Renown Milk Bar

Willy Wonka's got nothin' on this Hobart gem. Global chocs, house-made fudge, top it with more (trust me!), battle friends on vintage pinball, all served with smiles as sweet as ganache. Girls know their ice creams and the toppings, guide you like ice cream evangelists.

The Renown is a lovely milk bar in North Hobart with a huge selection of treats, a pinball machine, and friendly staff.
10/10 recommend!

Great classic milkbar -service, variety, local produce and jobs, that hopefully doesn’t get lost in todays mass produced culture. Awesome small business, tasty milkshakes, and Tasmanian Valhalla, ice cream.

My family went for milkshakes and thick shakes and let me tell you there were sooo many flavours to choose from and they tasted so good!

They seem to have problems serving younger audiences. For the second time, one of my girls didn’t get their change after purchasing an ice cream. Also one of the ice creams was only having half a scoop. Trying to explain the situation was met with disregard.

Went there with a few friends yesterday and it was amazing! Quite cheap and quite delicious, would recommend especially in the hot weather.
10/10

The girl in glasses refused serving me ice cream after all my friends got served and they didn’t give me a valid reason.

Great selection of sweets, chocolates, milkshakes and coffees. Only 4 stars because they don't have a toilet for customers.

I got refused ice cream at 8: 52 and they close at 9pm the lady was so rude and didn’t let me buy ice cream when I was with my friends and they all bought except for me. This is unacceptable and they should take action against this. #Racismstopswithme

Great value for price… customer service was fab.the ice cream and lollies were really delicious as well. Will definitely go there again…

Nice tidy little place but have to say, it's the least friendly service I've consistantly had anywhere. No smiles, no warm greeting, no politeness and absolutely no charm whatsoever.
You feel like you're intruding by asking for service.
Disappointing as it really lets down what should be a very popular little hangout.
Need to bring back Christine Coombe to get it back to what it used to be.

The best staff ever this one girl served me and she was awesome nicest lady i’ve met she had a blue bow in her hair.mad as

ATTENTION people with allergies:
Currently they are using the same ice cream scoops for the gluten free and vegan sorbets AND the dairy filled ice cream. So I personally didn't grab a sorbet.

Apart from that, good service and a clean establishment.

Good range of lollies and ice cream but Long wait, only one poor lady working. Should have more staff.

Nice little cafe but the staff appear rather rude, standoffish and quite snobby, the young female staff most notably.
Seems to be nowhere near as busy or have that welcoming, friendly local feel as it did when the original Coome family had it IMO.

I love it here! I've been frequently visiting since I was a child and enjoy the experience of a classic milk bar. It is all very reasonably priced with the most magnificent sundaes, especially the chocolate inferno, only $9! The service is fantastic and staff are delightful. 5 stars from me, you're through to the finals!

Valhalla ice cream seems like the budget bulk buy of ice cream. I got a cone with 3 scoops here for less than another place charges for 2 scoops. But I didn't feel satisfied by it, instead I regretted it. Ice cream feels like inferior mass manufactured product compared to that of other places around Hobart which seem to produce their own. Bits mixed or sauce swirled in is not generous enough. Of any of the 3 flavors I wasn't impressed by the taste. The cone also appeared like it came out of a factory rather than a tasty hand rolled looking one.

I can think of 3 places around town with nicer ice cream. One is just 2 shops away.

Also there was a lady sitting right outside the entrance smoking which I thought was pretty disgusting especially with all the kids going in and out.

Helpful and kind staff. When drinks or food is ordered it is always quick service. Oh and awesome confectionery foods:)

I just had an interesting experience here. They have 75 + varieties of “penny” candy and I was trying to determine which one (s) I wanted to buy. We’re talking about the inexpensive candies.
Now I’m going to prefice the next part by saying there were no signs saying you can’t try a piece or that I should ask to try a piece. I was curious what a red ball candy approximately 1 cm in diameter tasted like. I used the scoop and poured ONE itty bitty candy in the palm of my hand, popped it in my mouth and immediately knew I didn’t like the taste. Then the the young lady working there says to me I am not allowed to try one. I asked how I was going to determine what flavor I wanted to buy. She reiterated I couldn’t sample a piece. I asked where it said that and she said there is a sign by the measuring cups. There wasn’t. I asked her to point it out to me and she couldn’t. By this point I was a bit miffed and when I suggested she tell her boss to put a sign up, she told me not to get upset at her. Let’s get this straight, I wasn’t upset with, just that her boss didn’t have a sign informing me. I was a bit shocked she didn’t respond in a more conciliatory and understanding fashion. When I reiterated my suggestion, she said she would tell him.
So, still curious about how to taste 1 small bit of the inexpensive candies, I asked if I would gave to buy one and she said yes. That is bizarre.
This is 10 minutes later. I just went back in a second time to get an idea of what this sample process would be like. I scooped one spice drop, smaller than my thumb nail, into the measuring cup. I took it to the counter, she weighed it and the price was 16 cents. I was shocked. She offered me a discount, 10 cents. Personally, having this policy instead of OFFERING a sample is counterproductive to engendering a pleasant experience at a CANDY store which in and of itself, usually evokes reveries of past pleasant candy store visits.
I explained to her that my frustration I expressed was not about her but about the policy her boss failed to share with “me, ” the customer. I told her customers get frustrated sometimes and express that in a tone of voice that may be misconstrued as personal criticism. I explained that if a business wants satisfied customers sometimes the 1 in a 100 unhappy customer needs to be heard and understood for the underlying message.
I trust there are 2 things gleaned from this; make sure the customer understands the store policies and the employees understand the customer is “always” right, even they may not be, and help the customer by expressing empathy and understanding.

Delightful little shop for your milkshake, ice cream, hot drink and lolly fix. I had wonderful memories coming here as a child and love that it brings the same level of joy for my son when selecting his own bag of goodies.