A POPULAR Hereford restaurant has taken its place among the nation's top eateries as one of the latest additions to the prestigious Good Food Guide.

The brainchild of brothers Edwin and Dorian Kirk, Aubrey Street based steak restaurant The Bookshop has beaten off strong competition from around the country to win the coveted mention.

The Bookshop opened in 2015 and is one of three restaurants in the ‘A Rule of Tum’ group.

A home-grown business, their 'local first' ethos has garnered huge support from the community, with a successful crowdfunding campaign launched last year raising over £500,000 in a bid to expand their restaurants and secure their future.

The brothers have now purchased the properties of their two original Hereford sites (The Bookshop and Burger Shop) on Aubrey Street, and a neighbouring empty unit.

Crowdfunding money has also been put to use in expanding and refurbishing The Bookshop restaurant, where a much larger space has been created by knocking through from the original Bookshop restaurant to the empty building next door.

This has allowed for an expansion of the kitchen and greater offerings than ever before, and has allowed the business to grow from a 4 day-a-week to a 7 day-a-week operation introducing brunch, coffee, bar and cocktail options to their already successful steak-led evening menu and award-winning Sunday lunch (Observer Food Monthly Awards, Best Sunday Lunch 2017).

The Bookshop will open its doors once more in September 2019, championing Hereford as a county of great

food suppliers, restaurants, and makers.

The inclusion brings the total number of Herefordshire restaurants to be listed in the foodie handbook up to seven, as The Bookshop joins Hereford's Madam & Adam, Pembridge's The Cider Barn, Aymestrey's The Riverside at Aymestrey, The Stagg Inn at Titley, Richard Booth's Bookshop Cafe in Hay-on-Wye, and The Baiting House in Upper Sapey.