Kuya Lord has been winning hearts and bellies since launching as a pop-up in 2019. It now operates out of a tiny counter-service space. Chef Lord Maynard Llera, a former sous-chef at Bestia who won the 2024 James Beard Award for Best Chef: California, has conjured a mighty menu of modern Filipino dishes hailing from Lucena City, where he grew up.
![The outside of Kuya Lord](/content/dam/ace/publications/food-and-drink/restaurants/kuya-lord-east-hollywood/kuya-lord-exterior-520.jpg)
The kuya (Tagalog for “older brother”) tray, which feeds 2 to 3 people, is the perfect starting point. It offers pearly garlic rice; chami noodles with cabbage and slivers of fish cake; tomato-cucumber salad; house-made achara (a sweet-and-sour relish of pickled green papaya, currants, bell peppers, and garlic); and a meat or seafood entrée of your choice.
![A tray of meat, rice, veggies, and noodles](/content/dam/ace/publications/food-and-drink/restaurants/kuya-lord-east-hollywood/kuya-lord-lucenachon-520.jpg)
Lucenachon from Kuya Lord.
The standout option is lucenachon, a combo of Filipino lechón and Italian porchetta. Large, juicy prawns, which come with their heads and shells still on, are also exceptional. They’re cooked in a red, garlicky crab sauce that deserves to be poured on every protein and licked off every plate.
Order a side of longsilog, sausage that comes in 2 forms—thick and sweet or thin and savory. You’ll want both. And you’ll need to dip them in Llera’s vinegar sauce, which cuts through the richness of the fatty meats.
![A whole calamansi pie](/content/dam/ace/publications/food-and-drink/restaurants/kuya-lord-east-hollywood/kuya-lord-calamansi-pie-680.jpg)
Kuya Lord’s calamansi pie is finished with pandan whipped cream.
For dessert, don’t miss the calamansi pie. The tart citrus fruit flavors the creamy base while pandan adds a floral note and a pop of green to the whipped cream topping.
Best dishes at Kuya Lord
Lucenachon, prawns, longsilog, pancit chami, calamansi pie
Dinner prices
Rice bowls, $18; entrées, $15–$43; desserts, $10
Info
5003 Melrose Avenue. Closed Mondays and Tuesdays.
AAA discounts
![Seared scallops arranged on a plate Seared scallops arranged on a plate](/content/dam/ace/discounts/partners/chart-house-scallops-735X275.jpg)
![Woman pumping gas Woman pumping gas](/content/dam/ace/discounts/partners/853962856-woman-at-gas-station-735x308.jpg)