I had an occasion to visit this shop a few weeks ago and was assisted by an extremely helpful young…read moreman called liam. He was very knowledgeable, helpful and very discreet putting me at ease. This was my first visit to your shop and I was very nervous nearly leaving without a purchase. Thankfully Liam caught my eye and his professionalism and charming manner made my visit one of the best experiences I have ever had and I am so happy that I entered the shop that day. I Will hopefully be revisiting this shop for many years to come. A great shop with many sexy, beautiful things inside to look at and admire.

This is a great bookshop, they have a fine selection of photography books which I like to browse…read morethrough whenever I come in here. They stock a wide variety of book from fiction, documentary to cooking and gardening books. The neon sign outside is very cheesy but I love it. Downstairs is a sex shop that sells all sorts of sex paraphernalia, handcuffs, condoms, dvd's you name it and even books on sex.

I absolutely loved this bookstore and wish we had more like it where I live in the US. While I…read moredidn't NEED more books, I took advantage of getting a few from authors that are harder to get at home. Loved every single part of this place.

This bookstore is really cool! The staff are neat and helpful. The book arrangements are fun and…read moreinviting. We ended up purchasing a book for my husband and some stationary that was themed. One said 'When the bard plays a banger on your birthday' and we cracked up at that one. It was a worthy buy. It was fun to walk around and just be near books. Thanks for having us!

We stopped into this record shop because it was down the street from Sister Ray and also Sounds of…read morethe Universe. To be honest, it was the least impressive of the three stores and we didn't buy anything. It wasn't a bad record shop. But it wasn't our particular type of music really, it was pretty small and very honestly it's dwarfed by its two neighbors in terms fo prowess as a go-to vinyl destination. Still, if you're in the area hunting vinyl, it wouldn't hurt to stop just to see what there is to see.

Not a great shop IMO. Better than Sister Ray, but the condition of a lot of the records was…read morehonestly quite disappointing. Lots of bag rash and cloudy LPs described as "VG+"... lol no. Those are junk. I did find a few things, and the staff were fine, but for the top dollar pricing they have on most of their records, you're better off taking a gamble on eBay. They also had very loud EDM playing over the speakers. I had a similar problem with sister ray. You want store music to be pretty neutral, not polarizing. I had to actually put my noise canceling headphones in to browse as the music was giving me anxiety.

This place is a pretty cool find* for anyone traipsing down Brewer Street…read more The tatty, un-modified exterior - of what was presumably a dry cleaners back in the day, going on the name - is not designed to invite random bypassers inside. Being a Japanese-only manga and bookstore, this place will mean little to most people - including myself. But the set-up - floor to ceiling bookcases creating a mini-warren of Nihon literature, anime and periodicals - is worth popping in to for the experience alone - very 'dépaysant', to borrow a phrase from across the channel. The also seem to do a good line in NTSC / imported games, which could come in handy. To some people. Somewhere. At some point... * If your kanji is up to scratch. Which mine is most certainly not. I just like looking... ~_~

Not that I've been to all that many karaoke spots in London, but this is one of the first places I…read morewent to, and is still my favorite spot! Its a second hand Japanese bookstore, within an ex-launderette, and with karaoke rooms in the back! I can't say much about the bookstore, but everyone else seems thrilled with the selection there. What I can vouch for are the karaoke rooms in the back! I can't quite remember how much it costs per hour, I think it undercuts a few of the major chains. Reservations require a deposit up front (I believe you have to go to the store to do this). The rooms are really cramped, but what better way to spend time with a bunch of people, screaming at the top of their lungs, than to be squished up against one another?? This place is awesome for a number of reasons: - good selection of English and Japanese songs - BYOB (they have a mini bar fridge for you to keep your stuff cool, and there's a Co-Op around the corner) - You can bring your own snacks and hot food, as long as its nothing too strong smelling Definitely one of the best finds I've stumbled into!

My husband LOVES to go record shopping when we travel to other countries, and Sound of the Universe…read morewas on the top of his list of London record shops. It also has the advantage of being located down the street from two other record shops, so it's like a three-fer. Anyway, Sounds of the Universe is in the most picturesque lovely building standing tall on a corner with an understated yellow "Records" sign pointing people towards the door. They have a wide selection of records that are really nicely organized, and the shop is really bright and clean. My husband said they were very smart because they had the type of record collection that encourages people who are into one style of music to explore and find additional albums that are related within easy reach.

I know it is a thing here to have a photocopy of the album cover instead of the actual album out;…read morebut I don't like it. Other than that, this shop is average at best. Was underwhelmed by the selection and organization of the shop. Didn't really find anything unique or desirable. The prices also reflect the higher end of the market. There are better deals to be had elsewhere.

This place is a godsend. Knowledgeable staff, excellent inventory, reasonably priced practice rooms…read moredown below, and it's just so nice to still be able to buy scores in person and not online.

