You must have heard of Noisy Oyster, the new, modern seafood bistro that, since launching in London's East End on June 25, has been making the rounds on the Instagram and TikTok feeds of your coolest friends — and most envied contenders. When I visit the restaurant, situated just a seven-minute walk from the graffitied warehouses of Shoreditch High Street within the sleek Norton Folgate development, on a summery Wednesday evening, a group of twenty-somethings is celebrating the end of the workday on its sun-soaked terrace, cigarette in hand, a Martini in the other. It captures its vibe.
In setting it up, founders Madina Kazhimova and Anna Dolgushina, who met in Saint Petersburg in 2013 and have since conceived well-received hospitality concepts between the Russian capital and London (they are the duo behind Soho's atmospheric Mediterranean, Firebird), strived to rejuvenate this specific restaurant genre. To do so, the two entrusted New York and Paris-based Harry Nuriev, the founding creative director of interior architecture practice and cultural platform Crosby Studios, having previously come across a suggestive pop-up he had imagined for Luca Pronzato's nomadic culinary collective, WE ARE ONA.
With tapas-style, caviar-topped bites, charcoaly fish, and silky pastas, worldly-inspired frozen Martinis, and a dynamic selection of wine, the ingredients to succeed are all there. All the same, to make Noisy Oyster one of the best restaurants in London to try right now might well be its design.
Inside Noisy Oyster: "It's Zeitgeist With Rizz"
As a waiter shows interiors editor Emma Breislin and me to our table — one of the many, perfectly identical square chrome slabs, with a matte texture chosen to contrast with the mirrored surface of the unexpectedly soft, inflated-looking chairs scattered throughout — an image springs to mind. It's Brighton's Riddle & Finns, one of the city's most beloved food institutions, and the last seafood bistro I remember stumbling upon recently. Nestled in a narrow passageway on the ever-walked Lanes, this popular champagne and oyster bar will likely catch your attention with its petrol green, lacquered wood façade, golden signage, and cozy Parisian-style decor, besides the humongous platters of crudo that, served on rocky ice and visible even from outside, act as the ultimate marketing strategy on passersby. Got it? Well, Noisy Oyster is none of that.
Christened "the seafood bistro of the future", it takes a rather frills-free, but in no way less impactful approach to restaurant design, one that, rooted in the surrounding area's recent transformation, simultaneously speaks to Harry Nuriev's shapeshifting creative creed (the artist is known for his daring immersive as well as virtual installations, public spaces, and objects, and for having lent his eye to projects produced by the likes of Balenciaga, Dover Street Market, and Nike, among others).
The main aspiration for Noisy Oyster, the designer tells me, was "to reflect the location itself through the vibe of the girls who dine there", all while remaining "sensitive, open, and direct". It is a goal that Emma and I feel Nuriev took quite literally. Glancing around or, rather, looking up, it is impossible not to notice the dense trail of wires, scaffolding elements, and ventilation ducts that, together, run and merge across the exposed ceiling of this hip new spot for seafood. Admittedly, you might feel a little hesitant as you come indoors, the most striking element of Noisy Oyster's dining room being a baobab-sized column draped in the very cables that, stretching outward, still hang from above. But the Crosby Studios' mastermind assures it is all perfectly "intentional". Oh, and risk-free.
The Beauty of Being a 'Work-in-Progress'
"I had the idea to embrace the aesthetic of construction and let everything play with a work-in-progress feeling," he says. The result is, in his words, "funny, because you never really know when construction actually begins or ends".
We have just got our drinks — a strawberry spritz for Emma, and a pepper margarita for myself — when we realize that, much like in a worksite, the energy on the floor is a little frantic. The multiple servers and diners coming and going sometimes feel a little disorienting; however, revealing the emotional and structural inner workings of the eatery was, it turns out, precisely the point. And so cheers to that.
"For me, wiring is a system of connection between people," Nuriev says of Noisy Oyster's jammed, textural ceiling. Usually, "it's invisible," he adds. "In this project, it was exposed intentionally, both literally and physically." The restaurant is wrapped on its street-facing, longer side and right-hand corner in panoramic, industrial interior design-style windows framed by either terracotta brick or large tilework, with the opposite ends instead dressed in white, flowy, and see-through textile.
Combine it with the PVC strip curtains that divide the toilets from the rest of the space, and there is something quite theatrical about all of that. I am not sure if it's the tequila playing tricks on me, but Noisy Oyster's interiors feel almost unstable, as if the eatery could, any moment now, fold onto itself like a diorama and, poof — disappear. It seems to exist in this liminal, transient state: groups of friends and couples turn up, consume their meals, and, fairly quickly, head out, often met at the door by a new party.
For the Crosby Studios founder, this unpolished, unperfected, and almost rushed look — an element of the restaurant that, he hopes, has an impact on how you feel when you leave — "raises the question of what beauty really is." It is quite a complex dilemma to tackle via design, and a surprisingly philosophical one as it stands, but I read it this way: move over, manicured culinary destinations and hyper-curated Instagram feeds. Noisy Oyster is for those who want the real thing, however messy that might be. Not that this intention takes away from the undeniably imaginative, futuristic essence of Nuriev's eatery.
Finally, it is time for our meal. We kick things off with an anchovy, guindilla pepper, and olive gilda, and a dressed oyster each, and decide to make it a sharing experience rather than sticking to traditional courses. The initial snacks are the perfect teaser for the rest of the evening — packed with flavor, albeit small in size, which, depending on your plan for the night, might make your dinner more or less enjoyable. In our case, we were just fine.
We stock up on starters and turn them into a banquet: up next are the smoky octopus con tomate, hand-dived scallop crudo with raspberry, basil oil, and chilli, the picture-ready chalk stream trout aguachile, stracciatella and anchovies, and aubergine caponata, the latter of which is the only one to leave me disappointed, along with the horseradish crème fraîche that comes with the oyster we have as our first dish (when it comes to seafood puritanism, I am true to my Italian roots after all, read: no ingredient should ever overpower the freshness of the fish, if fresh it is).
Elegantly presented on essential ceramic dinnerware sets, the food stands out for its vivid colors, unusual ingredient combinations — the pickled berry-scallop is a well-balanced, sweet and sour refreshing trait d'union I have never really seen, as is the tuna heart bottarga with cherries, though we don't brave venturing into it — and slightly surreal, eye-catching feel (get on the red caviar toast with salmon roe to see what I mean).
Head chef Alfie Banhnan's Mediterranean-inspired menu is driven by a commitment to seasonality — the restaurant's namesake course, oysters, arrive from Ireland's west coast, while wine is provided by small-scale European producers. More than substance (the portions aren't the most generous, but there are plenty of things to feast on besides food alone), Noisy Oyster's gastronomic side of things seems to aim for a mix of aesthetics and playfulness, with a quirky twist. We are into it. As Nuriev puts it, "it's zeitgeist with rizz."
"Here's the gooseberry pavlova," a waiter serves us up. Sorry, can't leave without one final sweet treat.
Book your table at Noisy Oyster.
Recreate the 'Noisy Oyster' Look at Home
Keen to recreate the instantly iconic Noisy Oyster look? While the modern seafood bistro's chairs were sourced from a European-based vintage seller, this textured steel design will bring a slice of its drama into your home.
Heard that the best ice cream in London is now being sold at ... wine bars? Although Noisy Oyster isn't one, here, too, the boundaries between sweet and savory blend to a tantalizing effect. All served in stainless steel tableware, of course.
Stuck for refreshing home bar ideas? Trust these metallic additions to add light and a quirky edge to any countertop. Once those are fixed, all is left for you to do is to hone in on your barman skills.
