Proud Cabaret

G R A N D I S S I M O!

Typical Italian word to say “unique, unbelievable”… because you cannot use different adjectives when you are have to talk about proud cabaret.

The first time, I was there for my gf bday and it was great. She was quite surprised by the environment, I was quite drunk by the delicious red wine.:)

The second time, I brought my parents there. I was still surprised as the first time and my mother said: “ this is the best picture of London that I will bring back to Italy”.

My parents were enthusiastic about the show! I was enthusiastic to spent every single penny of the night in the right way!
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tony
9 Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Friday, November 25, 2011

This has to be one of the most over-hyped places I have been. Not much more than a strip bar with bad service and mediocre food.
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Mark Walker
3 Overall rating
Food 5 | Service 2 | Atmosphere 3 | Value for money 3
Sunday, October 23, 2011

We had a storming and most fabulous night on Friday at Proud using Groupon vouchers which were £20 for 3 course dinner and show. The venue is wonderful and decadent, down the stairs lined with huge vintage mirror and candelabras into a basement decorated 1920’s style with a clear view of the stage from most the tables in the restaurant (unlike some other venues where you can barely see the stage). It was incredibly busy, the place was completely full but the staff are fantastic at whizzing around the tables and checking you are enjoying your evening and are attended. Our waitresses were lovely and looked great too in their corsets and feathers and took our order while the piano player played wonderful songs before the main show. They recommended seriously yummy mandarin martinis and a great choice of red wine and the drinks kept flowing. The drinks are not cheap but then they never are in these type of places. The food was good, not spectacular but it was nice, served promptly too and it was great to dine and be entertained at the same time, the preordering was great as meant the food arrived and you weren't later interrupted whilst watching the show. The portions are on the small side though and its not 5 star cuisine but it was tasty. We loved the show and the dancing with the DJ afterwards, this was the best part of the night and we were fortunate to have a table right next to the stage so could enjoy the action close up. The performers were fantastic including a gorgeous Elle Amour and a stunning Banbury Cross performing Marilyn Monroe inspired stripping to Diamonds are a girls best friend, amazing contortionists who blew your mind with their flexibility and beautiful performances and a wonderful compere too who was incredibly funny & who at one point pulled me up on stage to dance. The burlesque performers were not sleazy but chic and saucy, we certainly loved it! We stayed late rocking and rolling and dancing away to fantastic soul and funk music after the show. My friend had a super special birthday and we had a ball, even her sparkly cake you provided went down a treat! (this was extra but well worth it to see her face light up with joy!). They do add a 12.5% service charge which on top of the drinks does push up the bill but with the Groupon vouchers I thought this was worth it for such a different and wonderful night out.
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Belen - View all reviews by this user
8 Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 7
Monday, September 12, 2011

My husband and I spent the evening at Proud Cabaret last night and, all in all, it was thoroughly enjoyable. Most of the acts were very good, in particular a modern style belly dancer who absolutely blew us away. The woman who hosted the show was great as well, with an amazing voice! The usual cabaret acts were good - very 40s-50s style attractive and they clearly don't scrimp on their costumes, which were excellent. Unfortunately the comedian act wasn't terribly funny and unnecessarily vulgar, to the point that I found myself laughing out of pure embarressment for her. We aren't the type to be offended by bad language or overtly sexual comments, but when the only humour in it is the "shock" value it seems a bit pointless. We also really enjoyed the pre-show entertainment, a pianist with (again) a fantastic voice playing some lovely classics.

I would say the only real downside about the venue is the food. Admittedly we are big foodies, so a little fussy, but for the cost we felt the menu choice a little lacking (it doesn't match the menu on the website and sadly all the dishes we liked the look of weren't offered) and the food not exceptional. That said, it wasn't unpleasant (except the side portion of beans, which must have been boiled for a month and were actually inedible) and the dessert was quite good. Our waitress and the serving staff generally were very good. Quite attentive for the busy environment, friendly and professional. My husband asked if they could make a cocktail not on the list and even though the waitress didn't know it she took the description and got the bartender to make it - and he tells me it was very good.

At £230 for two we felt it was a little bit overpriced, but for the overall experience we aren't complaining. In summary, if you are looking for good entertainment, I would certainly recommend Proud Cabaret, but it might be an idea to eat early somewhere else and come and enjoy a few of the (exceptionally good and not unreasonable at around £8-9) cocktails and the show as an afters.
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8 Overall rating
Food 4 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 8
Sunday, September 11, 2011

My wife and I celebrated our anniversary on the 1st of June at Proud Cabaret and even though we purchased our tickets via Groupon we can’t help feeling we’ve been ripped off. Several things related to your service conspired to ruin our evening:

First of all, we made sure the show time was compatible with our travel arrangements i.e. train timetable by calling twice – before purchasing the tickets and right before booking the table. However with the show starting close to 45 minutes late, by the time we had to leave at 10.30pm we discovered there were six (!) more acts to go, which was a shame as the performance itself was good, but that just makes missing the second half of it more of a disappointment.

Secondly, the menu changed between buying the tickets and the date of the show, with only a very limited selection of dishes available, none of which would have been our first choice. Moreover, the food itself was small portioned, hardly warm and poor tasting attempt at fine dining. I ordered a Confit 70% of which turned out to be fat and my wife order a grilled stone bass with some sauce which when arrived proved to be unappetizing mess covered in green slush. We had to order extra chips which appeared to be the highlight of our dinner.

The final bill brought even more surprises containing not only a service charge but something called "Gratuities". We waited as long as we could to question the bill but the waitress remained absent up until we had to leave.

