After months of closure now is more important than ever to support local restaurants, although choosing where to eat can be a tricky choice.

With there being so many amazing cuisines around it can become a difficult choice to decide where to go for a meal, with there being many places to enjoy an exceptional dining experience.

So, we have decided to give you a little food for thought by looking at the local restaurants that are recommended in the Good Food Guide.

Waitrose publishes the annual guide which outlines its foodie front runners across the British Isles.

While we wait for the latest round of Good Food Guide results, we've had a look back at last year's entries that are within 10 miles to give you some suggestions.

Featured restaurants are nominated by the public then verified by a team of respected editors who then visit the most voted for to verify the results and give a final score of between one and ten.

Scores represent the entire restaurant experience including both the quality of the cooking and the wider dining experience.

Here are the top restaurants near you according to the guide:

Watford Observer:

St James Restaurant

St James, 30 High Street, Bushey, WD23 3HL - Good Food Guide Score - Local Gem

What the guide said: “This was a fine lunch, very good value, in a relaxed atmosphere, and we shall be very pleased to continue coming,.

“The menu fits the bill, listing the kind of food everyone likes to eat, whether twice-baked cheese soufflé gratin, grilled calf’s liver and bacon (with creamy mash, red onion jam and red wine jus) and a well-made chocolate and orange tart with vanilla ice cream.

“Service is excellent. Wines from £17.50, with a basic selection by the glass.”

Average Price - £45

Watford Observer:

Thompson Restaurant

Thompson, St Albans, 2-8 Hatfield Road, St Albans, AL1 3RP - Good Food Guide score 5 (This restaurant will reopen on August 28)

What the guide said: “The first-floor dining room of this cottage conversion may be decorated in a sombre all-grey palette but there's nothing dull about chef patron Phil Thompson’s modern British cooking, for which one diner was happy to make a 140-mile round trip.

“Highlights are many and could include silken chicken and duck liver parfait, lavished with butter and cream, and countered with orange segments and crunchy granola. Main courses also excel, notably a magnificent chunk of suckling pig belly, topped with crisp crackling and partnered with the pungency of a tiny salt-baked turnip, while vegetarian dishes include pastel-hued wild garlic garganelli, studded with earthy morels and cloaked in a sauce rich with butter and savoury mushroom flavour.

“Desserts are exceptional, especially the custardy chocolate crémeux served with banana ice cream. A decent selection of global wines includes many by the glass. There's a lovely relaxed vibe throughout, although the airy, conservatory-style ground-floor dining room is the space to aim for.”

Average price - £55

Loft, 23b George Street, St Albans, AL3 4ES - Good Food Guide score 4

What the guide said: “Nick and Louise Male have been calling the city's picturesque Cathedral Quarter home since 2015, and their contemporary restaurant in a medieval building is pitch perfect. At the end of a cobbled street, an iron staircase takes you up to the 15th-century dining room, replete with carved beams (although if the weather’s playing ball, the courtyard's an option, too).

“A seasonal menu that dashes across continents, from French onion soup to charred cauliflower with onion bhajia, then to a ‘beautifully cooked’ sea bass with squid, might give some the jitters, but all the dishes deserve their place and epitomise Nick Male’s astute blend of culinary innovation and classicism.

“As a finale, indulge in treacle tart with orange sorbet and gingerbread crumb. Visitors commend the family-friendly ethos, especially on a Sunday for the Family Feast roasts. Global wines offer plenty of interest for all budgets, and special selections for fine-wine lovers.”

Average price - £40