One of my more enjoyable hobbies is eating out with my husband. Unfortunately, we can’t afford to do it as often as we’d like, but when we do, we are nearly always satisfied with the restaurants we frequent. We avoid chains as much as possible, preferring local neighborhood restaurants.

One of my goals for 2008 is to introduce you readers to as many of these local gems as possible. Some will be new to you, others will likely be some of your favorite hangouts. Regardless, I hope that you’ll enjoy them. I’ll classify them in three categories: cheap eats, reasonable eats, and expensive eats.

Cheap eats means that my husband and I were able to have a complete meal (without alcohol or tip) for around $20. Reasonable eats could be up to $50 for the two of us. Expensive eats are any places where we spend over $50.

My first offering is Mae Ploy Thai Cuisine in Ballard. More after the jump.

The building at 15th Ave NW and NW 65th (Excel Plaza) was supposed to be part of the failed Monorail project. It’s been empty as long as I’ve lived in Seattle (coming up on 3 years). Just a few months ago, a new restaurant finally opened in the space. It’s a Thai restaurant and I admit, from the outside, I didn’t give it much thought. It almost looks like a mall food court offering with vivid color pictures and signs. But once you enter, it’s quiet, yet very inviting.

When we ate there, on a Tuesday night, there were only two or four other diners in the place. We were immediately greeted and offered a seat. The gentleman who served us was prompt and efficient and very concerned that everything was perfect, even including the amount of lighting around our table.

They have an extensive menu. We began with an order of fresh rolls. While I would have appreciated a few more veggies and a little less noodle, the vegetables were incredibly fresh and the shrimp was tasty without being fishy.

Next we moved in to Tom Kah Gai, a hot and sour soup with coconut milk and chicken. The mushrooms were huge and even though mushrooms aren’t my favorite, I did enjoy them. The chicken was all white meat with no fat. We asked for three star spicy and it was exactly that, pleasantly spicy with a lingering heat, but not uncomfortable.

My husband had Larb Gai, ground and marinated chicken served with cabbage wraps. Also three star spicy, the chicken was juicy, something you don’t often find with ground meat. The vegetables were fresh and crispy.

For dessert, we shared sweet sticky rice with Thai custard. The rice wasn’t quite as sweet as I’d hoped, but it was fresh and hot. The custard was firm and sweet.

Our bill, including two cups of tea, was $28.

I will happily return to Mae Ploy. As a bonus, they have a wide variety of lunch specials and offer free delivery on orders over $20.