Lafayette Gourmet isn't the first place that springs to mind when it comes to bagging a bargain. Visit its salad bar, though, and you'll find a takeaway option that puts most cafe chains to shame. Much as I enjoy browsing the shelves at Lafayette Gourmet in Dubai Mall, I tend to visit with the intention of purchasing a specialist ingredient - unusual type of pasta, French cheese or free-range corn-fed chicken - rather than stumbling upon a bargain. Let me explain: last week, while shopping with my sister, the salad bar caught our eye and we decided to stop for lunch. The display counter houses all the standard salad fare (lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber) but there's also plenty of deli favourites: marinated peppers and mushrooms, sun-dried tomatoes, pickled squid, olives and caperberries. There is a selection of cheeses (halloumi, feta, labneh and goat's cheese among them) as well as pumpkin and beetroot salads, shredded spiced chicken, prawns, herby green beans, croutons and piles of roasted vegetables. In short, a good selection of interesting, fresh produce. What's really nice about this is that after you select your salad size (large Dh49, small Dh20) you simply point out your chosen ingredients - as many or as few as you like - and the person serving you keeps on adding them, until the bowl is full. Then you choose a dressing (Caesar, classic vinaigrette, balsamic, honey mustard etc) and everything is tossed together at the last minute. Alternatively, if you opt for the takeaway version, as I did when I returned later on in the week, it is stashed in a little pot, to be drizzled at your leisure, thus avoiding the otherwise inevitable limp lettuce situation. My sister and I shared a large salad; with bread on the side it made for an unexpectedly good lunch and there was more than enough for the two of us. The takeaway tub (again Dh20) is the perfect size for one - see photo above. Now consider that this freshly prepared, custom-made offering is in the same price range as the ubiquitous pre-made, plastic wrapped versions that languish in coffee shop and cafe counters across the city. A bargain. In Lafayette Gourmet no less.