Northwest Miami-Dade is not exactly a foodie haven, but the cities of Doral, Miami Lakes and Hialeah offer ethnic variety, quality fare and budget options for diners who don't need the faux glamour of pricier areas.

Here are three restaurants that make the grade on all three counts.

OLIVOS

A newcomer to Doral, this Argentine restaurant provides an elegant setting of white tablecloths and rich woods. Best of all, Olivos offers a complete menu of the beef and pasta dishes for which the South American cuisine is best-loved.

It was tough, actually impossible, to stay under the $50 limit my editors imposed on a dinner for two, but we overindulged because we so enjoyed the place, the wine and the pleasant service. And we couldn't stop boasting that the meal would have cost us a lot more in Miami Beach or Coral Gables.

Skip the appetizers (our lobster croquettes were forgettable) and go straight for the bounty of the parrilla grill. The filet mignon, cooked exactly as we requested and served with a mustard-tarragon sauce and a side dish of asparagus, is a real value at $26. Equally luscious, the risotto al malbec with bacon and cremini mushrooms is a meal in itself.

I could have skipped dessert, but there was the ''chocolate, chocolate, chocolate'' to taste as well as flan de dulce de leche. The latter wins my vote by far, further proof that Miami is flan country in any culture.

Olivos Restaurant, 10455 NW 41st St., Doral; 305-718-9968, www.olivosrestaurant.com; starters $7-$17, pastas $13-$19, entrees $17-$23, parrilla grill $9-$23, desserts $6-$8.

THAI CAFE

Other Thai restaurants in the area have closed or are deserted, but the cozy Thai Café on Miami Lakes' Main Street endures at its corner location across from Shula's Hotel -- still a full house on weekends.

Family-owned and run for 24 years, the restaurant keeps its prices low and its fare authentic, adding variety with an efficient sushi bar.

Rainy days call for soup, and none better than their tom ka-gai, a chicken soup with coconut milk, galangal and lime juice, a slight kick and the optimal amount of chicken chunks. Try it with an order of Thai spring rolls, three rolls made with fresh vegetables and pork stuffing.

You can get all sorts of curries here, as well as frog legs cooked three ways, but we usually keep our selection simple. We love our pad Thai noodles, and it's a tossup whether we get them with chicken or shrimp. Either way, they're quite rich here. Once you've had them at the Thai Café, you'll feel something is missing elsewhere.

Thai Café, 6845 Main St., Miami Lakes; 305-825-7752, www.thaicafemiamilakes.com; appetizers $3.50-$7.50; soups $3.25-$10.95; specialties $13.50-$16.95; fried rice $7.95-$9.50; seafood and frog's legs $12.95-$19.95; beef, pork, shrimp and chicken $10.50-$12.95; desserts $2-$4.

TABERNA DE IGNACIO

Chef-owner Ignacio Mongay is in the kitchen day and night cooking to order the traditional dishes of his native Spain. There's a wait for your food -- and that's the first sign of good things to come -- so you might want to start with one of the simple, cold tapas of olives, Manchego cheese, Serrano ham or sliced chorizo. Complimentary slices of delicious bread (similar to a French baguette) come with a garlic butter spread.

But with the afternoon to while away with glasses of fruity sangría, we went for the tapas calientes side of the menu: chorizo al vino, wine-infused sautéed sausage with just the right hot kick, a favorite at our table. I would have preferred the octopus al ajillo, sautéed with garlic, but my guest chose gambas (shrimp). The piquillos rellenos bacalao, red peppers stuffed with codfish, were savory in their pink sauce. Like good children of the Motherland that we are, we cleaned up the pepper sauce with our leftover bread.

Too full for a main course, we went straight on to dessert with sweet torrejas al aroma de anís, a sort of liqueur-spiked French toast.

Only one thing to do: return the next Sunday for a steamy paella marinera (two-person minimum), a seafood paella with all the works except lobster, cooked as well as you can get this far from Spain.

Taberna de Ignacio, 1800 W 68th St., No. 123, Hialeah; 305-820-1091; cold tapas $3.50-$12.95, hot tapas $3.95-$11.95, soups and salads $4.95-$10.95, paella $18.95 per person, entrees $9.50-$12.95, other entrees and rice dishes $13.50-$22.95, desserts $5.95.

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