Some ideas:

Certain Pubs in the City (surprising lack of tourists)
http://www.nicholsonspubs.co.uk/thewilliamsonstaverngrovelandcourtlondon/

http://www.shepherdneame.co.uk/pub/moorgate/old-doctor-butlers-head.aspx

Good curry: http://www.bengalclipper.co.uk/

Good pub in Shad Thames: http://thedeanswift.com/

Hampstead village is nice and a bit out of the way of the usual tourists...

I wouldn't worry, London hotel bookings are reportedly down over the Olympics period.

And with people at the various Olympic venues for much of the day then they can't be visiting the attractions

The things worth doing are no different during the Olympics than the rest of the year - only there'll be fewer people visiting most attractions (the Olympics are miles from the centre)

Londoners use a decent guide book to check on anything they've not seen recently: any decent bookshop will have dozens. We also buy Time Out every week to see what's on.

No-one on this board has anything remotely resembling the knowledge or writing skill of the combined Time Out editorial team. Just buy it and read it.

A sudden burst of modesty from flanneruk, wrapped around some doubtless good advice.

I am noting jamikins' pub recs, though.

www.beerintheevening.com
www.fancyapint.com

Thank you Jamikins and PatrickLondon!!!! Sometimes, one great suggestion can make a trip experience memorable. I will certainly check out yours. MY suggestion to anyone with negative advice and nothing to add to a conversation should suppress the urge to chime in.

if you have the odd hour, the Temple is very pleasant - go to Temple tube station and walk east into the Temple, or get the no 11 bus to Fleet Street, get off at Temple bar, and turn south towards the river through one of the gates into the Inns - Inner and Middle Temple. they both have lovely halls [middle Temple Hall saw the first performance of Twelfth Night] and there is the Temple Church of course.

time your visit for the lunch hour/s and you can walk around Inner Temple garden, which to judge by the pictures I've seen of it should be looking lovely.

if you are interested in the law at all, an hour or two in the Royal Courts of Justice over the road from the Inns might prove rewarding.

I should probably kill you if I tell you this, but running down from Great Tower St, not far from the Tower of London, is St Dunstan's Hill - and off it stand the ruins of St Dunstan's Church, now a peaceful garden, and a quiet oasis.

If you haven't already seen it, Postman's Park, between St Paul's and the Museum of London, is another similar option.
http://autolycus-london.blogspot.co.uk/2009/02/quiet-spot.html

<<MY suggestion to anyone with negative advice and nothing to add to a conversation should suppress the urge to chime in.>>

Quit whinging. You actually received good advice wrapped in a tone that wasn't concierge-level friendly. Deal with the substance not the manner of the advice.

In other words, the TimeOut guide for London should give you some very good tips . . .

(and yes, I actually took up for flanner . . . then again flanner's US ignorance wasn't on display this time).

Exactly. Still not sure what "negative advice" is, but there was nothing negative about the advice given.

And, in spite of chiming in when requested to keep my opinions to myself, Time Out really does offer the best possible information on London.

Patrick, I will review your excellent blog before our trip.

We've gotten to the door of Middle Hall on two different trips, only to be turned away by the porter for being the wrong time. It is lovely back there as annhig says.

Sorry, I meant above we were trying to see the 1602 Twelfth Night debut hall at Middle Temple. It was still fun sitting outside under the trees and imagining the hall lit within for the play.

"MY suggestion to anyone with negative advice and nothing to add to a conversation should suppress the urge to chime in."

That is just plain silly. Utterly!

First of all the advice was not negative - was very accurate/useful. Secondly, if only Pollyanna/positive comments are allowed, you'll miss a lot of important info/advice.

(and thirdly - you'll need a thicker skin if you hope to enjoy visiting the UK)

Thank you again, Patrick and Annhig. Your first hand suggestions are greatly appreciated.

If you want the worlds best curry and are near Heathrow try Ma Mas Nepalese Restaurant in Hounslow - the curry will literally blow your mind. That said, I can think of no other reason to visit Hounslow, so may not be worth the effort. Borough market (Southbank) is busy regardless of tourists - but it was a great find for me.

Stoke - I'm very sorry that you missed the opportunity to see inside Middle Temple Hall.

if you imagine an oxbridge college dining room alla Morse, or Harry Potter, you'll get the idea.

Thanks, Ann. We'll give it one more try. The porters both times were amusingly gruff and stern, as if having dealt with our kind all too many times. (Honest, I was just trying to peek over his shoulder.)

try giving it another go, Stoke, but this time, phone/e-mail the number given on this website - although it's technically for members only, they always used to let in any members of the other inns, [like me] and, apparently, non-lawyers as well:

http://www.middletemplehall.org.uk/food-lunch.html

[yes, we abolished quills some time ago!]

make sure that you take a turn round the garden before you leave!

We had been advised to visit Middle Temple Hall and Temple church prior to our London trip in February. After waiting patiently for 15 minutes in the pouring rain at the tiny door on Fleet Street, we were ushered in to what seemed like a different world. It was one of our travel finds of the past ten years.

I find the history of the area fascinating, always good to throw in a secret society, power, money, a Pope and a few bent lawyers.

After waiting patiently for 15 minutes in the pouring rain at the tiny door on Fleet Street,>>

??? - there should be no problem about getting into the Temple, either from Fleet street via middle Temple lane or one of the other gates, or from the southern end of middle Temple Lane, or from the west through the car park or the gate by Devereux Chambers. [used to be a good sandwich stall there!]

Getting into the Halls, as we have seen, takes a bit more effort.

<<we were ushered in to what seemed like a different world.>>

in my day [ ! ] the lamp-lighter came round and lit the gas lamps at dusk and put them out in the morning. the lack of electric lighting has made the temple very popular with makers of Dickens films and the like. however, otherwise what you have are basically a large number of very similar businesses all in competition with each other. it would be surprising if all were scrupulously honest. After all, like footballers, lawyers reflect the society they live in!

bookmarking

Didn't know about the other entrances. We were told to wait by a black door on Fleet Street which would open at 2pm, it promptly did.

Also loved Monument, our son had covered The Great Fire at school this year.

I lived in London for 5 years and these two passed me by. More interested in the Goose and Firkin at the time.

b_g - I was never aware of a gate that opened at 2pm - so you are one up on me!

I never got up the monument either, though I walked past it a few times. the early years of legal practice in london were terrific for getting to know the city. one day I'd be in Stratford [atte Bow, not upon Avon] the next in Islington, the third in Marylebone. I'm sure that there's loads that passed me by too - it is such a vast place!

travlbum/stoke

should you find yourself on Fleet Street, you might be interested also in this.

http://www.drjohnsonshouse.org/

i walked past it more times than I could count, but never went in. if you go, you might report back on what I missed.

>>http://www.drjohnsonshouse.org/

i walked past it more times than I could count, but never went in. if you go, you might report back on what I missed.<<

It's the standard collection of manuscripts, prints and furniture laying out the story of Johnson's life and work. No fancy re-creations with actors and the like (at least when I was there a couple of years ago), but I remember the attic laid out as it would have been with his assistants working away on the vast collection of paper slips that went to make up the Dictionary.