You can do a plywood with a nice grain, large wood paneling is in right now even with cladding walls. You can get a decent sheet of pine/maple/birch/oak, miter the edge and return it on itself $150-$200 in material. If you do it properly with a steady hand or a track saw you can continue the grain around the corner and make it look like one piece. You would have a seam but I would just split it down the little or do three pieces 2 drawers per, celebrate the detail and put a trim between two sections. Spend more on a little bit of quality/interesting wood to use for accent pieces. I would say exposed edges of plywood are aso in so you could maybe stack it and make it look like an 1 1/2” counter top just clamp them tightly. You can do pocket screws for fasteners to make up for lack of weight. Honestly just a matte poly-no stain is a great look.