4h Cooking Class In Panama City: 10 Recipes & Bottomless Drinks

Fabulous coming class and experience. Chef Winnie is wonderful and the food was amazing 😍

Fantastic experience, cooking authentic Panamanian food with Chef Winnie. The meal and experience was approachable for all levels. We had a personal experience as it was just my husband and I cooking with her in her home. It was warm, great conversation, and fun! Delicious food and drinks in the end. We are leaving Panama with additional cultural experience to be able to cook Panamanian cuisine at home. Highly recommend!!!

Winni was fantastic! We had a great time and enjoyed all the recipes.

This was a really great and interactive session. I enjoyed learning Panamanian recipes

Great host, great food. The host was warm and welcoming, always great to start off with a drink!!!

Winnie is an amazing and hilarious chef. Here recipes, teaching methods and culinary prowess made our first day in Panama feel like a Sunday family dinner. By following her methods and techniques we left with the experience of a great time and the knowledge to make our own home-cooked Panamanian dishes. 10/10

Welcoming feeling, and warm environment. Definitely learned about Panamanian cuisine! Enjoyed the food and drink!

Winnie was great. Thank you so much for opening your home to me and my friends. We really appreciate that. The cooking was fun and she did a great job of explaining everything so that we didn’t ruin anything. A great night away from the city.

The grocery store is not to shop. Just to know the ingredients you'll be cooking with. So that can be skipped

Chef Winnie was amazing! Highly recommend this cooking class!

Fun and interactive class with family and others in the class.

Do this with Winnie! She is the best. It was very informative and very fun. Lighthearted and chill time. You learn a bout Panamanian food and meet new people!

Had ALOT of fun!! Food tasted amazing, drinks were amazing. This is honestly one of the best cooking experiences you could ask for.

Chef Winnie’s great. We enjoyed everything we ate & it well worth the visit!!!

Chef Winnie was amazing! I learned so much and I can’t wait to make these recipes at home!

Delightful evening with chef Winnie and the other 2 guests. We prepared the traditional Panamenian food under instructions whilst making margaritas and then sat down to eat! Delicious.

Chef Winnie is fun and engaging! The food was delicious! Definitely a great class!!

It was a really great experience, learned how to make traditional local foods, it was a good vibe with the group I was in. Chef Winnie is great

Winnnnieeee was the best , the food was amazing the atmosphere was great ! It was very intimate and beautiful! Definitely would recommend to fully experience the city 🥰 Jen and Jada will love you forever winnieeee💕!

The food and the experience was wonderful. Chef Winnie guided us and the food was very delicious!

It was great! Very homely and welcoming environment. I plan on recommending the class to my friends and family that plan to travel to Panama

Winnie is a generous teacher and chef with many great tips that are useful and others that were simply delicious! Interesting people tend to be drawn to these experiences which makes solo travel far less lonely. It’s just fun and you gotta eat right?

Chef Winnie was amazing!! We had so much fun!

Such a wonderful experience from start to finish! An amazing time with an incredible host. Chef Winnie truly loves and respects Panamanian Cuisine and is passionate about sharing it with others. She is fun, funny and sweet and made the entire experience incredible and memorable . I will highly recommend this experience to anyone passing through this way!

Winnie is amazing and very friendly. We had an amazing time!

Winnie was a gem. It was an intimate dinner for 6 of us and she was knowledgeable and entertaining as well. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and the delicious authentic food!

Chef Winnie is a really good teacher and has a lot of food knowledge she shares along the way. Highly recommend

Chef Winnie was absolutely amazing! As tourists visiting Panama, she made us feel incredibly welcomed and comfortable from the moment the class began. I thoroughly enjoyed the entire cooking experience. Her instructions were easy to follow, and her warm, engaging personality made the class even more enjoyable. Chef Winnie explained each step clearly and made sure everyone received one-on-one attention. She taught us proper knife techniques and practical kitchen tricks that we can use back home. I also loved how she shared information about Panamanian culture and explained how each dish was connected to the country’s history and traditions. It was much more than a cooking class—it was a fun and meaningful cultural experience. I highly recommend Chef Winnie to anyone visiting Panama!

I truly enjoyed my experience with Chef Winnie! I booked the cooking class to celebrate my girlfriend’s birthday and it was an amazing experience. I highly recommend anyone visiting Panama to consider this cooking class. The food was great and the atmosphere of being in a home setting was truly unique.

Chef Winnie was absolutley wonderful!! I had a great time here learning some of the traditional Panamanian dishes. Highly recommend!

