Cuenca Kitchens Food Tour with 14+ Tastings

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5.0

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5.0 (3)

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Location

Cuenca

Duration

4 hours

Group size

Max 8 guests

Language

English

Location

Cuenca

Duration

4 hours

Group size

Max 8 guests

Language

English

Why travelers loved this

5.0

•3 reviews

US$62.53 per guest

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Guest

Adult x1

Date

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Available TomorrowSpots available tomorrow. Book now to secure your place.

Free CancellationCancel for free up to 1 day before your experience

Food for HappinessFor every guest in your booking, we donate 10 meals to children around the world

Why book with byFood?

Japan's #1 food travel platform

Trusted by 50,000+ travelers worldwideCurated by food lovers, for food loversFeatured in CNN, Forbes & NYT

Description

Good to Know

Most visitors experience Cuenca through its churches, plazas, and colonial architecture. We'll experience it through its markets, family-run eateries, and the recipes that locals have been passing down for generations. This small-group food tour takes us beyond the guidebooks and into the everyday food culture of Ecuador's Andes. We'll visit two bustling mercados, uncover hidden local institutions, and sample 14+ tastings that showcase the remarkable diversity of Ecuadorian cuisine, from coastal fish fritters and tuna soup to Andean corn dishes, traditional tamales, and regional sweets. Along the way, we'll discover how indigenous traditions, Spanish influences, and regional ingredients combined to create one of Ecuador's most distinctive culinary identities. With a maximum of just 8 guests, we'll enjoy a more personal experience while exploring the flavours, traditions, and local characters that most visitors never encounter.

Moveable feast with 8-9 stops around the markets and streets of Cuenca

Bottled water included

Max 8 exclusive guests, smallest group size in Cuenca (private tour or 9+ available)

Led by professional foodie guides

14+ food tastings included, more than any other Cuenca food tour

Alcoholic drinks

Pick up and drop off from hotel excluded

15 minutes · Admission Ticket Free

Cuenca

Cuenca is a city where church domes glow in the evening, rivers weave between colonial streets, and recipes are passed down like family heirlooms. High in Ecuador's Andes, it's a place where indigenous traditions, Spanish influences have created a food culture unlike anywhere else in the country.   Our feasting tour of 14+ tastings explores Cuenca through bustling mercados and local institutions. Before we get started, our tour reflects the local cuisine and the limitations of traditional vendors means we unfortunately cannot cater for every dietary restriction. Here's an honest appraisal for the tour so no-one is disappointed:  ✔ Possible for mild peanut / tree nut and no seafood diets, though guests will have 1-2 fewer tastings due to limited alternatives at some stops, and pescatarian, no pork and gluten intolerance will have 3-4 fewer tastings due to limited alternatives at some stops. ✖️ Unsuitable for vegetarians, vegans, halal, lactose intolerance, and severe allergies.

Cuenca is a city where church domes glow in the evening, rivers weave between colonial streets, and…

30 minutes · Admission Ticket Free

Cuenca

We begin at a local restaurant serving dishes like bolón de queso, a hearty green plantain ball packed with cheese and traditionally eaten for breakfast throughout much of coastal Ecuador. Alongside it sits corviche, a cassava fritter stuffed with seasoned fish whose origins trace back to the country's Pacific coast. Together they tell the story of a nation connected by food despite being divided by mountains, coastlines, and rainforest.

We begin at a local restaurant serving dishes like bolón de queso, a hearty green plantain ball pack…

1 hour · Admission Ticket Free

Mercado 3 de Noviembre

From there, we dive into the organised chaos of Mercado 3 de Noviembre. Vendors call out to customers, soup pots bubble away, and recipes perfected over decades continue to attract loyal locals. We'll sample encebollado, Ecuador's beloved tuna soup. Originally a fisherman's breakfast, it has evolved into a national institution enjoyed at every hour of the day. Nearby, succulent hornado roasted pork emerges, its crisp skin and tender meat earning it legendary status throughout the Andes. A freshly fried empanada de viento, puffed with hot air and dusted with sugar, completes one of the country's favourite market snacks.

