Critic's Notebook: 30 percent off at One If by Land and other deals; Cheapeatery for cheap eats

It would be disingenuous to call it a price war, but a battle is clearly underway among New York restaurants anxious about so many vacant tables. The level to which many have been willing to slash their prices is unprecedented.

The latest volleys to be fired are from two French restaurants. During "Tax Week" (April 11 to 15), One If by Land, Two If by Sea, in the West Village (17 Barrow Street, 212-255-8649), is offering a 30-percent "Family & Friends Discount" to everyone on their e-mail

list, which you can join at info@oneifbyland.com. When you call to reserve, you need to say "Friends & Family Discount"—shezam was already taken. In a similar vein, Paradou (8 Little West 12th Street, nr Ninth Ave, 212-463-8345—unofficial recipient of "best in show" honors in my Best Cheap French Prix Fixe series—will be awarding a prize of its own each week in the form of a $100 gift certificate in perpetuity to a random address on their email list: vadim@paradounyc.com (h/t Andy Freedman at Wined & Dined.) As an added inducement, if you print out and present the confirmation email that arrives in your mailbox, you receive a complimentary glass of wine on your next visit.

For an unbeatable deal that does not center on large quantities of butterfat, consider the "Saturday Sunset Dinner" at Bamboo52, in Hell's Kitchen (344 W 52nd Street, 212-315-2777). The three-course offer includes miso soup, salad, or edamame to start, a choice from a baker's half dozen maki rolls for mains, plus dessert. The price? A positively preinflationary $14.95 a person.

Cheapetery

Where do you go when you want to learn about great New York restaurant offers? Hopefully, your answer is here, to my column. And where do I go in search of restaurants that offer great value? One of my sources is Menupages, where searches can be customized in terms of price. Now a new restaurant search engine has emerged. Its name is Cheapeatery, and its motto is "Never spend over $10 again."

In principle, Cheapeatery offers nothing new under the sun beyond the convenience of searches that have been precustomized, which admittedly saves a step. Very often, clicking on the "Menu" tab for a particular restaurant takes you to a menu at Menupages, which seems to make the enterprise doubly pointless. In addition, Cheaptery—perhaps because of its newness—doesn't offer as many (or in many cases any) consumer reviews as Menupages. While 10,000 New Yorkers can be wrong, reading a cross-section of comments can be instructive.

On the plus side, Cheapeatery does enable you to do borough-wide searches, which requires a bit of a workaround at Menupages. In addition, the service is free to use, so what's to complain about?