All in all, our special evening was ruined and the extra time and money we spent travelling to the venue was a wasted effort.
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Jason
2 Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 2 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 0
Monday, August 15, 2011

Quite literally the best night out in London I've had in almost 5 years. I organised a hen party for 13 girls at Proud on a Saturday night and I can safely say that each and everyone of them had a fantastic night.

I was fearfully expecting the usual generic set menu choices for the meal however was pleasantly surprised with the quality and variety on the menu which was also utterly delicious on the night.

The staff were all very attentive to our needs, which is commendable considering we were one of about 6 hen parties in there.

And the shows themselves were brilliant, then DJ kept us all there till the bitter end.

All in all a fantastic night, highly recommended whether you go on a date/ party or just with a group of friends. All round fab night out!
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Katherine
10 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Thursday, August 11, 2011

My evening at Proud (They should really be called 'Ashamed') Cabaret was a massive swindle and disappointment to say the least, I've never been treated so badly, it was really really unprofessional. Well what did I expect for Groupon. If Groupon get 50% of the voucher price the product is bound to be utter rubbish. It was like being on a cheap ferry from the 60's, really poor quality, the acts were as funny and talented as a bunch of 12 year olds who'd never heard music or could understand funny. The DJ afterwards who was supposed to play swing music for everyone to dance to came on and started playing the Who and some 1920's Iggy Pop, that was really swinging, they must've just wanted everyone out...well almost everyone had legged it anyway it was so terrible

The food was awful and the drinks overpriced. That didn't seem to bother the posh city kids though who were smashed out of their faces and kept getting up on stage and smashing glasses around the dancers ruining any chance the acts might've had of impressing anybody. Appalling behavior, but then it is right in the city! And then to top it off they ripped me off for £50 by going back on their word that they would reimburse me when they didn't recognise my voucher, after two weeks of saying they would refund me and two manager said they would, dealt with a lovely lady and then a really unprofessional woman with zero customer service, what a cow?!. Absolutely worse place I've ever been, i have never been treated so badly before in my life. DONT GO. Go to La Clique if you ever get the chance, now that's proper entertainment and customer service.
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Eric Duval
0 Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 0 | Value for money 0
Tuesday, June 14, 2011

I went to Proud Cabaret on a Groupon voucher.

The show started an hour after my booked arrival time of 7pm. Acts included a woman singing "There'll Always be an England" while taking her clothes off. There were semi-naked gymnasts and a Marllyn Monroe look-alike. Quite entertaining.

The atmosphere was spoiled somewhat by the gratuitous use of foul language. Expletives were thrown in mechanically by two of the performers.

My bill showed an amount for a "gratuity" in addition to the mandatory service charge. I queried this and had the "gratuity" removed.

Were it not for the language and the overcharging, it would have been a good evening.
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5 Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 5 | Atmosphere 4 | Value for money 3
Sunday, May 29, 2011

Pretty bad evening I'm afraid.

Went through a Groupon offer, and the final bill was very expensive.

As soon as we entered we were ushered to a table where we had a distant view of the stage area. No choice in seating, lots of heads in the way.

We were offered cocktails at £10 a head, which we gave a go. The wine list started at £22 a bottle for red wine. Quite a mark up really. But the reason we had two of these was the interminable wait for food.

After ordering I had finished the bread and first wine bottle. Still nothing. We asked for water three times to our server in stockings. She kept wanting to take drink orders, but couldn't remember to get water. After forever and three reminders we had some very small starters. Then the waiting went on. We were sure we were forgotten about, so after several reminders, the last one I think initiated the cooking, we got the only dishes available, as the pork had gone. You have to buy any potatoes or sides to go with the main small dish at £4 a go.

Then the waiting was on again. The show was okay, bit in the distance. As it comprised of short ladies, they were actually hard to see, no matter how talented they were, we had to strain to see them.

We were convinced they had forgotten dessert. A third reminder and someone produced them from a fridge. Tiny again.

Over two hours to eat three small dishes. They were not so great. Then the bill. The wine was steep, but was had hours to need it. There was a £6.60 surcharge for each booking from Groupon (never mentioned anywhere), a £10 gratuity tip paid by the club to itself, expensive drinks, and from already spending £20 a head from Groupon, we had another £100 on the bill! Never mind what we had spent on costumes to look the part, and all the guys were in their normal suits.

The cubicles cut people off from each other, the stage acts seemed far away, and everyone asks you if you want a cocktail, without getting the food and water right. You can tell what they are after.

We are not city people with city budgets. Just some gymnasts on stage and a massive bill. No fun.
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2 Overall rating
Food 1 | Service 3 | Atmosphere 3 | Value for money 1
Friday, April 08, 2011

Went for my birthday with 6 of my family and friends. On arriving we where walked down the stairs and taken back into the era of speakeasies and burlesque, the waitresses were dressed in corsets and frilly knickers and the waiters in suits and hats. The atmosphere was really friendly and vibrant! With the staff bending over backwards to make sure you had a great night. The host walked around and befriended everybody, and made you feel comfortable and welcome ready for a good night out! The only down side i would say was where they where very busy (every table was taken) they took a long time to gives us the drinks we ordered, with us having to as k about 3 or 4 times and wait about 20 minutes. HOWEVER.. this did not over shadow the great night i had! The globe girls performed cheeky numbers to songs that everyone got up to and danced, the singers they had with were west end trained singers, and they were amazing! in the break a burlesque act came on which was very cheeky! and after that they celebrated the party goers whose birthdays it was. The ending came too soon! and as soon as the show ended people went, we where looking to stay a bit longer, and we did but only half an hour longer, we would have stayed the whole night and spent more on drinks but people left and the music wasn't that dance-able once the show had ended. But the acts and the staff were great! Definitely a birthday not to forget!
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chacha
9 Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 9
Friday, April 23, 2010