The Dining Room — Restaurant in Millburn

A last minute change in plans brought us to the Short Hills Hilton for New Years eve.

We didn't necessarily want to have our celebration dinner at the hotel restaurant, but all the other restaurants had no reservations available.

Generally, the last thing anyone wants to do is to dine at a hotel restaurant. However, I was optimistic that THE DINING ROOM would change my perspective completely. I was wrong.

As you would expect, the choices on the menu are limited and overpriced for what you get. The portions are small -- particularly the appetizers which are very scant in quantity. We had several appetizers that we shared: Pork Belly, Melted Cheese Bread, Shrimp and Scallops. It hardly fed our group of five, and the price for the appetizers was rather expensive.

The entrees were fairly good. Most of us had the cowboy steak which was cooked the way we wanted, with butter on top. The steak cost $45 which is a bit expensive, but then again, look where we were. Someone in our group had the Mac and Cheese and thought that was quite good as well.

I think the worst part of our experience was the lack of attention by the waiting staff.

First of all, being New Years Eve, very few staff people at that hotel looked as if they wanted to be there. Saying hello and wishing them a Happy New Year brought a mumbled reply.

What was really frustrating for us was the service in THE DINING ROOM. At first, when we arrived at 7:30pm, the place was empty. However, an hour or so later, only a few tables were occupied (most people were smart and ate elsewhere) and yet the staff couldn't handle what they had on hand.

We were handed a dessert menu and it took 30 minutes for the waiter to even return to our table to take our order. Not many people in the place, and he was walking around completely ignoring our group who were sitting at the table staring into space. So you know what? We decided not to get dessert after all. Yet, we had to sit an additional 5 minutes until I could flag our waiter down and get our check.

So, as others have pointed out, this place is just average in food quality. High in price and poor in service.

Really, make plans elsewhere and if you get stuck eating here, I hope you can make the best of it and get better service than we were...

This is a solid dinner choice for a hotel restaurant atmosphere and food. It's a popular choice for local business people after work with good cocktails and highly social seating arrangement. The menu has a wide variety of healthy options and, of course, has the usual favorites with an upscale twist and preparation. You can do small bites and full entrees. The steak sandwich with wagyu beef and gruyere on ciabatta was excellent and the mushroom gravy made it outstanding. Shoestring fries were perfectly prepared and seasoned. The price is a little high as everything is a la carte, but it's definitely in the...

The Dining Room is located in the Hilton hotel at Short Hills and is where we went the next morning to have breakfast. The buffet was fantastic, one of the best breakfast buffets that we have all ever had. The spread...