Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning I get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through my links, at no cost to you. Please read my disclosure for more information.
A year ago, almost to the day, I went to Splish Splash in Calverton, Long Island, New York for the first time (on August 5, 2023).
I visited The Chicken Coop during my time there and picked up two orders while in line – Popcorn Chicken and Fried Chicken. There was also the additional purchase of two 24 oz fountain drinks as well.
A quick note: I want to mention that I have a Lake Compounce Platinum season pass which is under the Palace Entertainment company that also owns Splish Splash. That pass gives 20% off food.
Those savings do not transfer to parks outside of the home park (and yes, the Platinum pass is the most expensive pass).
At the time, the meal cost my then-partner and me a total of $46.66.
Popcorn Chicken
Popcorn Chicken ▸ $14.99
with fries
There’s nothing to write home about the popcorn chicken. Actually, quite the opposite. I distinctly remember the breading on these being heavy and almost styrofoam-y when biting into them, bleh.
Kid-friendly, tweens will smash through this meal easily, so it’s up to you as to whether or not this meal is shareable, but there are a lot of french fries underneath the popcorn chicken hidden away. But this probably won’t satisfy an adult palette.
Dry and tasteless, my then-partner’s words were, “It tastes like the oil they fried it in and the bread they breaded it in.” Accurate. This popcorn chicken was tough and felt like you’re chomping through for minutes before wanting to give up.
It will give you jaws of steel though.
The natural cut french fries are simple, lifeless, boring, and bring nothing to the table. Honestly, the ketchup was the best part of the french fry, let that sink in for a moment. 🙃
Rating: 1/5
Fried Chicken
Fried Chicken ▸ $17.99
with fries
Over-fried, greasy, ridiculously over-breaded, and under-seasoned, the Fried Chicken was an embarrassment to all fried chicken everywhere.
But of the two meals, this is the bigger of the two with separate food trays for the fried chicken and the accompanying french fries (which are filled to the brim). Because of that, this meal is easily shareable between adults, but especially tweens.
Despite the burnt exterior, the chicken had a decent crunch (although it’s in the place where there’s no meat, so you’re not even biting into skin and meat simultaneously), but it was dry for most of it on the drumstick.
Some parts of the drumstick were juicy, so I won’t lie and say that the entire thing was very dry, but it was unevenly cooked.
For the remainder of the other chicken pieces they were actually juicier than the drumstick itself, but because of the lack of flavor it really didn’t matter.
Salt and pepper were the only spices introduced to this chicken, if at all, and if they were it seems more likely that it merely breathed in the pepper because it was practically nonexistent.
Rating: 2.5/5
Overall Thoughts
Waste of money regarding the taste and quality of the food, but what you waste there you make up for in how much of it they give you. A lot of it was wasted because there was too much food for one person and even with there being two people it was a lot given the extra carbs on the side in the form of french fries.
You can save a lot of money with these two dishes though with two adults and children if you order an extra set of fries and split up the meals that way, otherwise, you’ll be waddling off to the lazy river because you overate.
But if you’re looking for well-seasoned food you’re not gonna get it here as it feels like the food was seasoned to be as inoffensive as possible (and yet offending all the tastebuds in the process, salt and pepper are not sufficient enough unless it’s a steak!). I sincerely hope you’re also not looking for something nutritious either, because you’re not going to find that here either.
And if you haven’t as of yet, please follow us on our other social media channels (YouTube, Instagram & Tik Tok – @themeparkbites) to stay up to date on food reviews. Thank you for allowing us to be your tasty theme park companion!