The Blues Kitchen in Camden

I have always wanted to visit the Blues Kitchen in Camden, so when the time came to organise my 23^rd birthday drinks I decided this would be the venue for the celebration. I’ve had enough of trendy Shoreditch and Clapham and thought it was time to promote the nightlife of North London. Before our designated table was ready we met up at the fun and quirky Proud Galleries just down the road, at the end of a fairylit path. Proud was packed full of arty enthusiasts dancing the night away, I love the vibe in there and am looking forward to returning to hopefully see a band in action, and try out the cute stables-cum-private seating area.

The Blues Kitchen is known best as a vibrant music venue, but also has great food and a wonderful selection of whiskies and bourbons. I am yet to try the dinner menu but have heard the burgers and salads are fresh and yummy. In the flurry of the evening I forgot to try one of their famous cocktails, which are apparently ‘the very best out there’.

Weekly events such as ‘Roll & Tumble’ and ‘The Sunday Blues Jam’ entertain the crowds playing upbeat classics. The band usually starts around 10.30 and this is when it gets super busy. Thank God we managed to skip the queue of shivering girls and went straight in. Inside it was packed, we were literally barely able to move. The service was quite disappointing, and our reserved area was occupied by an oblivious group of rowdy punters leaving us all rather stranded in the busy bar crowd. Eventually we were seated and the party could commence.

The theme was lashes and tashes, a bit of an experiment; much to my surprise most of my friends rose to the challenge, donning beautiful long lashes or dashing moustaches – one dedicated friend even grew his very own tash for the occasion! Everyone looked fabulous. I wore my very special top and bottom lashes, glittering and sparkly all night, though you can’t really see the true glory of them in the photos above.

After much chatting and sipping of drinks, we struggled out onto the dance floor at the back of the venue to boogie to the band. Great music, and an amazing atmosphere, it was clear that everyone was having a ball. It was soon time to go, heels came off (I amazingly wore them for the whole night!) and we jumped in a taxi home. Brilliant venue, wonderful outfits, and the best friends a girl could wish for.