-saw a burlesque show at Proud recently. It was more of a B-OK. (I just can't give it an 'A'.) The Proud Folk seemed to have been ironing out the acts still, or new performers are constantly being blended in, so what I saw was a hodge-podge of strip-tease, comedy/dance, and contortion. One of the dancers, bless her, was energetic and smiling, but had a bit of 'cheerleader' to her moves, so I had a bit of an 'oh my god, does her mother know what she's doing right now?' moment watching her. The other was gorgeous with lovely costumes and wore so much stage make-up that she almost looked to be made of wax. My cohorts kept talking about whether or not she was a female which I found off-putting. The contortionist performed in a pair of jeans sans top. Could he not have found some sort of costume-y pair of trousers to wear? He seemed a bit too pedestrian for the vibe of the room. The interval music was folk: one guy and his guitar. I feel that he would have fit in a bit better at a coffee bar in some uni-town and not in the heart of what was supposed to be a bit of 'ooh-la-la!' Moulin Rouge it wasn't. The food, however, when it arrived, was the crowning jewel. Pork belly with a smattering of scratchings was the starter. Beef and mushroom over an herbed mash was the main. I was sated and didn't order dessert. Our waitress had what appeared to be just about half of the place as her section, and, with little support, was meant to bring out each course between performances (and various drinks) in a timely fashion. It wasn't working really well. Some smarmy 'hey guys!' expediter with an ear plug filled in the gaps as needed. Oh, and one of the speakers was almost directly over our table and was blaring. My ears hurt. read more

My experience of Proud Kitchen Camden was much like suze769's review below. Proud Kitchen should be Ashamed Kitchen and get their act together! Our waiter did the best he could but the place was total chaos. We also went because we had GroupOn vouchers and were looking forward to a good evening. Issues: 1. Arrival: The reservation sheet listed only my surname, so as they couldn't find my name initially, it took about 5 minutes to sort and get seated. 2. Drinks: Similar to suze: Ordered 2 glasses of Sauvignon Blanc. Took ages to arrive as apparently no chilled bottles were availabe, and the woman who took our order was looking around for some. No one bothered to tell us this until we asked the waiter to chase it up. He arrived back with 2 warm glasses of wine and a glass of ice. What? The wine wasn't very good either, too acidic, no fruity taste whatsoever. 3. Food: My beetroot salad starter was good, but the mains took over 1 hour to arrive (from when we ordered). Other people seated at our table experienced the same or longer delay -- the couple next to us had been waiting 1.5 hours. The risotto tasted good but was very runny, a greenish slimy mess. 4. Dessert: Brownie ice cream was tasty, but we only got it after I waved furiously at the waitress carrying them to get her attention, as she went to the wrong table. I could see the people she was trying to serve shaking their heads, and had to wave, shout, and then bang on the table to get the waitress' attention. It was like a comedy skit, but not very funny in reality. I am giving this place 2 stars instead of 1 as I think there is good potential here if management improves the food and service, but would absolutely NOT recommended going there at present. read more

From the sounds of it, my night at Proud Cabaret in Camden was more organised and together than the experiences of other yelpers and online reviews. This is due to the fact that the evening I went, Alex Proud, the owner was there celebrating his birthday. The food and drinks were great. I had the pork belly, which was tasty and a coconut daiquiri thing. The food arrived without much delay, along with our drinks. It was the first night of a new menu apparently, but I had read that was the menu from previous online reviews so I'm not sure if it was 100% new. The show was great, very entertaining and interactive with the audience. (Our audience was very comatosed, very hard to get going, but our host Joe did well to get everyone participating.) Each table has a phone and is encouraged to connect with other tables. It's a very interesting concept that seems to be hit or miss depending on the people at the phones. :) The only issue that we had was trying to get the bill. We asked for it before the show ended as we were trying to make a quick exit as the show went well past 11pm and we were trying to get home via public transport as we worked the next morning. Well, we asked both of our servers who said "yep, no problem, I'll be right back," right before they hopped up on the bar to do the Time Warp, and then they stayed up there. We had to continually ask numerous people before we got the bill. It took us about 30 minutes to get the bill, and then after complaining and making a point of not paying the service charge because we were so tired and fed up of chasing people (most people had left by this point), I finally got my change back with many apologies. That was my only issue. Other than that, its another legitimate reason to dress up for a 1920s themed cabaret night in London (although the staff don't dress up for 1920s)! It was a great night out! read more

