Noisy Oyster: Shoreditch’s Futuristic Seafood Bistro
Noisy Oyster: Shoreditch’s Futuristic Seafood Bistro - Interiors by Harry Nuriev
Shoreditch has long been one of London’s most exciting dining districts, but with the arrival of Noisy Oyster, it has added something truly fresh: a seafood bistro where cutting-edge interiors and a playful menu collide. Opened by Firebird founders Madina Kazhimova and Anna Dolgushina, the restaurant has already turned heads for its radical design by Harry Nuriev, the New York and Paris–based artist and founder of Crosby Studios.
A New Kind of Seafood Bistro
For fans of modern dining, fashion, or design, Noisy Oyster is more than just a place to eat, it’s an immersive cultural experience, blending the best of British produce with one of the coolest design languages in London hospitality.
Noisy Oyster was inspired by Kazhimova and Dolgushina’s love for the UK’s vibrant seafood culture, from boat catchers on the coast to local fishmongers. But rather than replicating a traditional seaside restaurant, they wanted to bring something more modern, stylish and a little unruly to London.
The restaurant takes its name from the famous tongue twister “a noisy noise annoys an oyster”, nodding to its playful, high-energy spirit. The menu celebrates British seafood through a contemporary lens, offering a balance between approachable bistro classics and experimental plates. Guests can expect oysters alongside inventive small dishes, thoughtful cooking techniques and a killer drinks programme, with martinis at its heart. The founders describe the vision as creating “the seafood bistro of the future”: upbeat, stylish, and completely unpretentious.
The Design: Harry Nuriev’s Living Installation
What makes Noisy Oyster instantly memorable, however, is its interior design. For the space, Kazhimova and Dolgushina partnered with a Fluxx favourite, Harry Nuriev, an internationally recognised designer and artist known for his collaborations with Balenciaga, Gucci, Dover Street Market and more.
Nuriev, who operates between New York and Paris under his practice Crosby Studios, is celebrated for his bold, transformative approach that straddles fashion, art, and design. For Noisy Oyster, he took inspiration from rock and pop culture, reimagining the restaurant as an immersive “living installation.” Additional features include a loudspeaker system by Friendly Pressure.
Industrial Edge Meets Futuristic Minimalism
The result is unapologetically raw. Guests are welcomed into a space that intentionally resembles a construction site, with exposed high ceilings, stainless-steel finishes, and weighty pipes doubling as architectural pillars. Two dramatic pillars dominate the dining room, wrapped in wires that stretch across the ceiling. These wires represent not only construction and connection from a design perspective but also the human connections shared between diners and their food.
Nuriev’s philosophy is about finding beauty in the unexpected, taking elements usually hidden away and making them the centrepiece. His design invites guests to rethink what is “visually appealing,” celebrating imperfection, honesty, and unconventional beauty.
Steel Dreams
The bar is the visual anchor of the restaurant. Crafted from stainless steel with striking metallic finishes, it references old-school fishing tackles and fishmonger counters, while also feeling sleek and futuristic. Stainless steel is a Nuriev signature, reimagined here with warmth through clever lighting and reflective textures.
The restaurant floor continues this theme with mirrored chairs and steel tables that bounce light around the room. By day, floor-to-ceiling windows flood the space with natural light, creating a softer, more open energy. By night, the space transforms into something moodier, with low lighting bouncing across the metallic surfaces.
Even the bathrooms are designed with narrative. Walls are covered with charcoal-grey lacquered tiles, chipped away to reveal raw cement underneath. “It represents the cyclical nature of life,” says Nuriev, “with no clear beginning or end—just a process of transformation.”
For Nuriev, who has presented works at the Louvre Museum, Dallas Contemporary, and numerous international fairs, Noisy Oyster is both a restaurant and an artwork, placing diners in the middle of his creative philosophy of transformism.
Food & Drink: Playful Seafood and a Martini to Remember
Of course, design alone won’t make a restaurant last. At Noisy Oyster, the menu has been built with the same balance of playfulness and substance. Drawing on the UK’s coastal bounty, Kazhimova and Dolgushina offer a menu that reimagines the classic seafood bistro.
Highlights include a daily selection of oysters served alongside innovative small plates, showcasing sustainable British seafood with international influences. The cooking is light, fresh, and elegant but also full of personality, mirroring the restaurant’s atmosphere.
The drinks programme is equally important. With Firebird already known for its natural wines and elevated drinks, Noisy Oyster doubles down on cocktails. The martini is the star, with an ever-changing lineup of house specials designed to match the seafood. A curated wine list rounds out the offering, spotlighting boutique producers and pairings for the menu’s briny, bright flavours.
The Founders: From St Petersburg to Shoreditch
Behind the concept are restaurateurs Madina Kazhimova and Anna Dolgushina, who have built a reputation for creating spaces that feel fresh, stylish, and grounded in storytelling. The duo first made their mark in St Petersburg with projects like Wong Kar Wineand Made in China before moving to London.
In 2022, they opened Firebird in Soho, a Mediterranean-inspired restaurant that quickly earned critical acclaim, including a rave review from The Guardian’s Grace Dent. With Noisy Oyster, they’ve taken their signature approach, a mix of high design, great produce, and warm hospitality and applied it to seafood, one of the UK’s strongest culinary traditions.
“We want guests to feel like they are entering a living installation,” say the founders. “Every visit should be more than just a meal—it’s a full sensory experience.”
Cutting Edge, Design-Led Eats
Noisy Oyster isn’t just another addition to London’s crowded dining scene. It represents a new generation of restaurants that treat food, design, and culture as inseparable. By bringing in Harry Nuriev, a designer known more for fashion houses and galleries than restaurants, Kazhimova and Dolgushina have created a destination that speaks equally to food lovers, art fans, and design enthusiasts.
For Shoreditch, a neighbourhood that thrives on reinvention, Noisy Oyster feels like a natural fit: modern, a little chaotic, and endlessly creative.
Address, 2 Nicholls and Clarke Yard, London, E1 6SH.
Opening Times: Tuesday–Friday lunch and dinner, Saturday all day, Sunday lunch (closed Mondays)