I cover conference-like events more frequently and find that audio in typical hotel venue is a very mixed bag . . . so I have begun to consider putting together an audio kit for events that would allow me to run audio independently of the hotel/rental pa setup for the typical three-four seated talking heads + podium.

Any reccomendations for table mics that will produce decent audio for video yet not break the bank?

Probably a wireless lav for the podium presenter and one or several boundary mics on the table for the others.

Do a search on "boundary mic conference" and you'll find several discussions about such coverage.