And so I shall continue on with my love of Proud. Last month I ventured to (and ended up loving) Proud Cabaret. Little did I know, that over at everyone's favourite Camden venue, something rather similar, but ultimately more my cup-of-tea, was going on in the South Gallery. On a much smaller scale, and in a much more laid back quirky atmosphere, two sexy as hell burlesque dancers and one incredible (gush!) harpist took to the stage to both serenade and hilariousley tease us as we made merry. The food was fine, though I don't think it's the main attraction, simple, good portions, and quite tasty, but the main thing here is definitely entertainment & atmosphere. Mixed crowd, all ready to start their night out in a new and exciting way. read more

I visitied Proud Kitchen last night. After hearing mixed reviews about the place I was failr dubious, but I had a cracking time. The kitchen is in the South Gallery and has a stylish industrial feel, with long bench style seating (Oliver Twist style), plus disco balls and smooth purple. It's not pretentious, it's just homely and nice. When we walked in, we were greeted by a juggling waiter who walked us to our table and gave us our menus- whilst still juggling. Not sure how he managed it but he he did. Following this, he whipped out a lighter from behind his ear and re-lit the candles onthe table which he apologized had gone out. It was all done in jest and was genuinely very funny. After his tricks, he handed us an estensive cocktail menu before walking off and doing a back flip in the middle of the room. Another waitress came over and took over from him- she had less tricks up her sleeve but was very polite and efficient. As we weren't very hungry, we ordered off the £18 discount menu. We assumed smaller portions but they weren't, they were a good size. The menu is not fine cuisine, it is simple but tasty food well presented reasonably priced. It wasd my friends birthday and as we had forgotten to organzie a cake, we paid £4 for one to be brought over, complete with sparkler and singing. Whilst we probably annoyed everyone else in the restaurant, we had a great time and my friend was truly touched! Mid- meal the burlesque performances started. Up until this point a super hunky pianist had been playing and singing quietly in the background. The burlesque was great. I've visited Proud Cabaret in the city before which is much more professional, smooth and 'fabulous'. The burlesque at Camden was different but strong. The performers were funny and played well to the audience. When all the shows had finished, a dj came in and played a fun selection of 'get out your chair and dance you heffers' songs. After several cocktails we did so. The restuarant manager kindly asked if we wanted to keep our table for the evening, with a reserved sign on if we wanted to come back. We declined as one of our friends had booked out a stable, but either way it was a kind gesture. I was truly wowed by Proud Kitchen. It's not beautiful, delicious or sepctacular- it's just a good, honest and entertaining dining experience at a good price. Suffice to say, I have booked a table there for my friends birthday next month. read more

Was dragged in here as a surprise without any clue about what it was and without any expectations whatsoever. The dancers ranged from mundane to sultry, with the overall look and feel of the show really being great. The staff was friendly and once the dancers packed it in, a DJ kept the groove going with a heady mix of old school R&B, hip-hop and electronica. Not cheap by any stretch, but why should it be? It's a burlesque show and cheap is not necessarily good in that context. A great experience all around. read more

As you're reading this, you've probably exhausted all options of entertainment that the Big Smoke has to offer, and regrettably believe that staying in the new going out and even Time Out's ambition to make you think otherwise has become trivial. You've probably turned a blind eye to their Cabaret section, and wrongly so. Cabaret is where it's at, precisely and currently at North London hip venue, Proud Cabaret Camden. There you will find your perfect night of decadence and hedonism, be it to mourn the end of your celibacy, to host a birthday party, or just for the sheer fun of it. Burlesque is what we do best, claims the fearlessly raunchy compere, Vicious Delicious, before introducing a four- folded act of teasing eye-candy artistes, suggestively flaunting their curves to an eclectic soundtrack spanning James Bond themes and vintage 80s pop with the likes of Shirley Bassey, Nina Simone, Madonna and even the awesome Velvet Underground. These showgirls, who all qualify for a bit part in the next Sin City's cast, cater to anyone and everyone's aesthetic tastes, from luscious brunettes Betsy Rose and Annette Bette to the Marylin-esque blonde bombshell Banbury Cross, via black beauty Coco Deville to the latex-clad Marnie Scarlet Name it, it's on show. Expect pouts and stricken poses galore to the delight of the gents and the envy of the ladies, who no matter where they stand will be given no other choice than to let themselves get entertained. And prepare yourself to be drooling from anything but hunger as to accompany this cheeky revue, Proud Camden has called onto the expertise of South American chef Edwin Mendoza (here's me having a dig at a press release but in all honestly this was by far the best fillet steak I had in my ten years in London Town!), who has devised a palate-tickling menu including treats such as beef bresaola with truffle mayonnaise and aged parmesan, and baked seabass fillet with sauté carrot and fennel on a coriander and red onion salad, among other delicious dishes, to be savoured with a large selection of vino, beers and cocktails a la carte. All this in the revamped décor of the venue's South gallery. To Proud you go- disappointment is out of the equation. Standard Prices: £39 for 3 courses full price Wednesday & Thursday 33% off standard price (£26) 3 courses Friday 1st sitting £19.50 2 courses Friday 2nd sitting £39 3 courses Saturday 1st sitting £26 2 courses Saturday 2nd sitting £39 3 courses In house offers: Bad Sex Thursday students get 50% off full price dinner with a valid NUS card. All night packages: Friday night a premium of £50 to keep the table until 2am Saturday night a premium of £75 to keep the table until 2am Getting a table as of 2am: £100 for a booth and queue jump, still paying the entry fee of £10 per head but with the ability of pre-ordering from the pre-order menu 3rd Party Offers: View Card: 25% off rate card price Thursday / Friday / Saturday Gourmet Society 50% off on Thurs-Sat read more

