Unexpected vegan delights in Dulwich

You know sometimes where you go out with the sole purpose of finding a really good vegan place to eat? You've heard good things on Twitter, you've studied the menu, you've wandered around on Street Map so you know exactly where it is on the street. There are those days, and there are days where you just stumble on some good vegan eating, right where you least expected it. And that's just what happened to me the other weekend.

Mr Flicking the Vs and me have recently got a new niece, and we're pretty chuffed about it. In my completely unbiased opinion, she's a lovely little new person. She's getting to that age where she's able to take an interest in the world around her, and so taking her out for a walk or lunch is now a properly interactive experience for her. Even a few weeks ago, she felt very much a tiny baby, now she feels like a tiny human in waiting. I can't wait to meet the person she'll grow up to be. 

Me, Mr Flicking the Vs and her parents went for a walk around Bel Air Park in Dulwich. From what we can tell, the little 'un is quite partial to a walk around in the fresh air, and I was deeply glad glad to spend a few hours kicking around the autumn leaves with my newest relative. 

Bel Air Park is named after the big old Georgian house that sits in the middle of it. When we passed by, there was a Hallowe'en fair going on in the house, and although all the activities were for children way older than my niece, we went for a stroll around. 

Outside the house were a load of stalls - Beckenham Market had taken over Bel Air House for a pop-up, and I'm happy to report there was some cracking vegan food. 

There were a number of stalls that had food that looked like it would be easily veganisable, but one had a couple of clearly-marked vegan choices, both of which looked amazing. Step forward, Mother Thai. 

There were two incredible looking vegan options available: yellow Thai curry with tofu and veggies, and sweet and sour seitan. Given they both were so appealing, it was a smart move on Mother Thai's part to offer 'vegan mix bowl' - a bit of each on a stack of rice. 

Some folk might be tempted to raise an eyebrow at £8.50 for a dinner that comes in a cardboard bowl, but to those people I'd say, dude, you are so wrong. This food is worth £8.50 and more. 

Look - the seitan is crispy battered perfection! The yellow curry is packed with glorious yuba! I finished every little grain of rice, and was absolutely stuffed and full of joy. 

I'd love to be able to point you towards where to go and eat more of Mother Thai's amazing food, only I can't find them anywhere on Twitter or Facebook (and searching for their name seems to turn up loads of porn bot accounts).  I'd also like to be able to point myself to somewhere where I can eat a Mother Thai bowl, because I will be dreaming of their food for some time to come.

And what's better than a bowl of unexpectedly out of this world Thai food? An equally delightful, all-vegan dessert stall: Cookie and Biscuit. 

The stall had a range of cakes and bakes when we passed by, and considerably fewer than when we left. Everything looked so fancy, it was hard to pick what slices to take home with us. Given it was Hallowe'en, we couldn't pass up the black-and-orange delights:

Happily, Cookie and Biscuit does have a Twitter presence, which you can find here. I look forward to tracking it down as soon as I can. Quite apart from loving the cake, the owner and stall-runner-in-chief was incredibly lovely, which gives you another reason to love Cookie and Biscuit, if one were needed.

Despite being full from all the Mother Thai I ate, I still found room for a load of cake. No shame, no judgement. It gave me all the calories I needed for pushing my niece around for a few more laps around the park.

So, I was so pleased that a little walk with my little niece turned into a big vegan day out. She's only a few months old, and she's already making my life a little bit better in ways I couldn't have guessed!