HUNTSVILLE, Alabama -- The late, avant-garde rock musician Frank Zappa famously once said, "Writing about music is like dancing about architecture."

So perhaps writing about food is like landscaping about photography. Or interior-designing about acting.

Actually, expressing how food tastes in words can be more difficult than you might think. Get too existential or flowery with it, and you come off sounding like a New Age guru or pompous twit, but get too basic and it reads like caveman-speak: "Burger good. Southwestern Eggroll bad."

Hopefully AL.com/Huntsville Times dining reviews find a sweet spot somewhere between those extremes. During the first half of 2014, I've reviewed, typically with help from my insightful fellow staff-members, 23 or so restaurants, food trucks and other food-service ventures.

Here are the top eight of those joints ... The Best Easts (So Far) of 2014.

Please note: Pricing, available items and hours of operation indicated below reflect those on the date the dining review was conducted. Please call ahead for latest information.

1892 East (vegetarian lunch menu)

720 Pratt Avenue

256-489-1242

1892east.com

Lunch: Monday – Friday 11 a.m. – 2 p.m.

Dinner: Monday - Saturday 5 – 10 p.m.

Brunch: Sunday 10 a.m. – 2 p.m.

Recommendations: Mushroom Pot Pie, Portobello "Burger," Crispy Tofu Sandwich.

My cheeseburger at 1892 East was juicy, plenty, rich, savory, tender ... and completely meatless. The Portobello "Burger" ($10) is one of four vegetarian entrees on the Five Points restaurant's current lunch menu. We tried all of them on a recent sunny afternoon and all of them featured high-standard ingredients, interesting flavors, compelling plating and were served to us just 13 minutes after our dining party ordered them. Served on a soft, bakery-style roll, the Portobello Burger was ideally grilled. Balsamic aioli imparted bright notes while Wright Dairy white cheddar cheese contributed lush texture. The green leafy lettuce, onion slices and ultra-ripe tomatoes served with all the sandwiches we ordered upped the ante, as did the abundant and crunchy fresh-cut fries.

5 A's Restaurant

6297 Highway 53

256-852-8089

5asrestaurant.com

Tuesday – Saturday: 10:30 a.m. – 9 p.m

Sunday: 11 a.m. – 6 p.m.

Recommendations: Feisty Feta Spread, Chicken Kabob Plate, Kataifi, Vegetarian Plate.

Just because food is served on a Styrofoam plate doesn't mean it can't look and taste phenomenal. Witness the Chicken Kabob Plate ($7.99) at 5 A's Restaurant, a two-year-old-plus Greek eatery in Harvest. Tender, juicy chunks of chicken breast, crisp lettuce, sliced cherry tomatoes, olives, feta cheese, soft pita triangles plated attractively atop perfectly cooked, long-grain basmati rice. This entrée really delivered some subtle-yet-zesty flavors while retaining a relatively healthy vibe. The accompanying, on-the-side tzatziki sauce offered cucumber coolness, garlic zip and clean creaminess, and the hummus boasted lothario levels of smoothness and earthiness.

The Bottle (lunch menu)

101 Washington St. N.E.

256-704-5555

facebook.com/TheBottleHuntsville

Lunch: Monday- Friday 11 a.m. – 2 p.m.

Dinner: Monday – Saturday: 4 – 11 p.m.

Recommendations: Apple and Blackberry Mixed Green Salad, Pan Fried Trout, Seared Ahi Tuna Nicoise Bowl.

The skin-up plating of trout always looks a little crazy to me, but you cannot argue with the flavor The Bottle's Pan Fried Trout ($16) possessed – snow-soft texture, flaky, hints of buttery sweetness. It started off tasting good and got better with each bite. And there were lots of bites. Generous portion. The accompanying lemon meuniere sauce - dotted with a constellation of capers - evoked earthy notes, and whenever I bit into a caper, it added an intense bright burst. The side of White Corn Cheese Grits was smooth and lux and Haricot Verts (white-table-cloth speak for green beans) achieved soft-but-crisp equilibrium. The few neon-green drops of basil oil added some sweet and leafy kicks, and I found myself searching the plate for a few more dots.

Brix (lunch menu)

964 Airport Road

256-881-3396

brixhuntsville.com

Dinner: Monday -Thursday 4:30 – 9 p.m.; Friday – Saturday 4:30 – 10 p.m.

Lunch: Tuesday – Friday: 11 a.m. – 2 p.m.

Recommendations: Brix Salad, Chicken & Waffles.