We booked a late Saturday night table for a group of friends for a special occasion. The food was disgusting and extremely late. The food was dry, tasteless and really un-enjoyable. Desserts arrived at mid night, they were actually inedible . At £50 per head excluding side dishes, wine, coffee and service this was very dissapointing. The "entertainment" did not help. The acts included "Baghdad Talent" which was a woman running onto the stage in a full burkha, removing one glove, then running off the stage. `This act repeated several times throughout the night. Another act (which took place during our main meal) included a woman pretending to staple a bloody piece of latex to her breast. Other stars included the two male comperes singing about Chlamidya and Lesbians whilst wearing silver strap on cocks... The final song was "britains hairiest dancer", a woman wearing fake body hair on her underarms and around her bikini bottoms which she revealed to a chorus of "DISGUSTING". We understood the entertainment would be unusual and challenging. But we expected it would either be funny, clever or thought provoking. This was none of those things. It was offensive and embarrassing and had such a violent and unpleasant attitude towards women. The show, the food and the attitude of nearly every member of staff, bar one, was absolutely horrific. Our evening was completely ruined. I would not recommend this experience to anyone. Do not give these people your custom, there are so many better places to go to in London read more

Went there with my girlfriend on a Friday night. We had to pre-order the meal which sounded fantastic and as we never went to a cabaret we were quite excited about the evening. The waiter was very friendly but the food was probably the worst I have eaten this year. Pickeled Mackerel as a starter....sounds great but there were so many fish-bones that I could not eat it. The rest of the dish was drowned in vinegar. Main dish was a duck breast....absolutely chewy and the fennel on the side looked like a two days old supermarket one. My girlfriend had an unsalted stone-cold salmon...not very good either. Desert was a disaster as well.....However wine was decent!! Then the show started....the host was annoyingly intrusive and his jokes had about as much punch as the unsalted salmon. But maybe it was just not my kind of humor. The show itself consisted of 6 "dancing"-acts. The girls had fabulous costumes and tried their best...which wasn't very good to be honest. I am definitely not a cabaret-expert but to me the show acts looked a bit cheap as I could not find any kind of artistic, erotic or athletic elements in it. The acts rather reminded me of those Hawaiian hula hoop dances with extremely loud electronic music in the background....Yep right....Electronic music. Please don't expect a live-band, jazz or 20s music. When the show finished the waiter quickly handed out the bills including some stuff we did not order like....bread, a program, wrong wine....ended up paying 160quid and felt like I have been completely ripped off by some petty crooks. All in all a terrible evening. If you enjoy this sort of adult entertainment you should rather check out some acts of the Udderbelly Festival at Southbank! read more