This is a shop for serious musicians but is also a good place to find presents for musicians. The…read moreshop has been here for over 100 years and is going strong. From the outside, it looks quite small but like a Tardis, it opens out over 2 floors and has many functions. At the front of the shop, you can find all sorts of music-related gifts for that musical person you're buying for, ranging from pencils twisted into treble clefs to models of miniature grand pianos. There are some musical instruments for sale and some contemporary and pop sheet music in the middle section of the shop but it's in the back of the ground floor that you really find the gem. If you're a classical pianist, this section holds a veritable treasure trove of sheet music. Downstairs, there's performance space and space for dedicated publishers. On the notice board, there are lots of adverts for lessons, performances and groups looking for players. You can also shop from Schotts online. Great shop for musicians, especially classical musicians.

Visiting from out of town, the set up to this place is unique, only cds on the floor and all the…read morevinyl is behind the counter. I also walked in a minute from closing time at 6pm, and thought I might buy a shirt, but was rudely told that they were closed. Will spend my money elsewhere like Reckless Records who are open until 7pm. Cheers!

Sister Ray is a super cool record store (and conveniently down the street from a few other great…read morerecord stores). My vinyl crazed husband spent some good time in here. So first, this is a two-story store with vinyl downstairs and CDs upstairs. The downstairs is IMPRESSIVELY organized, which just tickled my fancy because I love it when things are organized. All of the sleeves are empty - the records are kept behind the counter downstairs. And even when you walk up with a stack of records, the organization is so good that they can easily locate all of the albums you wish you wish to purchase in a flash. The staff was great and friendly and they really knew their music too. The young man helping us had a deep discussion with my husband about some artists I don't know. It was a really good stop. And bonus points for the cool vintage cassettes painted on the stairwell.

Best bookstore in London for language books (Celtic, German, English, Italian, Spanish, French,…read moreHebrew, Arabic, Ukrainian, Polish, Russian, Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Greek, Dutch, etc.!!) and it has a cafe upstairs as well as a huge kids books area.

In 2018, after 115 years of independent bookselling, then-Chairman Christopher Foyle and the Board…read moreof Directors sold the company to Waterstones, with the proviso that the Foyles name must endure. Based on our recent visit, let's now call this place a chain on steroids. I just wonder how much the inevitable Corporate culture has robbed the old independent Foyles of its soul. Gayle and I spend a fair amount of time on various floors and sections. I found a nice Judaica book, a BBC publication for an upcoming PROMS program, and some filing folders. Gayle found a book she was looking for and a gift for back home. It was a fun and good outing, but not a great one. The place was clean and shiny, and with attentive and helpful employees. That's good and sometimes not. And if given more time, I'd would have preferred to be in a dusty independent specialty bookseller.

I stopped into I Love Soho with a few friends in London and it was a really fun little place. Half…read morenovelty bookstore and half sex shop, it was welcoming and naughty without being outright creepy. The upstairs is well-stocked with an eclectic collection of interesting books on sex as well as art, culture, dogs, etc. It offers plenty of attractive browsing material, and as salespeople appear to be very hands off, you can look around at your leisure. It's a small space, but it doesn't feel particularly cramped. There are also greeting cards and the like. Downstairs, you'll find a standard dildo-and-handcuffs porn shop, small but packed with X-rated goods. You can buy DVDs for any taste - a quick look revealed naked fat people, old people, and she-males, among others. The prices seemed a little steep - I don't know who would pay £50 for three DVDs now that the internet's been invented, but I guess someone's keeping this place in business. While we browsed the PG section of I Love Soho, our group of four was approached by a duo of Brits in their early twenties. They were hilarious and engaging and almost seemed like they were enacting a comedy routine. They talked to us about pornography and London, and we explored the downstairs with their running commentary. It was an interesting encounter in an interesting place. I'm rather fond of that sort of thing.

I Love Soho loves Soho and I love Soho too. Their book selection is excellent. The main floor is…read morefilled with a myriad of art books, discount books and literary classics that would tickle the mind. The basement is more lurid, focussed on tickling the pickle. There is porn galore. If you're into G-rated products or you're bringing the family along, stay upstairs. If you want to get kinky get down in the basement.

Good News looks like every other newsagent from the outside but step inside this tiny little shop…read moreand you'll see that the choice of magazines is what keeps this little store a step ahead of the rest. Because Good News is situated in the heart of Soho, where all of London's hippest fashion houses, production companies and media firms are generally based, it needs to offer it's clients something different. Sure, you can get the usual paper, a juice and a bag of crisps but I've never seen so many magazines. If your looking for fashion, music, business or art, they have every single commercial, weird and underground paper and magazine you can imagine and even stock some industry mags as well like Music Week for example. Although I don't work in Soho anymore, if I pass this shop, I always stop by and pick up a magazine I know I can't get anywhere else...

There's countless newsagents in Soho, but I love Good News. The fact that they always stock and…read moresell my favourite magazine Monocle almost a week before it's supposed to hit newsstands makes all the difference to me. No to mention they stock a fantastic selection of international magazines and newspapers that one would often have trouble finding (especially American publications)! Definitely warrants a 5 star rating.