Mondays are the pits. After a restorative weekend, you're forced back into reality and you feel like a lab rat stuck in a cubicle, studied for the effects fluorescent light has on skin. So after a looonnggg day at the office, all you want to do is unwind and get some sushi with your girls and weep into a tall glass of sake. You might want to reconsider where you host this much-needed happy hour -- depending on where you tend to dine. Though sushi is delicious, and in some cases packed with healthy fats and fiber, sushi and other fish may not be at its freshest on the first day of the workweek. Since most fresh fish markets are closed on Sundays, many assume that Monday's seafood dinner is, well, a little fishy. Yes, there are some contradicting opinions about eating fish and sushi on Mondays. In his book, "Kitchen Confidential," published in 2000, the ever-abrasive chef Anthony Bourdain writes that seafood served on Monday is "about four to five days old," and that he'd never eat it unless he knew the restaurant well.

But, he redacts his statement in "Medium Raw," published in 2010, in which he writes, "But eat the fucking fish on Monday already. I wrote those immortal words about not going for the Monday fish, the ones that'll haunt me long after I'm crumbs in a can, knowing nothing other than New York City. And times, to be fair, have changed." Still, Bourdain enforces that where you order your fish matters, and the dive bar isn't really the best spot to do so -- especially on a Monday. When it comes to eating seafood, your geographic location is something to consider. “If you're dining near the coast or at a restaurant known for outstanding seafood, you probably don't need to pay attention to the calendar," writes Cristen Conger for How Stuff Works. "But if, let's say, you're in Kansas City or Reno, saltwater fish must be shipped to the restaurant. Most fresh fish wholesalers can ship fish overnight, but that usually isn't going to happen on a Sunday.” For this reason, it's important to be cautious of fish "specials" or discounted sushi offered on Sundays or Mondays.

The restaurant may be trying to rid their kitchens of fish on its last legs fins, while trying to make a profit. Beyond a nausea-inducing stinky smell, there are health risks associated with eating fish that's past its prime. sushi without rice caloriesRaw fish may host parasites and bacteria that may lead to moderate illnesses with some uncomfortable side effects (think vomiting). buy raw fish onlineThe FDA enforces specific freezing procedures for most food establishments that serve fish raw. sushi king buy 1 free 1This process can help kill off some of the threatening parasites. don order sushi on mondaySo, if you're dining out at a restaurant that knows the rules and wants its patrons to enjoy their meal, you really have nothing to worry about -- no matter the day of the week.

Want to read more from HuffPost Taste? Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest and Tumblr. Sushi Sushi On Monday Fish On Mondays Sushi Facts Fish Fish and tall tales have always gone hand in hand, so it's no surprise that the world of sushi has developed its own set of myths, exaggerations, and bold-faced lies. To help clear up some of the fishiness behind Japan's most famous culinary export, we consulted with Dave Lowry, author of The Connoisseur's Guide to Sushi, about everything from its history as a street food to whether it's okay to eat sushi on a Monday. Read on to learn the difference between frozen fact and wild-caught fiction. The truth: “Most countries in Southeast Asia have some variation of this. It began as a way of preserving fish because vinegar worked as an antibiotic. Cooked rice and vinegar were packed around fresh fish to preserve them.” The truth: “When sushi started out, it was street food, like a dirty-water dog in New York. There were little wheeled stalls where they'd cut the fish up.

Now sushi is probably closer to stopping and getting a hot dog or hamburger. It's sort of a nice snack. It's casual food, but you don't want to overstate it and say it's fast food, because there are sushi bars in Japan where you're going to pay $500 for a meal.” The truth: “That's called ikizukuri. It's a different area of Japanese cuisine and not related to sushi at all.” The truth: “It was just not an occupation that women did; they didn't do a whole lot of cooking in public places. But now there are plenty of female chefs all over Japan.” The truth: “Salmon was not considered a traditional sushi fish because it spoils really quickly. It only rose to prominence after refrigeration became widespread in Japan.” The truth: “In Japan, miso is usually what you eat for breakfast.” The truth: “Since sushi and sake are both made with rice, that's too much of the same thing. You usually pair it with beer or green tea; I can't recall seeing anyone eat sushi and sake in Japan.”

The truth: “When you order noodles, you rub your chopsticks together to create a rough edge to pick up the noodles, not to get rid of splinters. If you did that in a place owned by a Japanese person, you'd insult them.” The truth: “We don't really know the etymology of the word sushi. It's written with characters that are there for the sound rather than what they mean. There's a lot of questions as to what the word actually means, but the idea that sushi means 'raw fish' is wrong. 'Su' is normally vinegar, and there's a lot of disagreement on 'shi.'” The truth: “They're just basically saying it's fresh enough to eat raw. Is there some sort of special grade of fish that's suitable for sushi? It has to obviously be fresh enough, or presented in such a way that it doesn't have any bacterial growth. That's what constitutes sashimi-grade fish -- fish that is fresh enough that you can eat it raw.” The truth: “It's nonsense, sushi rice is just short-grain rice.

There are better grains of rice -- they're polished more, and the grains are collected when they're fresher or with more water in them. But in Japan there's no such thing as sushi rice.” The truth: “Sushi is not about the topping. It isn't about the fish, that's completely secondary. It's about the quality of the rice. They inevitably write about all the toppings, but a sushi connoisseur cares about the rice. If the rice isn't right, it doesn't matter how fresh or special the fish is. American sushi chefs have a ways to go on that. Anybody can get really fresh fish these days if you're willing to pay for it, but it's the ability to manipulate the rice that makes the difference.” The truth: “In the old days, maybe that was true because you got shipments on certain days. You weren't getting any shipments on Sunday, so therefore you'd be eating fish from the Friday before. But nowadays, given international trade, many restaurants are getting fish any day of the week.”

The truth: “What's happening now is a lot of these fish that are harvested, they're freezing them on the boat. They're frozen hours or even minutes within getting caught. So most of the fish you're gonna get in a sushi place is frozen. Very, very few sushi restaurants in the states would sell tuna that would never have been frozen -- that would be pretty rare. Frankly, most people wouldn't like it. Freezing allows the meat to firm up and it tastes a little better. I've had completely fresh tuna and most Americans wouldn't like it; it has a strong gamey taste.” The truth: “Wild-caught fish are going to have greater variability [in quality]. What a salmon may be eating in one part of the world, it isn't eating in another. There's a variability there. You don't have that in farmed fish -- you have a certain consistency. A lot of the tuna in a more affordable sushi place is farmed; more upscale restaurants offer wild- or line-caught. But a lot of stuff like abalone is going to be farmed either way."

The truth: “That's not specifically a sushi thing, it's any fish. You wouldn't want to be eating any fish that has a possibility of mercury contamination. Given where they are in the food chain, some fish have more mercury. Tuna are eating a lot of smaller fish -- those smaller fish eat plankton, [and plankton live] where there's a lot of mercury in the water. You wouldn't have to worry about that issue with regards to most sushi fish.” The truth: “This probably isn't a significant worry. There are certain bacteria that can get into fish, but there's a very small chance [of that happening].” The truth: “It has some toxins in the liver, so it has to be cleaned very carefully. If that liver sack is compromised it's a very powerful neurotoxin. Probably 15 people die a year from fugu (pufferfish) poisoning in Japan. The government of Japan approved a certain course to learn to clean it, so It's usually been prepared in Japan by somebody that's been taught to do it -- they freeze it and bring it over.