I can only say that our dining experience was nothing for Proud to be Proud of, it was the WORST dining experience that we have ever experienced. First off the lady didn't even know where to sit us and left us standing in the middle of the restaurant for a little bit, then she hastily stuck us on the end of a table with nothing laid out, no glasses no cutlery, such a bad welcome. She never even came to ask us for our drinks order we had to flag her downv and then my boyfriend secretly asked her for a bottle of Moet to surprise me as this meal was to mark a very important date for us, after about 15 - 20 minutes she walked passed and plonked a bottle of unopened Moet on our table with no ice bucket!!! We never said anything at this point and just put it down to highly untrained staff; we then had to flag her down again to take our food order. Our starter took ages to come out, and then our main took even longer to come, when it did my boyfriends fish was slightly warm on the outside and freezing like it had come out of a fridge on the inside, he feels it was cooked in the day and then put in the fridge and warmed up when needed only it wasn't even hot, so we asked for it to be sent back and we received a replacement that my boyfriend never even ate as at this point as he was scared for his own health and well being eating re-heated fish we then had to flag someone down again and ask for our deserts, I also asked for an extra champagne glass and I was given a plastic one! Then a very drunk couple from the club wonders in and sits on our table and starts swigging from our champagne bottle and being annoying. By this point we just wanted to leave as did many of the other customers as everyone was complaining, we mentioned we wanted a refund as the whole experience from beginning to end was disgraceful but we were promptly told we wouldn't be getting one and to go ahead and write a bad review if we wanted too, this is not the way you deal with customers,This booking was made on a groupon voucher and I'm sure they would be very unimpressed to know that they are supporting eating establishment that can't even give the diner an enjoyable experience, we have and always do received better customer service in our local slug and lettuce and even in our local takeaway for that matter. read more

Very impressed with the evening. my Wife and I went on saturday and had a lovely evening of tasty food and entertainment. overall, it is a friendly, welcoming experience. this is our first time at a burlesque night and we came out thinking we would go again. as an evening it is a higher price of what we would usually do (total spend for 2 about £160) but we treated ourselves to bubby and we thought actually as it was dinner and a show that it was a good special occasion thing. read more

Went here with a few friends the other evening and found Proud Kitchen to be a perfect place to go, anytime of day. Its addition to the gallery/venue/bar means that there's now a trendy and comfortable place to sit down and eat before watching a band or hanging out in the stables. We sat down to a great 3 course meal which was actually really reasonable for the quality. A really good place to head if you're in Camden and if you don't usually head up that way, it's definitely worth the trip. Highly recommend. read more

Having visited Proud Kitchen (Camden) last Friday night, we experienced absolutely apalling service!! I bought the 3 course deal for 2 through Groupon as a birthday present for my boyfriend so was expecting it to be a pleasant evening. Firstly we were shown to our table and given the menus and then left. We then tried to order our drinks but had to get staff attention as they were not attentive at all. After being told the only white wine available on this evening was the house wine or bottles which were £32 & above (so there were no options between £19 & £32 as they were out of stock), we then ordered a bottle of rose. The bottle was brought to our table but was warm so I asked for a cold bottle, the waitress looking bewilded, walked away and never came back. I had to track her down after some time to ask where our wine was, she told me she had put a few bottles in the fridge to cool them. She finally brought the 'slightly' chilled bottle of wine, without glasses... She then took so long to get the glasses that my boyfriend went to the bar to get them himself. What restaurant runs out of wine on a friday night nor has enough cold bottles of wine is beyond me... Our food order was taken as soon as we sat down and we were told we must order all 3 courses now to save time. Our entre came promptly, we ordered the beetroot & goats cheese salad, there was only a small piece of cheese, a 1/4 beetroot & dirt in the salad, this wasn't so great. We then waited for our main which took 45mins-1hr, after asking a waitress where our food was, she asked if she could take our order, none of the staff had any idea of what they nor each other were doing. There seemed to be no management instructing the staff or giving them any direction as to what they should be doing or how they should be serving the customers. Once our main came, it was ok / mediocre, nothing to rave about. We then asked the waitress for a drinks menu so we could order more drinks, she ran around trying to find what seemed to be the only drinks menu in the restaurant... Once we received the drinks menu, she never actually came back to take our order, so yet again we went to the bar ourself to order. The wait for the dessert was also never ending, by this time we were quite frustrated as the entire evening's service was appalling and no one seemed to care. I asked a different waitress what was going on, we had been in the restaurant for over 2 hours and still waiting for dessert. She apologised profusly and said the service on this particular evening was horrendous she agreed & that all of the staff were new and had no idea what they were doing. We finally received our dessert which was very average. We then asked for the bill, thankfully they didn't have the audacity to try to charge us service as I wouldn't have paid it anyhow. Today I emailed Proud to make them aware of the situation in order for them to take the criticism on board and improve in future to make the necessary changes to ensure other people do not encounter such bad service but only to have abusive emails sent back to me implying I was lying or over exaggerating... Even receiving an email from the owner of Proud with the following comment: 'I think we are happy to agree you never come back again, lets make that a mutual agreement?' This is not how you deal with a customer complaint, this is digusting!! Actually telling a customer to never come back again... So I feel I had to write this review to let everyone know what appalling, disgraceful service we received on the evening and that also the senior management / owners actually couldn't care less and have no interest in improving their restaurant. Do not bother dining at this restaurant!!!...... read more