Me and my girlfriend are departing to London tomorrow, and we were hopeful to take a "souvenir" back home with us. Is there any locality were adult stores are specially common, or is there any one store you might recommend? I hope no one is gonna be offended by this, and I the only reason I dare ask, is that here in Copenhagen we do have a neighborhood like that (Istedgade, it's called) and we're strangely proud of it.

Soho.

I have, but I heard I'd been cleaned up a lot too. One of my guide books said a little along the lines of now its a nice, family welcoming place. Was that a lie?

By up they indicate there are no longer (as many) prostitutes openly plying their trade by the road and not a lot of drug deals going on in the alleyways. anybody who used to go to Soho in the 80s will think of what it used to be like, it's now enormously tourist-friendly and safe. But as I said, there's a a small amount of sex shops still tucked away, in general in the region of Brewer Street / Rupert Street but someplace else too.

I'm going to give you the direct answer. Soho has cleaned-up its act a lot over the last couple of decades. The region has mostly turned into the local LGBT discotheque area. Its nice for them to boast a place to themselves at last, except unless you can tolerate men/women of the matching gender asking if you like what you see even as you're trying to have a drink, then you'd be better finding a new pub elsewhere.

The actual brothels have been unlawful for centuries, nonetheless the seediest bars and strip-joints where the implied acts are a little extra on the side have all now taken up residence in Shoreditch, so there is your answer.

Personally I'd tell you to steer the heck away from any of these places, as they're merely there to clip you for cash, but if you're warm with a pair of bulky men called Frankie and Graham threatening to break your legs for not paying £300 for the lady's drink, then you'll find yourself having a good time.

Edit: Ooh... I should have read the account to the post, rather than just reading the title... that changes everything. Yeah, Soho is still pretty much the spot to go for all those little shops tucked away. though I can't say I've ever had the requirement to step into one, so I can't offer you a recommendation. Based on one or two other comments, I've heard some affirmative feedback about Coco de Mer, which seemingly has a nice and lavish feel to the place, but I can't say I know from experience.