Chef Winnie was wonderful! I learned so much and had a great time learning about the local ingredients and recipes!

Cooking class in the home of Chef Winnie. We had great convo during the course and made some very tasty dishes. Would recommend.

This was lots of fun! Highly recommend.

I rarely leave negative reviews, especially while I'm still traveling, but this experience was so disappointing and unprofessional that I feel obligated to warn other travelers. My husband and I booked this **4-hour Panamanian cooking class** because we were genuinely excited about it. We planned part of our vacation around this experience and were really looking forward to learning about the local cuisine. Unfortunately, we never even got the opportunity because of how this situation was handled. A few weeks before the class, we received a WhatsApp message with directions and instructions. One statement specifically said to "**estimate a 20-minute drive from the hotel areas in Panama City or Casco Viejo.**" This is extremely misleading. By our **second day in Panama**, we had already learned something that the hosts, of all people, should know: **traffic between approximately 3:00 PM and 7:00 PM is absolutely terrible.** Add in rain, and it becomes even worse. A 20-minute estimate for a 6:00 PM class simply is not realistic. Wanting to be respectful of their time, **we intentionally requested our first Uber at 5:25 PM so that we would arrive EARLY.** Before requesting the ride, Uber estimated that a driver would arrive in about 2 minutes. Once matched with a driver, that estimate immediately changed to 11 minutes...which then turned into nearly 20 minutes...before the driver ultimately canceled. Thinking it was just bad luck, we requested another Uber. That one canceled too. Then another. Canceled. Then another. Canceled. In total, **our rides were canceled four separate times (approximately 5:25, 5:47, 5:55, and 5:59 PM).** At this point, we knew we were going to be late. We were incredibly frustrated because we understood we would likely miss part of the class and lose some of the experience we had paid for. **Even so, we still wanted to attend.** We never expected the class to be restarted for us or for anyone to make up lost time—we simply wanted to participate in whatever portion remained. At **6:01 PM**, while still desperately trying to secure transportation, I sent a WhatsApp message apologizing for the delay and explaining exactly what was happening—that multiple Uber drivers had canceled on us but that we were still actively trying to get there. Eventually, we secured another Uber around **6:25 PM**, which estimated our arrival at approximately **7:04 PM** because of traffic. At **6:33 PM**, the assistant messaged asking if we were arriving. I immediately responded that **yes, we were in the Uber and would be there in about 30 minutes.** The assistant then told us to contact Chef Winnie directly. This is where the interaction became incredibly disappointing. I messaged Chef Winnie explaining that we had a reservation, that we were currently on the way, and that multiple Uber drivers had canceled because of traffic and possibly the weather. Her first response was simply: > "Hello. In 25 minutes?" I confirmed yes. Her response: > "Sorry. More than a hour late. Cooking class is cancelled." I completely understand having personal ethics. Had she simply said, "Unfortunately, we cannot accommodate arrivals after a certain time because the class is structured," I would have been disappointed but understanding. Instead, the conversation quickly became accusatory. I explained that we had been trying to get there for nearly two hours and asked if there was any possibility of making an exception given the circumstances. She replied: > "Where are you coming from? To spend more than 2 hours to join the cooking class?" I explained again that we were coming from downtown Panama City and that **four Uber drivers had accepted our rides, made us wait, and then canceled**, something completely outside of our control. Her response was: > "This is unusual. Panamanian need money by the end of the month. And coming from downtown at 6, you should be here at 6:30 latest. Even with rain." I'm sorry—but as a tourist visiting your country for the first time, how exactly am I supposed to argue with someone who lives there? I can only tell you what actually happened. I had screenshots of every canceled Uber. I had timestamps. I had already notified the assistant before anyone even contacted us. Instead of acknowledging that transportation issues can happen, the implication was essentially that our explanation couldn't possibly be true. She continued by saying: > "I prepared the class for you from early morning...the class is supposed to be 4 hours...too late." Again, I completely understand that preparation goes into the class. But nowhere in the booking did it state that **arriving more than one hour late automatically results in cancellation with no accommodation whatsoever.** If that is a strict policy, it should be clearly communicated before guests book. The most frustrating part came next. When I explained that we had informed the assistant and had done everything we could, she responded: > "So you waited 35 minutes to inform the assistant about your delay? Instead of informing me as written in the confirmation message? What can be done? Understanding and respect maybe?" That sentence genuinely shocked me. **"Understanding and respect maybe?"** Respect? We had: * Left early. * Attempted to arrive before the class even started. * Requested multiple Ubers. * Waited through repeated cancellations. * Contacted the assistant to explain what was happening. * Continued trying to reach the class instead of simply giving up. * Apologized multiple times. At no point were we rude. At no point did we demand special treatment. At no point did we blame the hosts for Panama traffic. Yet somehow we were the ones being lectured about respect. I finally sent screenshots proving the canceled rides and replied that while I respected the value of her time, we had done everything within our control and appreciated seeing her level of empathy. That ended the conversation. What bothers me most is not even that the class was canceled. It's **how** it was handled. There was: * no empathy, * no attempt to understand the situation, * no willingness to discuss alternatives, * no professionalism, * and absolutely no grace extended to travelers navigating a city they had been in for less than 48 hours. Even more concerning is that the original instructions significantly underestimated travel time during one of the busiest traffic periods of the day. Locals know this. Tourists do not. If the hosts know that traffic at 6:00 PM regularly becomes severe, then the instructions should tell guests to leave **at least an hour or more early**, not that the trip will take approximately 20 minutes. Additionally, if there is a strict "one-hour late equals automatic cancellation" policy, that should be clearly disclosed on the Viator listing before anyone books—not introduced only after guests are already on the way. This entire experience left us feeling blamed for circumstances that were completely outside of our control. We lost an experience we had genuinely been looking forward to during our honeymoon, spent nearly two hours unsuccessfully trying to find transportation, and were ultimately met with skepticism and condescending responses instead of basic customer service. Travel involves unexpected problems. Flights get delayed. Traffic happens. Ride-share drivers cancel. Good tour operators recognize that and communicate with professionalism and compassion. Unfortunately, that was not our experience here. If you're considering booking this experience, my advice is simple: **leave much earlier than they recommend, understand that there appears to be very little flexibility if anything unexpected happens, and be aware that you may not receive much understanding even when you have documented proof that the delay was outside your control.** Unfortunately, Viator ultimately denied our refund request because the operator declined to authorize it, leaving us to pay for an experience that we never had the opportunity to participate in.

