Noisy Oyster looks like the future. Though it has the site’s original brick façade from 1927, the rest of the building is completely new. A light-filled dining room features orderly lines of stainless-steel tables and chairs, with a long silver bar and burly pillars wrapped with plastic pipes. The overall effect is a fishmonger on a spaceship, and nods to the intent of owners Madina Kazhimova and Anna Dolgushina, who want it to be the “bistro of the future”.
“I feel like I’m stepping into the Tardis [from Doctor Who] every time I come to work,” head chef Alfie Bahnan (ex-Trullo, Paradise and Legare) tells Broadsheet. The monochromatic design is the work of artist and Crosby Studios founder Harry Nuriev, who has collaborated with Dover Street Market, the Louvre, Gucci and more on installations, product lines and interiors. Kazhimova tells Broadsheet that the design is inspired by Shoreditch’s blend of urban grit and gentrified spaces. “It’s that mix of street art, luxury brands and street culture,” she says.
Beyond the space-age aesthetic, Kazhimova and Dolgushina want to offer Londoners a forward-thinking take on a seafood diner. The pair moved to London from Saint Petersburg in 2020 and launched open-fire restaurant Firebird in Soho in 2022. They soon spotted an opportunity to use local seafood in an approachable restaurant setting – less stuffy than a traditional bistro, more refined than a chippie.
“We have so many local varieties of fish and seafood,” says Kazhimova. “It would be a crime not to have a place that showcases this and supports local fishermen.” Bahnan, meanwhile, is keen to start a conversation about seafood seasonality. “A lot of people think of seasonality when they think of fresh fruit and veg, but when you look around the coast of the UK there is also seasonality.”
On the plate, that means oysters from Simon Lamont of Rocks Oysters. The selection will rotate with the seasons, with three varieties served by the half or full dozen with lemon to encourage diners to sample the differences between each; one might taste “cured and meaty”, says Bahnan, while another might be more saline and grassy.
Beyond the restaurant’s namesake, diners will find maritozzi filled with whipped ricotta, then dolloped with Ars Italiaca caviar from Lake Garda, and whipped butter topped with luminous orange salmon roe from Australia’s Yarra Valley, served on Guinness toast. Mains might include a bluefin tuna steak with a pink peppercorn sauce or a raviolo of smoked eel with Amalfi lemon and butter.
Noisy Oyster’s signature sips are three mini Martinis – including one with tequila and mezcal – which Kazhimova suggests ordering before the meal kicks into full gear. They’re a launch pad for sommelier Dolgushina’s wine list, which is all low-intervention and primarily from small European producers.
Despite its futuristic good looks, Noisy Oyster is committed to classic principles of provenance and seasonality. “There is a whole level of sustainability that the British public don’t think of when they think of seafood. When people think of fish, they think of packets of really bright orange salmon in Tesco,” says Bahnan. “It’s our responsibility as chefs to bring that [sustainability conversation] forward, to preserve what we have for future generations.”
Noisy Oyster
2 Nicholls Clarke Yard, London E1 6SH
07869 333701
Hours:
Tue 5.30pm–11pm
Wed to Fri midday–3pm, 5.30pm–11pm
Sat midday–11pm
Sun midday–6pm