The once-staid local restaurants in Hackney’s ‘Victoria Village’ are getting hipper all the time. Newcomer Machete already has a following for its lip-smacking Mexican food and is gaining even more fans for its ‘badass cocktails’. Chef/owner Erick Medina is known to the local tacos crowd from his Off Broadway days, and his latest venture offers the classic snacks in various forms – try the version loaded with pork carnitas, black beans and guacamole. Otherwise, a tasty beef burrito cries out for a cold Modelo beer, Tequila, or a mezcal cocktail at East End prices. But it’s not all ‘dirty’ fare: crunchy jicama salad and a choice of ceviches are popular, lighter options. The short menu offers enough variety for now, but scruffy, moodily lit Machete works best as a bar – so come by at night when the Boden brigade is asleep.