Chef Winnie was an amazing host. Very knowelagable about the local Panamanian cuisine. Great with big family (we had a group of 10 age 8-75). The food was fantastic and we made a great memory on our family trip! If you want to learn to cook authentic Panamanian food from a French chef this tour is for you!

Excellent Panamanian food lesson. Winnie will put you to work and make it fun. I learned so much and had a great time. I'll definitely be cooking these dishes when I'm back home. I stayed in Casco Viejo and Uber took me right to her place, no problem. Highly recommend!!

Chef Winnie is fantastic! We learned so much about Panamanian cuisine, all while having a great time.

Chef Winnie was spectacular. From beginning to end. A very immersive experience with cooking. Would definitely recommend

Chef Winnie was amazing, such great dishes and discussion. Food was great, definitely a lot of tips and tricks to take home and put to use! Highly recommend.

Was such a fun experience, highly recommended.

Went beyond my expectations with the many courses, variety, and authentic ingredients. Hands on with a great group of people! Chef Winnie has talent and personality to spare! Perfect instructor!

What a terrific experience with Winnie! She showed us how to prepare several entrees and a dessert. We met her at the supermarket first and then she took us to her house. Winnie is a gem!

Wennie was amazing!!! Knew her stuff and very passionate about cooking

Winnie, our delightful chef du soir, introduced us to a wide variety of Panamanian foods peppered with stories of local origin. As sous chefs we prepped and cooked up a feast, muddled drinks and consumed it with gusto - A "Must Do" for All!

Excellent experience. Very interactive. You do the cooking, but she guides you. We made so many dishes that were delicious. And the drinks.... Chef's kiss!! Chef Winnie thank you for an awesome time!!

Had an awesome time with Chef Winnie!! She walked us through the steps needed to cook the dishes. Also, taught us the differences between some of the dishes and how they are made in Latin American countries. Would suggest adding this to your trip to Panamá.

Chef Winnie was amazing with sharing information about the different foods and culture. She was patient teaching us the steps for each dish and informing us of all the ingredients. Everything was delicious! We will be back!

Fun, inviting, lessons. Chef Winnie did a great job patiently teaching Panamanian recipes! They were all delicious!

This was a great experience! We got to go to a market and learn about traditional foods that are cooked. We also cooked 10 different dishes and got a lesson on proper cooking! It was a fun class and I would highly recommend!