The press was invited for an entertaining experience at the Royal Cabaret at the Wyndham Aruba Resort & Casino on opening night of Enchanted Oasis, anexotic evening, more than just a show, says Director of Food & Beverage Franz Sydow. And he is right. The evening featured food, drink and dance in an oriental ambiance, awakening and titillating guests' senses.
We were greeted at the cabaret door with Arak cocktails, an anis-flavored middle-Easter favorite. When the buffet line opened we discovered more than 30 Arabic, Lebanese and North African specialties 
including Hummus, Baba Ganoush, Tabouleh, Lamb on Skewers, Kibbeh and cumin & thyme flavored grilled meats over open fire. The cabaret show featured five scantily clad oriental dancers. These Barbie Doll-like women flung their long hair, rotating and gyrating their hips with the agility and the confidence of professional Egyptian belly dancers. The veils, the anklets, the zils, coins, bells, hip scarves, jaipur skirts and harem pants created a sensuous eye-pleasing spectacle of fluid movement and uplifting sound. One cabaret number borrowed its choreography from a Tony Soprano's Bada Bing dance club routine, but otherwise the show featured mostly traditional hip shimmies peppered with a sprinkle of Brazilian hip rolls and Cuban hip revolutions.
A Farid al-Atrache look alike joined the attractive Shahrazads for a Harem scene. One of the girls performed the sexy sword dance which was quite electrifying. A band of two musicians, live, added to the authenticity of the production. They played some old Umm Kulthum, the Star of the East, the Diva of Arabic song favorites, straight off the streets of Cairo in the 60s. Don't miss, dinner is served nightly at 7 and the show comes on at 8:30 p.m. A Turkish style fortune teller will interpret coffee grinds for you, upon special request, after dinner.