If you've ever been underwhelmed by chicken and waffles, try the version on Brix's lunch menu. The problem you can run into with this dichotomous dish, as prepared at soul food restaurants, is the chicken is often three or so fried wings. So the protein is skimpy and a hassle to eat with a knife and fork. Brix's Chicken & Waffles ($12.95), ordered on a recent Monday, featured a sizeable, boneless chicken tenderloin, fried juicy-crisp without being overdone or greasy. Granted, Brix is a white-tablecloth restaurant. But this is an upscale refinement that really, really works and a fair trade for whatever "funkiness" is lost. The accompanying Belgian Waffles were fluffy and light. And the maple-infused syrup, served on the side, facilitated savory-sweet contrast without being too heavy on the latter part of that equation.

Cotton Row Restaurant

100 South Side Square

256-382-9500

cottonrowrestaurant.com

Lunch: Wednesday – Friday: 11 a.m. – 2 p.m.

Dinner: Monday through Saturday 5 p.m. – 10 p.m.

Recommendations: Gnocchi Spinach Soup, Pan Seared Corvina, Grilled Mahi Mahi, Chicken Pot Pie.

Ever since star chef James Boyce opened Cotton Row in 2008, the downtown-square fine-dining spot has earned a reputation for transcendent food and car-payment sized tabs. While Cotton Row dinner entree prices are no joke, the restaurant's fantastic new winter lunch menu is much more accessible. Most lunch items run $11 to $17. Or just a couple bucks more than you'd pay for many meals at casual-dining chain restaurants. It's basically like being able to purchase a Mercedes E-Class Sedan for 25 percent more than a Toyota Camry. I ordered the Grilled Mahi Mahi ($14). When the gorgeously plated Mahi was placed in front of me, it felt like I was living inside a cookbook photo. The fish couldn't have been cooked better. Super, tender flaky interior, and a slightly-crispy exterior which was subtly salt and herb seasoned. The fish was served atop sunset-soft ringlets of house-made, slightly buttery fettuccine. Wow.

Fuji Japanese Cuisine

2246 Winchester Road. N.E. #309-310

256-858-9988

fujihuntsville.com

Lunch: Tuesday-Saturday 11 a.m. 2 p.m.

Dinner: Tuesday-Thursday 4 – 9:30 p.m.

Friday 4 – 10 p.m. Saturday 2 – 10 p.m.

Sunday 11:30 a.m. – 9:30 p.m.

Recommendations: Yummy Yummy Roll, Hibachi Combo, Tempura Udon, Pepper Tuna.

Fuji Japanese Cuisine's 13-page menu is somewhat overwhelming. However, many of the food items we tried during a recent lunch hour benefited from a potent combination of quality ingredients, deft preparation, solid value and "wow" factor plating. And well-worth sifting through an unwieldy menu for. Scanning Fuji's menu, the Pepper Tuna ($8.95) appetizer looked and tasted amazing. Brilliant red, elegantly sliced pieces of seared tuna, drizzled with ponzu sauce and garnished with chopped scallioins and a centerpiece of shaved radish. Super fresh with some bright notes. Deluxe texture.

Nick's Ristorante

10300 Bailey Cove Road

256-489-8280

nicksristorante.com

Monday – Saturday: 4 – 11 p.m.

Recommendations: Veal Saltimboca, Pasta Nicky, Crab-Stuffed Portobello "Jaclyn."

Nick's Ristorante is located in a South Huntsville strip mall, so approaching the humble exterior you might wonder, "Is this really somewhere I want to drop some big coin on dinner?" The answer is a resounding, 72-point font "YES." While Nick's menu isn't particularly creative, they absolutely nail classic Italian, steak and seafood dishes, and the interior atmosphere mixes neighborhood restaurant comfort with low-lit, Sinatra-haunt charm. The Veal Saltimboca ($24) was possibly the best in a strong field of entrees we ordered. Layers of veal, prosciutto, cheese and, I believe, sage, resulted in a dish that was sophisticated and supper-comfy. Our server recommended mushroom risotto as a side, and man, was she right-on. Chunky, woodsy and a must-do side.

Urban Chez

5510 Promenade Point Pkwy., Ste. 195, Madison

256-325-8031

urbanchez.com

Monday –Saturday: 7 a.m. – 9 p.m.

Recommendations: Chez Chicken Sandwich, Madison County Sandwich, Spicy Cajun Pasta, Cuban Wrap.

Stuffing a Philly cheesesteak inside an eggroll, and invigorating a sandwich with gobs of goat cheese and cranberry salsa. Apple slices on a cheddar-topped grilled chicken breast. Urban Chez makes creative tweaks as accessible as an episode of "How I Met Your Mother" or post-2010 Black Keys single. Chez Chicken Sandwich ($7.49) was perhaps our best –in-show. Tart Granny Smith apple slivers contrasting sweet caramelized onions, a massive grilled chicken breast, and slice of flavorful ham. Highly recommended. This locally owned and operated fast casual restaurant has the polish of a well-oiled, well-plotted regional chain. That's meant as a compliment. Our food was out to our table in nine minutes. Not bad since they had a solid lunch crowd.