experience! Mateo was knowledgeable, engaging and accommodating. The sangrias were the best I’ve ever. We learned a lot about “paella” and there were lots of things we could take home to make, not just the dishes we ate, but also ways to cook other items. GREAT EXPERIENCE!!

Emma, our host/chef, was amazing. We had several in our group who were first timers in the kitchen, but Emma made it easy for them to participate. The kitchen and event space is beautiful and well maintained. Whole experience was fun and would definitely do it again.

Matteo was a superb teacher and excellent chef. Engaged with the entire group and made the experience grand for everyone - 10 of us!!! Such a fun and entertaining experience.

My husband and I joined this paella class on our first evening in Barcelona, and it was absolute perfection. Chef Mateo is exceptionally skilled, deeply knowledgeable, and generous with his culinary tips and guidance. The drinks were flowing all night, the paella was genuinely the best I’ve ever tasted, and we even walked away with wonderful new friends from our group. We couldn't have asked for a better start to our trip!

We had a fabulous time with Chef John even though on Sunday the market was closed so we had to skip that part. We just had more time for tapas, wine, sangria, and meeting the 8 other guests from around the world looking for the same type of experience. Chef did a great job explaining preparation and splitting us into teams to make the various parts of the dishes and the sangria. I would do it again just for the experience, the sangria, and to meet great people. My husband is also a chef and he was not bored, very much enjoying cutting up the cuttlefish. Food was delicious and I didn't even want to eat the cuttlefish, but I did. It was a great prelude to watching Spain celebrate on the night they won the World Cup!

This was such an incredible and fun cooking class!! Our chef, Mateo, was so lovely to work with. He was both educational and funny! It was an experience that we would recommend to everyone traveling to Barcelona