Boqueria Market Tour, Paella Cooking Class, Sangria & Tapas

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!