From there, we dive into the organised chaos of Mercado 3 de Noviembre. Vendors call out to customer…

45 minutes · Admission Ticket Free

Mercado 10 De Agosto

Our next stop takes us to Mercado 10 de Agosto, another cornerstone of Cuencano food culture.Here, centuries of Andean culinary tradition are still alive and well. We'll try mote sucio, a simple but deeply satisfying combination of hominy corn and pork fat, alongside tortillas de trigo con queso, pan-fried wheat flatbreads filled with local cheese. Nearby, tortillas de choclo showcase the importance of corn in Andean cooking, transforming fresh kernels into delicate pancakes that have nourished communities for generations. Among the market stalls, we'll see firsthand why Cuenca's mercados remain the city's true dining rooms.

Our next stop takes us to Mercado 10 de Agosto, another cornerstone of Cuencano food culture.Here, c…

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Cuenca

No exploration of Cuenca would be complete without diving deeper into the cuisine of the Andes. At two different local eateries, we'll sample traditional dishes that rarely appear on tourist menus. Chumal is a steamed corn cake wrapped and cooked using techniques that predate modern kitchens. Tamal de zambo combines corn dough with roasted Andean squash seeds, while mote pata transforms hominy and pork trotter into a rich, comforting soup that has long been associated with celebrations and family gatherings. These are the dishes locals grow up eating and often miss most when they're away from home.

No exploration of Cuenca would be complete without diving deeper into the cuisine of the Andes. At t…

45 minutes · Admission Ticket Free

Cuenca

Before the tour concludes, we'll make a brief stop at a local chocolate museum to collect one final treat: a passion fruit chocolate truffle that combines Ecuador's world-famous cacao with the bright tropical flavours found throughout the country. We finish the only way you can in Cuenca: with something sweet. A cloud-like espumilla de guayaba, whipped from fruit and meringue, offers a light and refreshing finale, while the city's famous quesadilla pastry provides a fitting farewell. Despite the name, this buttery local pastry has nothing to do with its Mexican counterpart and everything to do with Cuenca's baking traditions. There's more to this Cuenca food tour than the dishes themselves. It's a discovery and understanding of the markets, traditions, and everyday rituals that define life in Ecuador's highlands. Whilst it's possible to wander these streets and markets alone, you'd be hard-pushed to uncover these stories, flavours, and local favourites without our tastemaker guides.

Before the tour concludes, we'll make a brief stop at a local chocolate museum to collect one final…

Meeting Point

Qumir (Q'umir Jardín de Sabores), Calle Mariscal Lamar, Cuenca Azuay, Ecuador, EC, 010107

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The meeting point outside the Qumir, (Q'umir, Jardín de Sabores) restaurant is accessible by taxi from most of the city's central hotels. Uber is available in Cuenca and a safe and convenient way to reach the meeting point from your hotel.

End Point

Plazoleta de La Merced, Presidente Borrero, Cuenca Azuay, Ecuador, EC

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The tour concludes at the Plazoleta de La Merced. The tour duration is approximately 3.5 to 4 hours depending on the pace of the group. Your guide can help you to find transport back to your accommodation if you wish.

Free cancellation

Cancel up to 1 day before for a full refund.

No refund within 1 day of the experience or no-shows.

5.0

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3 reviews

Jackie_LOctober 2026 • Viator

Wonderful Cuenca food tour!

Eddy was a wonderful tour guide. He shared interesting information about the history, architecture, culture, and food of Cuenca and Ecuador. The food was fabulous and there was lots of it. Come very hungry!

jkriziSeptember 2026 • TripAdvisor

Oh, so full!

I have done my fair share of food tours all around the world and this has to be one of the best ones I have ever seen. My tour guide Martin is such nice person and since he lived in New York for quite some time his English is impeccable. I learned a lot about the Ecuadorian cuisine and the city of Cuenca itself. The portions are huge and the tour is well structured. It switches between sweet, sour and salty in order to keep things interesting. Also walk breaks are at the right places to give you...read more

luzannecAugust 2026 • TripAdvisor

An Incredible Experience

My food tour with Cuenca Kitchens was one of my best ever experiences. The food we tasted was superior. But, more important was how Syvia and Eddie explained the ingredients, the cultural history of the food, and how and why it became important to the Ecuadorian people. If you have the opportunity to take this tour, don't hesitate. Do It!!! You will never forget this incredible experience.